Robert St Leger Fowler (7 April 1891 — 13 June 1925) was an Irish first-class cricketer, often regarded as the best Irish cricketer not to have represented Ireland itself. An all-rounder who batted right-handed and bowled off spin, he is perhaps best known for his outstanding all-round performance as captain of Eton College in the match against Harrow in 1910, the match commonly referred to as Fowler's match. After serving in the First World War with the 17th Lancers, during the course of which he was awarded the Military Cross, Fowler played first-class cricket after the war mostly for the British Army cricket team, until his death from leukemia in 1925.
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Family and early life
Fowler was born in April 1891 at his family home at Rahinstown in Ireland. His father Robert Henry Fowler was an officer in the British Army and a first-class cricketer for Cambridge University. His great-great-grandfather, also Robert, was Bishop of Ossory and then Bishop of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin from 1817 until his death in 1841, and his great-great-great grandfather, Robert Fowler was a Protestant clergyman who settled in Ireland in the 1760s and was Archbishop of Dublin from 1779 until his death in 1801.
Fowler was educated in England, attending firstly Mr Hawtrey's prep school in Westgate-on-Sea, and then Eton College. There he was influenced by his housemaster, Cyril Wells, an amateur cricketer who played for Middlesex. Fowler played for Eton against Harrow School in the 1908 and 1909 Eton v Harrow fixtures, with his bowling in the 1909 fixture almost leading Eton to victory with his accurate off breaks contributing to match figures of 11 for 79. He was also active in college athletics and was president of the Eton Society in 1910.