Clarrie Fleay

Clarence William Edward James Fleay (27 December 1886 – 6 August 1955) was an Australian cricketer who played a single match for Western Australia during the 1922–23 season.

Born on his parents' property at Gilgering, a locality between York and Beverley in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia,[1] Fleay boarded at The High School (now Hale School) in Perth, and played Darlot Cup cricket for the school in his final two years.[2] He was one of his school's most successful batsmen, with his highest score an innings of 137 not out during the 1905–06 season.[3] After the conclusion of his schooling, Fleay returned to the country, where he regularly played in district teams.[4][5][6] At the annual Country Week tournament held in Perth, he usually represented Katanning, and sometimes captained the side.[7]

Fleay's single match at first-class level came in November 1922, against a touring Marylebone Cricket Club side led by Archie MacLaren (although John Hartley substituted as captain in the match against Western Australia).[8] His selection for the team was based mainly on his form in the preceding year's Country Week matches, with Joe Lanigan the only other player selected from country sides.[9][10] In the match, held at the WACA Ground, Fleay, an occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, took two wickets in the MCC's first innings to finish with figures of 2/10. He scored only four runs whilst batting, and was not selected at first-class level.[11] Fleay spent the remainder of his life in the country, and died in Katanning in August 1955, aged 68.[12]