Alastair McCorquodale

British athlete and cricketer

Alastair McCorquodale (5 December 1925 – 27 February 2009) was a British athlete and cricketer. His son is married to Princess Diana's sister, Lady Sarah Spencer. McCorquodale was educated at Harrow where he opened the bowling for the 1st XI in the 1948 Eton v Harrow match at Lord's. He represented Britain in Athletics at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. He was denied a bronze medal in the 100m final by a photo finish, but won a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay. He never ran again. He also represented the Free Foresters, Marylebone Cricket Club in 1948 and Middlesex in three matches in 1951, as a left handed batsman and a right arm fast bowler. He toured Canada with MCC in 1951–52. He was the seventh oldest living Middlesex first class cricketer prior to his death.

McCorquodale was born in Hillhead, Glasgow City, on 5 December 1925. He was from Hatfield Place, Hatfield Peverel, the son of Kenneth McCorquodale. He spent his childhood growing up in Essex, and was educated at Harrow School. He was in both the football and cricket first XIs, and was in Elmfield House.

As the Second World War was ending, he joined the Coldstream Guards straight out of school in 1944. He was deployed to Germany as a Lieutenant, where he took up athletics to avoid having to do many drills. He was successful at it, winning the army 100 metres title in 1946. Success at the AAA Championships followed, as he took the 220 yards title in 1947. He managed all of this while remaining rather unfocused on athletics, preferring rugby and cricket and having a relaxed attitude to training where it is said that he would stub out his cigarette to go on the track.

He also competed in the 200 metres, winning the tenth heat in 22.3 seconds in the first round. In the second round he ran half a second faster, running 21.8 to come second to the eventual Olympic champion Mel Patton, but he was finally knocked out by coming fifth in the second semi final. The second year, he scored 27 and was the second highest scorer in the Harrow team as they lost by 5 wickets, bowling three of the Eton cricketers out before they successfully chased the total of 147 that had been set by Harrow. He was then selected for Lord's Schools teams in both 1943 and 1944, before he left school. After his Olympic success, he picked cricket back up again in August 1948 playing for Marylebone Cricket Club both on tour in Ireland and in 1949 in Germany, taking six wickets in a match that was played against the British Army that were based in the region. After this he joined the Free Foresters Cricket Club, playing various matches for them including one against the Dutch national team. He joined the Marylebone Cricket Club again when they toured Canada in 1951, playing twelve games, including one against a Canadian XI.

He married Rosemary Sybil Turnor, a daughter of Major Herbert Broke Turnor of Stoke Rochford Hall and his wife Lady Enid Fane (a daughter of the 13th Earl of Westmorland and famed beauty Lady Sybil St. Clair), in August 1947 at St Michael's Church, Chester Square. The entire Turnor's Stoke Rochford estate would eventually pass to Rosemary and her husband in 1954. They had a daughter Sarah (who married Geoffrey van Cutsem, son of Bernard and brother of Hugh van Cutsem, in 1969) and a son Neil McCorquodale, who married Lady Sarah Spencer, sister of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1980.

After he retired from cricket he joined the family business, a printing firm named McCorquodale and Co., which had been responsible for printing the Olympic programmes in 1948 amongst other things. He became chairman of the family firm in 1967, a role he took over from his cousin, and stayed in until he retired in 1986. The estate's gardens are known to be very beautiful, spanning four acres, and in 2014 they were opened to the public, in aid of charity. He died aged 83, survived by his wife, son, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.