Louis Serrurier

Who was Louis Serrurier?

Louis Roy Serrurier was a South African cricketer who played first-class cricket in England and South Africa in the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in Sea Point, Cape Town, and died aged 84 in Hermanus, Cape Province.

Serrurier made his first-class debut for Oxford University against Middlesex in early May 1925, scoring 25 and 2 not out and taking two wickets; his first victim was future British Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, known at that time as Lord Dunglass. In a further three games that month, Serrurier took six more wickets, but only once passed single figures, when he made 64* against Worcestershire.

His only games of 1926 were against the Australians and Ireland: he failed twice with the bat, but took six wickets in all. In 1927, however, he turned out 13 times, including seven County Championship appearances for Worcestershire in July and August; for them he hit 110 and 59 against Gloucestershire. With the ball he claimed his only five-wicket innings haul, taking 5-103 for Oxford against Essex, and he finished with 26 wickets at 26.80, easily the largest season's aggregate of his career.

Serrurier then returned to South Africa, and between 1927–28 and 1929-30 he played for Western Province, having several outings in the Currie Cup in the latter season. He played mostly as a batsman, scoring two hundreds and a number of other useful scores including a career-best 171 against Eastern Province in December 1928, but he did take one wicket: that of Natal's South Africa Test batsman Herbie Taylor.