he had played his final minor counties matches for northumberland in 1906. he served in south africa around 1910, during which he made his debut in first-class cricket for orange free state against transvaal in the 1910/11 currie cup. fawcus appeared for orange free state on five more occasions during the competition, scoring 184 runs with a high score of 48, while taking 33 wickets with his right-arm medium pace, with his 33 wickets costing 12.72 apiece. his best figures were 7 for 19 and he twice took a five wicket haul and ten wickets in a match. he was promoted to the rank of major in may 1911, he was appointed to the position of deputy assistant professor of hygiene at the royal army medical college, a role he undertook from 1912–14. fawcus played first-class cricket for the british army cricket team in 1913–14, making three appearances. in these he scored 92 runs with a high score of 56, while with the ball he took 12 wickets with best figures of 5 for 11, which came against the royal navy in 1913. he was appointed to the army school of sanitation at aldershot garrison prior to the first world war.