C. B. Fry

C. B. Fry
C. B. Fry
CB-Fry-.jpg
Personal information
Full name Charles Burgess Fry
Born 25 April 1872(1872-04-25)
Croydon, England
Died 7 September 1956(1956-09-07) (aged 84)
Hampstead, London, England
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right arm fast-medium
International information
National side England
Test debut (cap 95) 13 February 1896 v South Africa
Last Test 22 August 1912 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years Team
1921–1922 Europeans (India)
1909–1921 Hampshire
1894–1908 Sussex
1900–1902 London County
1892–1895 Oxford University
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 26 394
Runs scored 1,223 30,886
Batting average 32.18 50.22
100s/50s 2/7 94/124
Top score 144 258*
Balls bowled 10 9,036
Wickets 0 166
Bowling average 29.34
5 wickets in innings 9
10 wickets in match 2
Best bowling 6/78
Catches/stumpings 17/– 239/–
Source: Cricinfo, 12 November 2008

Charles Burgess Fry, known as C. B. Fry (25 April 1872 – 7 September 1956) was an English polymath;[1] an outstanding sportsman, politician, diplomat, academic, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer. John Arlott summed him up thus: "Charles Fry could be autocratic, angry and self-willed: he was also magnanimous, extravagant, generous, elegant, brilliant - and fun [...] he was probably the most variously gifted Englishman of any age."[2] Neville Cardus wrote that he was "a national gallery and a theatre and a forum".[3]

Fry's achievements on the sporting field included representing England at both cricket and football, an FA Cup Final appearance for Southampton F.C. and equalling the then world record for long jump. He also reputedly turned down the throne of Albania. In later life, he suffered mental health problems, but in his 70s was still able to perform his party piece: jumping backwards onto a mantel from a standing position.[4][5]

Contents

Education

He was born in Croydon the son of a civil servant. Both sides of his family had once been wealthy but by 1872 were unexceptional. Winning a scholarship, he was educated at Repton School and Wadham College, Oxford. At Repton his academic career was patchy at first. Finding himself second from last in his form and with his scholarship in jeopardy he worked hard to gain promotion every term until he was at the top. His strengths were in Classics, his poorest subject was Mathematics. Fry gained his headmaster's permission to study Thucydides instead of Maths and thus dispensed with the subject for the rest of his academic career. Repton was unusual in having a stronger tradition in football than rugby union. Fry played for the under 16 Repton side in his first term, aged 13.

He was coached by Arthur Forman[6] and was captain of the cricket and football XIs. He also won trophies for athletics. Before the age of 17 he played for the Casuals in the FA Cup.

Having won a further scholarship to study at Wadham College, Oxford, Fry won his Blues in Association football, cricket and athletics. He narrowly failed to win a Blue at rugby union. When he was only twenty-one, the magazine Vanity Fair published a caricature of him in its issue of 19 April 1894 and commented: "He is sometimes known as "C.B."; but it has lately been suggested that he should be called "Charles III"."[2]

Fry was an exceptional scholar and it was expected he would achieve a first-class degree in Classics and enter the Indian Civil Service with an illustrious career ahead of him. Although he rarely discussed his last year at Oxford it seems he had a serious mental breakdown shortly before his exams. His mother was ill and his financial situation was dire. His father was unable to support him financially and his only income was £80 per year scholarship money at time when Wadham students often had incomes of over £400. At one point Fry resorted to nude modelling to earn money. He was awarded a fourth class degree.

With his career plans ruined by academic failure Fry turned to his other talents, specifically football and cricket. In 1895–96 he was chosen for Lord Hawke's XI which toured South Africa.

Sporting career

Cricket

In sport, Fry was most noted for his cricketing achievements.

He played for Surrey in 1891 (but not in any first-class fixtures), Oxford University 1892–1895, Sussex 1894–1908 (captain 1904–1908) and Hampshire 1909–1921. First selected by England in 1896, he captained England in his final six Test matches in 1912, winning four and drawing two. He twice scored Test centuries: 144 v Australia in 1905, when he responded to suggestions that he could only score in front of the wicket with extensive use of the cut shot, hitting 23 fours in 3½ hours, and 129 v South Africa against the South African quartet of googly bowlers (Bert Vogler, Reggie Schwarz, Aubrey Faulkner, Gordon White).

A highly effective right-handed batsman who batted at or near the top of the order, Fry scored over 30,000 first-class runs at an average of over 50 (a particularly high figure for an era when scores were generally lower than today). At the end of his cricketing career in 1921, he had the second highest average of any player who had retired with over 10,000 runs: only his Sussex and England colleague Ranjitsinhji had retired with a better career average. He headed the batting averages for five English seasons (in 1901, 1903, 1907, 1911 and 1912). Against Yorkshire, the strongest County bowling attack (George Hirst, Wilfred Rhodes, Schofield Haigh, Stanley Jackson) of Fry's time, he averaged a remarkable 63.6 over the course of his career,[7] including 234 in 1903 and back-to-back scores of 177 and 229 in 1904.

In his early career Fry was an enthusiastic and successful fast bowler. He returned his career best figures of 6–78 in the 1895 Varsity match, and he twice took ten wickets in a match: 5–75 and 5–102 for the Gentlemen against I Zingari in 1895, and 5–81 and 5–66 for Sussex against Nottinghamshire in 1896 (a match in which he also scored 89 and 65). This was unusual amongst gentleman amateurs and he regularly opened the bowling for University sides and the Gentlemen. The late 1890s saw a re emergence of the throwing controversy. Several professional bowlers including Arthur Mold and Ernie Jones were no balled and forced to retire. Fry's bowling action was criticised by opponents and team mates alike and it was only a matter of time before he too was no balled (by Jim Phillips), despite his status as a gentleman. He barely bowled after 1900.

England team v. Australia, Trent Bridge 1899. Back row: Dick Barlow (umpire), Tom Hayward, George Hirst, Billy Gunn, J T Hearne (12th man), Bill Storer (wkt kpr), Bill Brockwell, V A Titchmarsh (umpire). Middle row: C B Fry, K S Ranjitsinhji, W G Grace (captain), Stanley Jackson. Front row: Wilfred Rhodes, Johnny Tyldesley.

He scored 94 first-class centuries, including an unprecedented six consecutive centuries in 1901. No-one else has scored more consecutive hundreds.[8] His made highest first-class innings of 258 not out in 1911, a season which led to his recall to the England Test team, and appointment as captain, in 1912. In 1921 he was invited to captain England again at the age of 49, but declined. His career is counted one of the most notable in the history of cricket.

For both Sussex and England, he was closely associated with the outstanding cricketer Prince Ranjitsinhji, the future Jam Sahib of Nawanagar. Their contrasting batting styles complemented one another (Fry being an orthodox, technically upright batsman, and Ranji being noted for his innovation, particularly his use of the leg glance). Their friendship lasted well into the 1920s. When Ranjitsinhji became one of India's three representatives at the League of Nations, he took Fry with him as a speech writer (see Politics, below).

His son, Stephen Fry, his grandson, Charles Fry and his cousin, Kenneth Fry, all played first-class cricket.

Athletics

In athletics, Fry equalled the then world long jump record of 23 feet 6½ inches (7.17 m) in 1893 (tied with the American Charles Reber). This is often incorrectly claimed to have stood as a world record for 21 years, but this length of time actually only refers to how long he held the varsity record; his shared world record was broken in September 1894.

At the world's first international match, Oxford v Yale at the Queen's Club, West Kensington, in 1894, Fry came third in the long jump and won the 100 yards,[9] though his sprint victory caused some controversy. While the American sprinters started in the crouch position on all fours, the British had not yet adopted this style and stood poised at the line. Fry insisted that he be allowed to suspend one foot in front of the starting line, hovering in mid-air, above the ground.

Football

C. B. Fry
CBFry.jpg
Personal information
Full name Charles Burgess Fry
Date of birth 25 April 1872(1872-04-25)
Place of birth Croydon, England
Date of death 7 September 1956(1956-09-07) (aged 84)
Place of death Hampstead, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position Full back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1900–1902 Southampton 16 (0)
1902–1903 Portsmouth 2 (0)
National team
1901 England 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Fry's achievements also extended to association football.

He learned football at Repton School and was awarded his Oxford University Blue for soccer. In 1894 he joined the famous amateur club the Corinthians; although extremely proud of his amateur status, he decided that entering the professional game would enhance his chance of international honours. He chose Southampton as the leading lights in the Southern League and because The Dell was conveniently close to his home. He was registered as a Saints player in 1898, but his debut was delayed until 26 December 1900 (against Tottenham Hotspur).

Fry's game was probably a little too refined for the hurly-burly of professional football and he never relished the physical excesses of some of the tackles. He achieved his aim of international honours when (along with Southampton's goalkeeper, Jack Robinson) he was picked for England for the match against Ireland on 9 March 1901, played in Southampton.

The following season (1901–1902), The Saints reached the FA Cup Final, which they lost to Sheffield United in a replay. Although he had moments during the cup run in which he excelled, his tackling ability has been questioned. Fry played in all eight of the FA Cup games for Southampton that season, but in only nine League matches, with Bill Henderson being forced to give way whenever Fry was available.[10]

The following season he played twice at centre-forward, without success, but Southampton released him partly due to his lack of availability. He joined local rivals, Portsmouth, and made his debut for them on 21 January 1903. He became injured soon afterwards, and retired from the game.

Rugby union

Fry also played Rugby union for the Oxford University RFC, Blackheath and the Barbarians.

Acrobatics

According to a Manchester newspaper, Fry was able, from a stationary position on the floor, to leap backwards onto a mantelpiece.[11][12]

Career outside sport

CB Fry's Magazine, July 1905, The Edwardian sports magazine edited by England's great all-rounder

Teaching

Fry graduated from Oxford, having shown, according to Alan Gibson, that he was a scholar comparable with John Simon and F.E. Smith, his contemporaries at Wadham. He became a teacher at Charterhouse, and in 1908 he became Director of the Training Ship Mercury, a nautical school primarily designed to prepare boys for service in the Royal Navy (though initially this was primarily the interest of his wife Beatrice). He and his wife devoted almost forty years to this work. Though it was less lauded than most of his achievements, he was very proud of it. He was eventually given the rank of captain in the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR). Alan Gibson wrote: "He... would stride about in his uniform looking, as I think it was Robertson-Glasgow who said, every inch like six admirals."[13]

Politics

He stood (unsuccessfully) as a Liberal candidate for parliament for the Brighton constituency. Gladstone sent him a goodwill message, although Fry insisted that he was an independent. He won 22,059 votes, 4,785 fewer than the Conservative victor. He later fought the seats of Banbury, losing by just 224 votes, and Oxford, where again he was narrowly defeated.

Through his friendship with Ranjitsinhji, Fry became an adviser to the Indian delegation at the League of Nations (which included Ranji) in Geneva. He claimed to have been offered the throne of Albania while at Geneva, in 1920. Whether this offer genuinely occurred has been questioned, as Fry was famous for telling improbable stories and there is a lack of any mention of this offer by Albanian sources.[13][14]

Writing, editing, publishing and broadcasting

The books which Fry wrote include:

  • The Book of Cricket: A New Gallery of Famous Players (editor, appeared in 14 weekly parts, 1899)
  • Giants of the Game: Being Reminiscences of the Stars of Cricket from Daft Down to the Present Day (with RH Lyttleton, WJ Ford & G Giffen, c1900)
  • Great Batsmen: Their Methods at a Glance (with George W Beldam, who provided the photographs, 1905)
  • Great Bowlers and Fielders: Their Methods at a Glance (with George W Beldam, who again provided the photographs, 1907)
  • A Mother's Son (a novel written in collaboration with his wife, 1907)
  • Cricket: Batsmanship (1912)
  • Key-Book of The League of Nations
  • Life Worth Living: Some Phases Of An Englishman (1939, his autobiography)
  • Cricket On The Green For Club And Village Cricketers And For Boys (with RS Young, 1947)

He is also believed to have written much of The Jubilee Book of Cricket (1897), of which the nominal author was Ranji.[15] He wrote prefaces and introductions for a number of other cricket books. He wrote articles on cricket and football for Strand Magazine in the early years of the 20th century.[16] In the 1930s he wrote a column for the London Evening Standard, which as well as cricket covered many other topics. The column was credited with a considerable increase in the paper's circulation.[13]

He launched and edited two magazines for boys, C.B. Fry's Magazine and The Captain, but neither was very successful.[13] In his magazines he promoted toys such as the diabolo.

His broadcasting career began in 1936 with commentary for the BBC on a match between Middlesex and Surrey. He declined to join the panel on Any Questions but in 1945 began a successful stint on the Brains Trust. In 1946 he was one of the BBC radio commentary team for the Tests between England and India.[17] In 1953 he gave a 3 hour interview to the BBC which was edited down to 30 minutes for the programme Frankly Speaking. In 1955 he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews for the new television show "This is your life". Amongst the friends gathered to relive his best moments were Jack Hobbs and Sydney Barnes.

Later life

In the 1920s, Fry's mental health started to deteriorate severely. He had encountered mental health problems earlier in his life, experiencing a breakdown during his final year at Oxford which meant that although academically brilliant he took a very poor degree. In India in the late 1920s, he had a major breakdown and became deeply paranoid. For the rest of his life, he dressed in bizarrely unconventional clothes and often had frighteningly eccentric interludes. He developed a horror of Indians, including his old friend Ranjitsinhji. He did recover enough to become a popular writer on cricket and other sports, and even into his sixties he entertained hopes of becoming a Hollywood star. According to noted cricket writer David Frith in his book 'Pageant of Cricket', C.B. Fry was occasionally seen running stark naked down Brighton Beach during his less stable interludes.

In 1934, he met Adolf Hitler and was mesmerised by him. He failed to persuade von Ribbentrop that Nazi Germany should take up cricket to Test level. Some Hitler Youth were welcomed at TS Mercury and Fry was still enthusiastic about them in 1938, just prior to the outbreak of war. He retired from his position at TS Mercury in 1950. He died in 1956, in Childs Hill, a "grand old man of sport".[18]

Honours

Southampton F.C.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Steer, Duncan (2003). Cricket: The Golden Age. Cassell illustrated. ISBN 1-84403-237-X.  "Footballer, cricketer, politician and polymath C.B. Fry, now commander of a Royal Navy training ship"
  2. ^ a b Arlott, John (1985). Arlott on Cricket. Fontana/Collins. pp. 20–23. ISBN 0-00-637007-1. 
  3. ^ Daily Telegraph Review supplement, 8 August 2009, "Knighted for services to cricket and music", p R21.
  4. ^ Charles Fry - Up with the Gods | England Cricket Features | ESPN Cricinfo
  5. ^ The great allrounder - C.B Fry
  6. ^ Bygone Derbyshire - Arthur Forman
  7. ^ C.B. Fry matches v Yorkshire
  8. ^ The sequence was framed by scores in the 80s, so he nearly made it eight consecutive hundreds. For Sussex he scored 88 and 106 against Hampshire (scorecard), 209 against Yorkshire (scorecard), 149 against Middlesex (scorecard), 105 against Surrey (scorecard), 140 against Kent (scorecard), and then in his last innings of the season, for Rest of England, he scored 105 against the County Champions Yorkshire (scorecard). In his first innings of 1902 he scored 82 for London County against Surrey (scorecard). Donald Bradman equalled the record of six consecutive centuries in 1938-39, and Mike Procter did so again in 1970-71 [1]
  9. ^ See original report from New York Times
  10. ^ Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 165. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3. 
  11. ^ The great allrounder - C.B Fry
  12. ^ Charles Fry - Up with the Gods by Iain Wilton
  13. ^ a b c d Gibson, Alan (1989). The Cricket Captains of England. The Pavilion Library. pp. 102–108. ISBN 1-85145-390-3. 
  14. ^ Carr, J.L. (1977). Dictionary of Extra-ordinary English Cricketers. JL Carr. ISBN 0-900847-80-8. 
  15. ^ John Arlott, Arlott on Cricket, Fontana Paperbacks edition, 1985, p171.
  16. ^ Search on Abebooks with Author field "C.B. Fry".
  17. ^ Christopher Martin-Jenkins: Ball by Ball - The Story of Cricket Broadcasting, Grafton Books, 1990, ISBN 0-246-13568-9.
  18. ^ New light shed on CB Fry: A brilliant cricketer, a memorable character

References

  • "Life Worth Living", Autobiography, 1939, Reprinted by Pavilion Books Ltd., in 1986
  • "C.B. The Life of Charles Burgess Fry" by Clive Ellis, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., (1984). ISBN 0-460-04654-3
  • "CB Fry: An English Hero" by Iain Wilton, Metro Books, 1999. ISBN 186066170X (download as an Ebook)
  • "CB Fry: King of Sport" by Iain Wilton, Metro Books, 2002. ISBN 1843580306
  • "The Captain's Lady" (a biography on his wife Beatrice [née Sumner]), by Ronald Morris (TS Mercury old-boy), Chatto & Windus, 1985. ISBN 0-7011-2946-8
  • "Hamble, A Village History" (chapter on Beatrice Fry's Training Ship Mercury), by Nicolas Robinson, Kingfisher Railway Publications, 1987.
  • "The Training Ship Mercury: A History" by A.L. White. Published by the T.S. Mercury Old Boys' Association, 2003 ISBN 0-9548009-0-7
  • Jeremy Wilson (2006). Southampton's Cult Heroes. Know The Score Books. ISBN 1-905449-01-1. 
  • A "Pageant of Cricket" by David Frith. Published by MACMILLAN in 1987.
  • "The Cricket Captains of England", by Alan Gibson, The Pavilion Library, 1989, ISBN 1-85145-390-3, pp102–108.

External links


Sporting positions
Preceded by
Johnny Douglas
English national cricket captain
1912
Succeeded by
Johnny Douglas
Preceded by
Ranjitsinhji
Sussex county cricket captain
1904–1906
Succeeded by
C. L. A. Smith
Preceded by
C. L. A. Smith
Sussex county cricket captain
1907–1908
Succeeded by
C. L. A. Smith

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