Читать книгу CB Fry: King Of Sport - England's Greatest All Rounder; Captain of Cricket, Star Footballer and World Record Holder - Iain Wilton - Страница 16

1 Fry’s first appearance for Surrey came in a Second XI fixture against Nottinghamshire, in early August 1891, in which he played an inelegant but effective innings of 65. Later in the month he appeared for Surrey’s first team, making 3 and 0 not out, against Warwickshire at The Oval. It was not, however, a first-class match and Surrey were fielding a sub-strength team. Fry’s final appearance came in early September, when he played for Nineteen of Surrey vs Surrey: he scored 19 and 18 and, in the first innings, took 1-15.

2 Fry, p. 65.

3 Bowra, p. 138.

4 Taylor, p. 39.

5 The Casuals later merged with the Corinthians to create the Corinthian Casuals.

6 Quoted by McKelvie, p. 67.

7 Quoted by McKelvie, p. 67.

8 Quoted by McKelvie, p. 67.

9 Quoted by Cardus, Cardus in the Covers, pp. 90–91.

10 Chesterton and Doggart, p. 101.

11 The discussion was prompted by a paper on the rather drier subject of ‘The Idea Underlying the Primitive Religious Customs of the Semites’.

12 In Life Worth Living, Fry wrote: ‘I did once run against Godfrey Shaw, the amateur champion hurdler of the time. He beat me, but to mitigate my defeat told me that he was sure that if I took up hurdling seriously I might win the championship.’ (p. 96).

13 See the letter to The Times by Major-General L.L. Hoare, 21 September 1956.

14 Major-General L.L. Hoare, The Times, 21 September 1956.

15 See Martin-Jenkins, p. 63.

16 From O.L. Owen’s foreword to Wemyss, pp. 19–20.

17 Bolton, p. 148.

18 The magazine published the following poem in tribute to Fry:

‘Congratulations, Mr C.B. Fry,

You neatly wiped the Cantab Light Blue eye

And well deserved the fashionable shout

Which hailed you for your centenary, not out.

For your exploits, what language is too tall?

At cricket good alike with bat and ball,

Full back at football (that’s Association),

At jumping lengthways – well, you lick creation …

Yes, Oxford surely boasts to-day in you,

Her most distinguished son, a Triple Blue’.

(2 July 1894)

19 Fry’s behaviour in the rain-affected match at Bristol proved controversial. As Gilbert Jessop recalled: ‘In order to provide some form of entertainment for the holiday crowd, W.G. arranged to play Sussex at “Soccer” on the practice ground, but on emerging from the Pavilion with his valiant band of warriors attired in hastily improvised accoutrement, he quickly found, from the attitude of the crowd, that such form of amusement was hardly at that moment to their taste. If it was fit enough to play football, it was fit enough for cricket, was their ultimatum, and they voiced their sentiments in no uncertain fashion. They came to see cricket, and if that was not provided, then – return their money. They harangued in front of the Pavilion in this wise in a fairly orderly manner for some time, until a remark by some orator in the crowd induced Charles Fry to perform an operation suggestive of ridicule, which all the world over is known to youth as “cocking a snook”. Then did the crowd arise in its wrath, and our progress along the narrow exit from the ground was not allowed to go unimpeded. In addition to their pressing attentions in this quarter, a certain section raided a portion of the playing area, devoting considerable attention to one portion which Spry, the astute groundsman, had hastily roped in. The sight of that twenty yards of turf was not good to look at when the game was resumed next morning, but as Spry had “laid the crowd a brick” by roping in an unused portion of the square, the real wicket remained unscathed.’ (A Cricketer’s Log, pp. 20–21.)

20 Quoted by McWhirter and Noble, p. 76.

21 Quoted by McWhirter and Noble, p. 76.

22 The Barbarians defeated Cardiff 14-0, beat Bath 9-6 and lost 19-3 to Newport.

23 The 1895 match did not mark the end of the Fry family’s involvement in Varsity cricket. Two of C.B.’s relatives were to appear in the fixture: his cousin, Kenneth Fry, played for Cambridge in 1904 and his grandson, Charles A. Fry, represented Oxford between 1959 and 1961.

24 See Hollis, p. 63.

25 Fry, p. 80.

26 Peter Placito, Wadham College Gazette, January 1990.

27 Mrs Yvonne Fry, interviewed by the author, in 1997.

28 From a letter to the author by Lord Briggs, in December 1997.

29 Isis, 27 June 1895.

30 The incident involving the lamp-posts was not the only example of C.B.’s over-exuberance as an undergraduate. Myers wrote that ‘Fry’s spirits often bubbled over at Oxford’ (p. 51) and, according to Isis, C.B. had a tendency to ‘kick over a row of railway lamps with great accuracy and dispatch’ (13 May 1893).

31 Like Myers, Fry sought to obscure the true reasons for such a poor performance in his Final exams. In Life Worth Living, he emphasised that ‘my vacations, instead of being available for reading (and it is during the vacations that one can really read), were occupied in tutorships and in modest efforts at saleable literature in order to meet my University expenses’. On the other hand, Maurice Bowra, a future warden of Wadham, was led to believe that Fry’s course was to blame. According to Bowra, C.B. told him he had been ‘made to read “a fellow called Mill”, whom he could not endure, and that if only he had been told to read F.H. Bradley, he would have done very well.’ (Memories 1898–1939, p. 143.)