C. B. Fry

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Charles Burgess Fry (born 25 April 1872 in Croydon, died 7 September 1956 in Hampstead) was an English sportsman.

Related Topics:
25 April - 1872 - Croydon - 7 September - 1956 - Hampstead - English - Sport

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Fry is most noted for his cricket achievements, including six consecutive centuries in first-class matches and a first-class career in which he averaged over 50. His achievements also extended to soccer, where he played for Oxford University, Corinthians, Southampton including the 1902 FA Cup final, and England in an international match against Ireland; Rugby Union where he played for the University of Oxford, Blackheath and the Barbarians; and athletics, where he equalled the then world record of 23 feet 6 1/2 inches (7.18 metres) in 1892 (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 only stood until September 1894.

Related Topics:
Cricket - First-class - Soccer - Oxford University - Corinthians - Southampton - FA Cup - England - Ireland - Rugby Union - University of Oxford - Blackheath - Barbarians - 1894

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Away from sports, he was a deputy for the Indian delegation at the League of Nations and stood (unsuccessfully) as a Liberal candidate for parliament in Sussex. It is often stated that he was offered the throne of Albania when he was a delegate to the League of Nations.

Related Topics:
India - League of Nations - Liberal - Sussex - Albania

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During his time at Sussex County Cricket Club, he is well remembered for his batting partnership with Indian Prince Ranjitsinhji for both county and England. This partnership created a friendship which would last 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.

Related Topics:
Sussex County Cricket Club - Ranjitsinhji - England - 1920s

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In the 1920s, Fry's mental health, started to deteriorate. In India in the late 1920s, he had a major breakdown and became thoroughly paranoid. For the rest of his life, he dressed in bizarrely unconventional clothes and had frighteningly eccentric interludes. He developed a horror of Indians, including his friend Ranjitsinhji.

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In the 1934, he met Hitler and became mesmerised by him. He failed to persuade von Ribbentrop that Nazi Germany should take up cricket to Test level, but some Hitler Youth boys were made welcome at the Mercury training ship and Fry was still expressing enthusiasm for them in 1938. He died in 1956, a "grand old man of sport".

Related Topics:
Hitler - Von Ribbentrop - Nazi Germany - Hitler Youth - Mercury training ship

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Comedian and writer Stephen Fry is related to him, as revealed on the television panel game QI. It was also revealed (to much amusement) that, as a party piece, C.B. Fry was able to jump backwards onto a mantlepiece from a standing position.

Related Topics:
Stephen Fry - Television - Panel game - QI

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