Kenneth Farnes (8 July 1911 – 20 October 1941) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. He played in fifteen

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

from 1934 to 1939.

Early life

Farnes was born in

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, S ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, and was educated at the

Royal Liberty School The Royal Liberty School is a secondary school for boys aged 11 to 16, located in Gidea Park in the London Borough of Havering, England. The school is situated on Upper Brentwood Road about 400 metres north of Gidea Park railway station, and a ...

Gidea Park Gidea Park () is a neighbourhood in the east of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, south-east England. Predominantly affluent and residential, it was historically within the county of Essex and saw significant expansion in the early 20t ...

. He made his first-class debut for

in 1930, aged only 19. He took 5–36 in his second county match against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He studied at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, playing cricket in the university side for three years while also continuing to play for Essex. After graduating, he became a teacher at

Worksop College Worksop College (formerly St Cuthbert's College) is a British co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils aged 13 to 18, in Worksop. It sits at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, England. Founded ...

, which limited his opportunity to play for Essex.

Career

Farnes was reduced to tears in 1932, playing against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

. Earlier that year, playing at

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

, Yorkshire had beaten Essex by an innings and 313 runs. Farnes reinforced Essex for the return match. Bowling as fast as he could, he conceded 75 runs to

Herbert Sutcliffe Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the tw ...

and

Maurice Leyland Maurice Leyland (20 July 1900 – 1 January 1967) was an English international cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938. In first-class cricket, he represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1946, scoring over ...

in 4 overs, and Essex lost again by an innings and 8 runs. In 1933, he took 41

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s for Cambridge at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 17.39 runs; in all, he took 113 wickets at an average of 18.38 that year. He was called up for the 1st Test against Australia in 1934, at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...

, taking 5-102 and 5-77, although England lost by 238 runs. He also played in the 2nd Test at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

, but was then injured, missing the next two Tests and only playing again towards the end of the season. After two further Tests on the tour to the West Indies in 1934/35, an injury to his knee prevented him from playing in 1935. The next season, playing for the Gentlemen against the Players, he took three quick wickets, bowling Gimblett, Hammond and Hardstaff, to leave the Players at 33–4. Although rain intervened, so the match was drawn,

Gubby Allen Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen CBE (31 July 190229 November 1989) was a cricketer who captained England in eleven Test matches. In first-class matches, he played for Middlesex and Cambridge University. A fast bowler and hard-hitting ...

selected him for the tour to Australia that winter, where he played in the 4th and 5th Tests. His 6–96 in the 5th Test at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

could not prevent Australia scoring 604 in their first innings, and so winning the match by an innings and 200 to take the series 3–2. In 1938, Farnes bowled the Gentlemen to their second victory against the Players since 1918, taking 8-43 and 3-60, and he returned to the Test side for 4 Tests against Australia in 1938, and he toured South Africa that winter, opening the bowling in five Tests with

Hedley Verity Hedley Verity (18 May 1905 – 31 July 1943) was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 ...

. A tall man of 6'5", and widely recognised for his fitness, he achieved considerable pace from a short run-up, and sharp lift from a good length. His height also enabled him to take many sharp catches close to the stumps. He was a confirmed tail-ender as a batsman. He achieved his highest first-class score of 97

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

against Somerset at Taunton in 1936, putting on 149 for the tenth wicket and just missing out on his century.

Later life

He was a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1939, and published an autobiography, ''Tours and Tests'' in 1940. He joined the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and trained in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He was a

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

prior to being commissioned as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

on 1 September 1941. He died shortly after returning to England, when the

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...

that he was flying crashed after takeoff from

RAF Chipping Warden Royal Air Force Chipping Warden or more simply RAF Chipping Warden was a Royal Air Force station located north-east of Banbury near the village of Chipping Warden, Northamptonshire, England. The station was built in early 1941 and opened in Jul ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

during a night-flying exercise, killing Farnes and Pilot Officer Cecil Hayes. He is buried at the

Brookwood Military Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regis ...

in Surrey.

Personal life

Farnes partner at the time of his death was a woman whose only daughter married the film critic

Barry Norman Barry Leslie Norman (21 August 1933 – 30 June 2017) was a British film critic, television presenter and journalist. He presented the BBC's cinema review programme, '' Film...'', from 1972 to 1998. Early life Born at St Thomas’s Hospital ...

.Cricket Web
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References

External links

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

, August 1981
Fast Action Hero

, 14 March 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Farnes, Ken 1911 births 1941 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Essex cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II People educated at the Royal Liberty Grammar School Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Gentlemen cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers People from Leytonstone Sportspeople from Essex Burials at Brookwood Cemetery English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers