William Fennex (born c.1764 at

Gerrards Cross Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and St ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

; died 4 March 1838 at

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

, London) was a famous 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 was a noted all-rounder and right-arm underarm fast bowler who played major cricket from 1786 to 1816. As a batsman, Fennex was reputed to be one of the first to use forward play and was said to be a good driver of the ball. As a bowler, at a time when only

underarm bowling Underarm bowling is a style of bowling in cricket. The style is as old as the sport itself. Until the introduction of the roundarm style in the first half of the 19th century, bowling was performed in the same way as in the sport of bowls, with ...

was permitted, he was said to have the highest delivery of anybody, "his hand, when propelling the ball, being nearly on a level with his shoulder".

E. V. Lucas Edward Verrall Lucas, CH (11/12 June 1868 – 26 June 1938) was an English humorist, essayist, playwright, biographer, publisher, poet, novelist, short story writer and editor. Born to a Quaker family in Eltham, on the fringes of London, Luca ...

, ''Cricket All His Life'', Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1950, p. 22–23. He began his working life as a blacksmith, and stood five feet ten inches tall, "muscular and abstemious". His playing career began with

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

in 1785 but he was chiefly associated with

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

and was keeper of the ground at

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

. He made 85 known first-class appearances until 1800 and then played occasionally, making nine more appearances from 1802 to 1816. He played for the Players in the inaugural

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

match in 1806.CricketArchive – scorecard of inaugural Gentlemen v Players match
/ref> He kept the Portman Arms inn at

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

for a time, and in old age was employed as a gardener and groundsman. Like

William Beldham William "Silver Billy" Beldham (5 February 1766 – 26 February 1862) was an English professional cricketer who played for numerous teams between 1782 and 1821. He was born at Wrecclesham, near Farnham in Surrey, and died at Tilford, Surrey. ...

, he provided

James Pycroft James Pycroft (1813 – 10 March 1895) is chiefly known for writing ''The Cricket Field'', one of the earliest books about cricket, published in 1851. Pycroft mythologised cricket as a noble, manly and essentially British activity ("Cricket is ...

with his reminiscences.

References

Sources

* * * 1764 births 1838 deaths People from Gerrards Cross English cricketers Middlesex cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Players cricketers Kent cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Hampshire cricketers Surrey cricketers Left-Handed v Right-Handed cricketers Essex cricketers R. Leigh's XI cricketers Old Westminsters cricketers Lord Yarmouth's XI cricketers Colonel C. Lennox's XI cricketers {{England-cricket-bio-1760s-stub