Today marks the birthday of one of the greatest sporting all-rounder from England. C. B Fry was born on 25th April 1872. He was an English test captain who also represented his country in football and athletics. He had twelve Oxford blues for his sporting achievements and was natural in many sports like Rugby, Tennis, Boxing, Golf, Swimming, and others including the above mentioned three.
Fry once was the holder of the British record for the long jump which was equal to the then world record. He played both armature and professional football and even took part in FA cup final for Southampton.
However, Fry's first love was cricket and that is where he got his maximum fame. He was a leading run scorer for that era and scored more than 30,000 first-class runs in those dangerous conditions with 94 first-class hundreds. He and Ranjit Singhji were the two Pillars of Sussex cricket during the beginning of the twentieth century. Fry achieved the highest average in six different county seasons and also completed 2000 plus runs in a season for quite a few times. In his early days, he was also a handy medium pace bowler and had quite a few memorable performances.
In 26 test matches for England, he scored 1,223 runs with two centuries. He also captained England, most notably in the triangular tournament in 1912 which England finished victorious. He scored two test centuries, one against Australia and the second one against South Africa along with other special innings throughout his career.
Outside cricket, Fry took part in politics, teaching, writing, editing, publishing, and broadcasting and even got a chance to get the kingdom of Albania. But cricket remained always special as he followed the game till quite late ages. This multi-talented gentleman passed away in 1956.
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