Percy Fender

Percy Fender Biography

They say Percy Fender was the greatest captain to have never led England. He was a man committed to the cause of Surrey. His tactics were immaculate and ruthless. It was accepted that Surrey did consistently well despite their feeble bowling attack. Fender imbibed into his men a culture of fitness, hired a baseball coach, and got special gear made.

There was more to him beyond that. To begin with, he was a Groucho Marx doppelganger, complete with receding hairline and moustache, and in later days, glasses (apparently used as a cure for headache), which made him a favourite among cartoonists.

Fender was good enough to lead a team consisting of three Gods, Einstein, Disraeli, Moses, and David in a dream team of mathematician GH Hardy. He was extremely popular among the Australian crowds, something very few Englishmen have managed to achieve.

He was eccentric at times, tried to do away with the concept of separate meals for amateurs and professionals, and picked up fights with the authorities, most famously with Lord Harris over multiple matters, including walking out to bat through the gate reserved for professionals.

When Surrey refused to accept his resignation in 1931, he found a way by deliberately getting into at least three controversies. The sack was ‘achieved’.

He was sacked. In other words, his status of a cult hero was perfectly justified.

His Test numbers were unspectacular, but 19,034 runs at 27 and 1,894 wickets at 25 at First-Class level make decent reading, especially if combined with his excellent slip fielding. His 1,586 wickets for Surrey are next to only the tallies of Tom Richardson and Tony Lock, and he is the only one to have done the 10,000 run-1,000 wicket double for them — despite a War-hit career that began with Sussex.

He rarely played a big innings, but the Tests where number of balls faced was recorded gave him a strike rate of 72. Against Northants in 1920 he smashed a 35-minute hundred, still the fastest in First-Class cricket. The number of balls faced is estimated at somewhere between 40 and 46. When Steve O’Shaughnessy equalled his feat in 1983 (albeit against joke bowling), Fender famously sent him a congratulatory telegram.

His most famous bowling performance his was 7 for 10 against Middlesex in 1927. At one stage the figures read 1.5-0-1-6. There were also two hat-tricks.

Fender became obsessed with Don Bradman when he travelled to Australia as a journalist in 1928-29. His prediction that Bradman would fail in England failed, but he spotted Don’s weakness against pace and bounce; he corresponded with Australian journalists on Bradman’s progress in domestic cricket, and helped formulate Bodyline.

An excellent goalkeeper, he also played football for Fulham, albeit in non-league matches. He revolutionised cricket journalism, replacing flair, often sacrificing flair for insights and data. He was also the first to use a typewriter in a press-box. He carried a movie camera, and made a 30-minute home movie on the 1928-29 Ashes tour — the oldest-surviving footage of Bradman. He was also a radio commentator.

He served in World War as a pilot. He started a wine business and launched his whiskey brand (both ventures bombed). He also founded Fender Brothers, a paper-manufacturing firm, with brother Robert. He served as a Conservative Member of the Parliament from 1952 to 1958 and became Deputy Lieutenant of London.

Unfortunately, he went blind in his later days. He passed away at 92, and was the oldest-living Test cricketer at the time of his death.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Percy Fender Batting & Fielding Averages

Career

Avg

100s

50s

Test

ODIs

T20s

World Cup

Percy Fender Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
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ODIs	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
T20s	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		--