Page:The Hambledon Men (1907).djvu/255

 first recorded match was for the Hambledon Club against Kent in 1786. He was a fine, free, and elegant batsman, hitting well from the wrist, and being also able to drive well forward. He was one of the first (or nearly so) who introduced the practice of forward play, the old cricketers before his time seldom or never adopting that style or going out of their ground to meet the ball at the pitch. He was also a very fine field and a fast bowler, with a short run up to the crease, and an easy action. For an underhand bowler, he possessed the highest delivery ever seen, his hand being nearly on a level with his shoulder when propelling the ball; and he was still bowling capitally in practice when between 60 and 70 years of age. His name appears in these pages as far on as 1826, in a match between Bury and Saffron Walden; thus from first to last completing 40 seasons. After 1806, however, his name is not found in the great contests of the day, except in one match (Robinson's benefit), in 1816. He was perhaps more noted as a single-wicket player than anything else, having been engaged in many of that kind of contest. He was thus altogether one of the 'cracks' of the day, though his average as a batsman will not be found so large as several others of his contemporaries. His height was about 5ft. 10in. and his weight about 13 stones; being very muscular, as well as an abstemious man. He said that he could walk all day without being tired if he did not exceed three miles an hour. The Sporting Magazine of 1836 has the following about this celebrity: 'Fennex, about half a century since, beat on Mitcham Common, alone and unassisted, the three greatest cricketers of the day. He raised himself to such eminence by his skill, that he once kept three hunters, and was the bosom friend of Oldacre, the illustrious huntsman of the Berkeley pack, who lived with the Earl of Winchilsea and the Tuftons. As a proof of the strength as well as the self-denial of this veteran, it may be mentioned that at the age of 75 he walked 90 miles in three days, carrying an umbrella,