C.B. Fry

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roseniorhisgranisfromhull

roseniorhisgranisfromhull

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2011
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Hi fellas,

Just thought some of you might be interested in this piece on former Saints full-back Charles Burgess Fry. I'm sure most of you are well-aware of Fry, but for those of you who aren't, he spent 2 years at Southampton, in which time he played only 25 games, 8 of which came in the 1901/02 FA Cup run, in which he played in every game, including both legs of the final. He also earned his solitary England cap whilst playing for Southampton.

As well as being a talented footballer, Fry was a tremendous cricketer, track and field athlete and intellectual. He led England's batting averages for six years, and captained his country in six test matches. Fry set the British record and matched the world record in the long jump, and probably would have won a number of medals had he participated in the 1896 Olympics, but he chose to travel with the England cricket team on a tour of South Africa instead.

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, the article is here:

http://ahalftimereport.com/2015/09/08/britains-greatest-cb-fry/

All the best for this season. Cheers.
 
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I noticed the article was part 2 of 4. Part 1 was about a chap called Max Woosnam. He was pretty damn special too.

Back to Fry - there is one little factoid the article missed which was Fry's party trick. He could jump from a standing position, ie, no run up, turn in the air and sit on a high mantelpiece. Victorian/Edwardian mantelpieces were often around head and shoulder height.

As to his connection with Stephen Fry, it has been mentioned on QI a few times. Interesting that C.B also suffered mental issues.
 
Gary Lineker always said he'd have wanted to be a cricketer in another life...said it was a greater achievement to be the England cricket captain than the captain at football because they actually have a bigger influence on the game.

The Australian tennis player Kyrgios said he'd rather have played basketball, but was made to take up tennis which he doesn't enjoy that much. No wonder he's a grump...doing a job he doesn't love...like most of us really.
 
To play both to the highest standards in both is impossible in these days of professional sport - so its an either or situation. The only recent footballer I can think of who was a child prodigy of both was Phil Neville. He decided to stay at Man Utd juniors with elder brother. Am sure he earned a lot more money for choosing football but it was believed at the time that he would have made a better cricketer.
 
It's often forgotten that possibly England's greatest ever cricketing all rounder, Ian Botham, also played football, and made 11 appearances in the Football League for Scunthorpe United.
 
Matt Le Tiss could have been a professional in any bloody sport he wanted, even as a sprinter. He just chose to run like a fat drunk because it was a laugh.
 
Andy Goram, the former Scotland keeper, also played cricket for Scotland. When he was playing for Hibs at Aberdeen one time, he committed a nasty foul outside the box - the press called him Andy Gored-him next day.
 
Black said:
Matt Le Tiss could have been a professional in any bloody sport he wanted, even as a sprinter. He just chose to run like a fat drunk because it was a laugh.
Click to expand...

Tbf, he still holds the Junior Channel Island runs per season record. He was an excellent cricketer and could easily have turned professional.
The thing about C.B. Fry was that he did do all those things. There were no ifs, buts or maybes, he did them, and at the highest level of the time.
 
I think the family resemblance is fairly obvious.

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BTW, Stephen Fry's nose broke and that's why it's all Steve Bruce.
 
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