On 12 March 1823 William Fennex — the Buckinghamshire professional who had pioneered the running drive in 1803 — died at Buckingham aged sixty. He had been the first batter to advance down the pitch to drive the bowler before the ball pitched, a stroke that became the foundation of modern attacking batting. His death is the closing of an important Regency career.
Fennex had played major cricket from the 1780s to the 1810s and had been a regular for Middlesex and the MCC. His 1803 introduction of the running drive at Lord's had transformed batting technique. By the 1820s he was retired and living at Buckingham; he died there on 12 March 1823 of unrecorded illness. John Nyren attended the funeral and recorded the event in his notes.
1763
Fennex born at Buckingham
1803
Pioneers the running drive at Lord's
12 Mar 1823
Dies at Buckingham aged 60
The passing of one of cricket's quiet revolutionaries — the first man to leave the crease.
Fennex's running drive — pioneered in 1803, immortalised in his recollections to William Denison and his appearance in Nyren's memoir — is one of the most important technical innovations in the history of batting.
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1811-07-04
The 1811 Lord's season was the leanest of the Middle Ground years. With the Napoleonic blockade at its tightest, willow scarce, professionals diverted to militia service and the betting public's purses thin, only fourteen major matches were played at Lord's all summer. The 1811 season is the clearest measure of cricket's wartime contraction.
Officers vs Civilians
1812-12-15
By the close of 1812 cricket was being played regularly in both Madras and Bombay — the earliest documented fixtures in either Presidency. Garrison officers and civilian East India Company servants ran the matches; the Madras Gazette and Bombay Courier preserved the earliest scoresheets. The Calcutta game (documented 1804) had been joined by all three Presidency capitals.
Kent vs MCC
1813-09-09
On 9-10 September 1813 Kent played the MCC at the Vine, Sevenoaks — the first post-war major match at the historic Kent ground and the start of the Vine's revival as a regular major venue. The Vine had hosted little major cricket since 1808; the September 1813 fixture marked its return to the front rank.