#william fennex

2 incidents tagged

Death of William Fennex — Cricket's First Innovator of Footwork, March 1823

n/a

1823-03-12

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.

#roundarm-era#william-fennex#obituary

⭐Mild

William Fennex Pioneers Running In to Fast Bowling — Middlesex v Surrey, 1803

Middlesex vs Surrey

1803-06-15

In a Middlesex v Surrey match at Lord's in June 1803, the Buckinghamshire professional William Fennex did something contemporaries called 'astonishing': he advanced down the pitch to drive the ball before it pitched. Until that moment batters had played strictly from the crease, blocking length balls and waiting for the loose ball to cut. Fennex's running attack is the first recorded use of the technique that became the foundation of modern off-side play.

#regency-cricket#underarm#lord-s-old-ground