Charles Fry

Charles Anthony Fry (14 January 1940 – 27 October 2024) was an English first-class cricketer and cricket administrator.

Life and career

The son of the cricketer Stephen Fry and the grandson of the sportsman C. B. Fry, Charles Fry was born in January 1940 at Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire. He was educated at Repton School, before matriculating to Trinity College, Oxford.<ref name="HANTS">Template:Cite web</ref>

While studying at Oxford, Fry played first-class cricket for Oxford University Cricket Club, making his debut for the club against Yorkshire at Oxford in 1959.<ref name="FCM">Template:Cite web</ref> He scored 576 runs at an average of 26.18 in debut season,<ref name="FCBAT">Template:Cite web</ref> including a maiden century against the Free Foresters, sharing an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 256 with Abbas Ali Baig which remained a first-class record for the fifth wicket for Oxford until 2017, when it was broken by Dan Escott's and Matthew Naylor's partnership of 267.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He gained his blue in this season, when he played against Cambridge University in The University Match at Lord's.<ref name="FCM"/><ref name="HANTS"/> The Oxford side of 1959 was considered the last great Oxford University side, with E. W. Swanton proffering that it was good enough to finish in the top half of the County Championship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The following season, Fry made fifteen first-class appearances for Oxford in 1960 and made his second appearance in The University Match,<ref name="FCM"/> which gained him his second blue.<ref name="HANTS"/> In his season, he scored 642 runs for Oxford and made his second century.<ref name="FCBAT"/> Later in the season, he made five first-class appearances for Hampshire in the County Championship,<ref name="FCM"/> scoring 134 runs with a highest score of 38.<ref name="FCBAT"/> Against Sussex at Bournemouth, he was notably bowled by Robin Marlar, who would later become one of his successors to the presidency of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He followed in the footsteps of both his father and grandfather, C. B. Fry in playing for Hampshire. As of Template:Year, this remains the only instance of three generations of one family playing for the county.<ref name="HANTS"/> Fry did not, however, feature for Hampshire in their County Championship winning campaign the following season.

Fry played his third and final season for Oxford University in 1961,<ref name="FCM"/> making twelve appearances and scoring 358 runs at an average of 18.84; his highest score in this season was 61.<ref name="FCBAT"/> In his final year, he made his third appearance in The University Match and thus, gained his third blue.<ref name="HANTS"/> 41 of his 50 first-class appearances came for Oxford, with him scoring 1,576 runs for the university at an average of 24.24.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The following season, having graduated from Oxford, he appeared twice for Northamptonshire against Cambridge University at Northampton, and Essex in the County Championship at Colchester.<ref name="FCM"/> He later appeared twice for the Free Foresters in first-class cricket, against Oxford University in 1964 and 1968.<ref name="FCM"/>

Fry had a long association with the MCC,<ref name="MCC">Template:Cite web</ref> succeeding Sir Tim Rice as its president in 2003.<ref name="HANTS"/> His tenure was not without controversy, with critics in the MCC claiming he ran club affairs akin to a dictator.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the end of his twelve-month presidency, he was succeeded by Tom Graveney, who was the first former professional cricketer to hold the post.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition to holding the presidency, Fry was chairman of both the MCC and the MCC Foundation.<ref name="MCC"/>

Fry worked in the financial sector, inventing and launching many products as an investment entrepreneur. He launched Johnson Fry, a mortgage and life insurance broker, in 1969. When he was forced out as chief executive, he started Pinder Fry & Benjamin, a firm of financial advisers, eventually retiring in 2005. He died from complications of Parkinson’s disease at home in London, on 27 October 2024, at the age of 84.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

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