Herbert Fox

Herbert Francis Fox (1 August 1858 – 20 January 1926) was an English cricketer who made 10 first-class appearances for Somerset County Cricket Club between 1882 and 1891.[1] He later played for Oxfordshire and Suffolk in the Minor Counties Championship.[2]

Herbert Fox

Personal information
Full name	Herbert Francis Fox
Born	1 August 1858 Brislington, Somerset, England
Died	20 January 1926 (aged 67) Denmark Hill, London, England
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Left-arm (unknown style)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1882–1891	Somerset
First-class debut	8 June 1882 Somerset v Lancashire
Last First-class	20 July 1891 Somerset v Gloucestershire
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 10 Runs scored 133 Batting average 7.82 100s/50s 0/0 Top score 31 Catches/stumpings 5/–
Source: CricketArchive, 5 March 2011

Life and career

Herbert Francis was the fourth son of Francis Ker and Mary Fox. He attended Clifton College, who he represented in a number of cricket matches in 1876 and 1877.[3] He continued his education at University College, Oxford. He married Rachel Mary Garrett on 27 August 1892 in Bathwick, Taunton, Somerset.[4] He tutored at Brasenose College,[5] and later edited a piece in the Westminster Gazette entitled 'Renderings into Greek and Latin verse', in which readers submitted Latin and Greek verse.[6]

Cricket career

Having played for Clifton College, Fox made his first appearance for Somerset County Cricket Club in August 1877, playing for the "Gentlemen of Somerset" against a similarly named Devon side. Batting at number nine, Fox scored a duck in his only innings.[7] He continued to play for Somerset in the following years, during which time they played second-class cricket. His batting was inconsistent during these years; he failed to score as many as 20 runs in a single innings at all for Somerset during 1877 and 1878, but in 1879 he scored three half-centuries.[7] His highest score for Somerset came in a second-class match during 1881, when he scored 89 runs against Gloucestershire.[7]

He made his first-class debut in 1882, playing in Somerset's first-ever match at this level. He never scored 50 runs or more in a single innings in first-class cricket, his highest score being the 31 he reached against Hampshire in his second first-class match.[7] He played irregularly for Somerset, making four appearances in 1882, three the following season and two in 1884. He continued to play for the county after they lost their first-class status, between 1886 and 1890, but only played once more after they had regained it, appearing in his final first-class match, against Gloucestershire in 1891.[7] He continued to play cricket after this, appearing for Incogniti, Lansdown and the Marylebone Cricket Club. In the early twentieth century, he made a small number of appearances in the Minor Counties Championship, playing three times for Oxfordshire in 1902, for whom he scored a century and a 99, and twice for Suffolk in 1908.[7]

References

1. "First-Class Matches played by Herbert Fox (10)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
2. "Minor Counties Championship Matches played by Herbert Fox (5)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
3. "Other matches played by Herbert Fox (39)". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
4. Visitation of England and Wales (1893–1921), Howard, Joseph Jackson, (21 volumes. London: [Joseph Jackson Howard], 1893–1921), FHL book 942 D23h., vol. 5 p. 143.
5. "History of Pullen's Lane: Mendip House". HEADINGTON, OXFORD. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
6. Fox, Herbert Francis (1906). "Westminster versions : renderings into Greek and Latin verse, reprinted from the 'Westminster Gazette'". Thornton & Son. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
7. "Player Oracle Reveals Results: HF Fox". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 March 2011.