Charles Burgess Fry (25 April 1872 – 7 September 1956) was an English sportsman, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer.

[1] John Arlott described him with the words: "Charles Fry could be autocratic, angry and self-willed: he was also magnanimous, extravagant, generous, elegant, brilliant – and fun ... he was probably the most variously gifted Englishman of any age.

"[2] Fry's achievements on the sporting field included representing England at both cricket and football,[3] an FA Cup Final appearance for Southampton and equalling the then-world record for the long jump.

In later life, he suffered mental health problems, but even well into his seventies he claimed he was still able to perform his party trick: leaping from a stationary position backwards onto a mantelpiece.

[11] His weakest subject was mathematics; he gained the headmaster's permission to study Thucydides instead and dispensed with maths for the rest of his academic career.

[16][17] Fry's status brought him into the orbit of people whose fame was already spreading far beyond Oxford, such as Max Beerbohm, the writer and caricaturist.

As well as writing articles (including one for Wisden), he did some private tutoring but although such activities reduced his debts they did not clear them and further increased the intense pressure on his time.

The result was Fry scraping a Fourth, bringing one of Oxford's most spectacular and successful careers to an inglorious end.

Apart from his other sporting achievements stated below, Fry was also a decent shot putter,[29][30] hammer thrower[29][30] and ice skater, representing Wadham in the inter-College races on Blenheim lake in the winter of 1894–95 and coming close to an unofficial Blue as a member of the Oxford team who took on Cambridge on the Fens,[31] as well as being a proficient golfer.

Fry's bowling action was criticised by opponents and teammates, and it was only a matter of time before he too was no-balled by umpire Jim Phillips.

Fry declined on the basis that there was no sense in recalling a forty-nine-year-old merely as a player, but stated that he would consider returning as captain.

As England were badly beaten at Nottingham the Selection Committee again pressed Fry to return for the Second Test but once again he declined, due to poor form.

"[51] For both Sussex and England, he was closely associated with the outstanding cricketer Prince Ranjitsinhji, the future Jam Sahib of Nawanagar.

[52] Their contrasting batting styles complemented one another (Fry being an orthodox, technically correct batsman, and Ranji being noted for his innovation, particularly his use of the leg glance).

[60] In the first contest between universities from different countries, Oxford v Yale at the Queen's Club, West Kensington, in 1894, Fry came third in the long jump and won the 100 yards.

[15][67] While still at school he also played for the famous amateur club the Casuals, for whom he found himself turning out in an FA Cup tie at the age of sixteen.

[34][35][68] In 1891,[69] he joined another famous amateur club, Corinthian, going on to make a total of 74 appearances for them between 1891 and 1903 scoring four goals.

[70] Although extremely proud of his amateur status, he decided that entering the professional game would enhance his chance of international honours.

He made his debut for Southampton (as an amateur) on 26 December 1900,[71][72] against Tottenham Hotspur and went on to help them win the Southern League title during that 1900–01 season.

[73][74][75] Fry's game was probably a little too refined for the hurly-burly of professional football, he never relished the aerial challenges that were more prevalent in the professional game, but having worked tirelessly to improve his heading ability he achieved his aim of international honours when (along with Southampton's goalkeeper, Jack Robinson), he was picked to play as a full-back for England in the match against Ireland on 9 March 1901 (played in Southampton).

"[91] In December 1908 he became the Captain Superintendent of the Training Ship Mercury,[92][51] a nautical school primarily designed to prepare boys for service in the Royal Navy; this was run by his wife Beatrice from 1885 to 1946, she having founded the school with her lover (and father of her illegitimate children), the rich banker Charles Hoare.

She subjected the boys, 'hounded from morn to night', to 'barbarities' including ceremonial floggings of extreme violence and forced boxing matches inflicted as punishment.

[97] In 1920 when his friend and former Sussex teammate Ranjitsinhji was offered and accepted the chance to become one of India's three representatives at the newly created League of Nations in Geneva he took Fry with him as his assistant.

[53] It was whilst working for Ranjitsinhji at the League of Nations, in Geneva, that Fry claimed to have been offered the throne of Albania.

[98][99] Whether this offer genuinely occurred has been questioned, but Fry was definitely approached about the vacant Albanian throne and therefore seems to have been considered a credible candidate for the post.

He had encountered mental health problems earlier in his life, experiencing a breakdown during his final year at Oxford, which meant that, although academically brilliant, he achieved a poor degree.

[118] He recovered enough to become a popular writer on cricket and other sports, and even into his sixties he entertained hopes of becoming a Hollywood star.

At one point when he was staying in Brighton he was supposed to have gone for a walk along the beach early in the morning and suddenly shed all his clothes, trotting around stark naked.

Some members of the Hitler Youth were welcomed at TS Mercury, and Fry was still enthusiastic about them in 1938, just prior to the outbreak of war.

[121][123] The English writer and critic Neville Cardus wrote the following words for Fry's obituary:[124] Fry must be counted among the most fully developed and representative Englishmen of his period; and the question arises whether, had fortune allowed him to concentrate on the things of the mind, not distracted by the lure of cricket, a lure intensified by his increasing mastery over the game, he would not have reached a high altitude in politics or critical literature.