The Reverend Vernon Peter Fanshawe Archer Royle (29 January 1854 – 21 May 1929) was an English first-class cricketer who played in a single Test match for England in Australia and later became a schoolmaster.

[2][3] He was the third son of a surgeon, Peter Royle, and Mariann Fanshawe, and was educated at Rossall School and Brasenose College, Oxford.

[4] After Oxford, he returned to fairly regular cricket for Lancashire for two seasons and in 1878 he hit his highest score, an innings of 81 against Kent at Town Malling.

[6] In fact, it was Royle's fielding that won particular attention on this tour, and was remembered in glowing terms 50 years later: "He was ambidextrous, very quick on his feet and smart in return," said the obituary in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1930.

[7] He is generally regarded as being the greatest "cover point" of all time, and many books have described the fear he engendered in batsmen when on the pitch.