Walter Fellows
Walter Fellows (23 February 1834, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire – 23 July 1901, Toorak, Melbourne) was an English amateur cricketer who later became a clergyman in Australia. He was the brother of Harvey Fellows, who also played first-class cricket.
Cricket player
Walter Fellows was an all-rounder who was first noted as a schoolboy cricketer at Westminster School.[1] In first-class cricket, he was mainly associated with Oxford University and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He played for several predominantly amateur teams including the Gentlemen in the Gentlemen v Players series. He had a reputation as a "terrific and very successful hitter".[2] Fellows' name has appeared in the "records" section of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for many years under the heading "Record Hit" with the same wording: "The Rev. W. Fellows, while at practice on the Christ Church ground at Oxford in 1856, drove a ball bowled by Charles Rogers 175 yards from hit to pitch."[3] A note reproduced in an Australian newspaper in 1890 states that Fellows at the time was 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 17 stones 4 pounds.[4]
Fellows made 24 known appearances in first-class matches from 1853 to 1857.[5] He played in the University match for Oxford University against Cambridge University as a lower middle-order batsman and a bowler for four years from 1854 to 1857, making important batting contributions in 1854, 1856 and 1857 and having some limited success as a bowler in 1855 and 1856; he appeared in the Gentlemen v Players matches at Lord's from 1855 to 1857.[6]
Later career
Fellows became a clergyman and went to Australia, where he became the first vicar of St John's Church, Toorak.[7] In Australia, he played for the Melbourne Cricket Club; a report in an Australian newspaper in 1878 indicates that Fellows was discouraged from playing in major matches by his bishop, Charles Perry, but that the retirement of Perry brought about a more permissive attitude from the new incumbent, James Moorhouse, and Fellows was able to resume.[8]
References
- ^ Altham, p.111.
- ^ Altham, p.115.
- ^ For example: "Miscellaneous Records". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (2011 ed.). Wisden. p. 1475.
- ^ "Sporting Intelligence". Bairnsdale Advertiser and Tambo and Omeo Chronicle. Bairnsdale, Victoria. 13 September 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
- ^ "Player Profile: Walter Fellows". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
- ^ "First-Class Matches Played by Walter Fellows". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
- ^ "St John's Toorak". Adelaide Advertiser and Register. Adelaide. 18 June 1931. p. 11. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
- ^ "A Reverend Cricketer". Australian Town & Country Journal. New South Wales. 12 January 1878. p. 35–36. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
Sources
- Altham, H S (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin.
External links
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