Charles Fox

Charles John MacDonald Fox (5 December 1858 – 1 April 1901) was an English cricketer. He played 80 first-class matches, mainly for Kent County Cricket Club, in a career that lasted from 1876 until 1893. A heavy scorer in club cricket, Fox played as an all-rounder in county cricket. Early life Fox was born in British India in 1858, the son of William and Rebecca Fox (née Richmond). His father was a school teacher at Murshidabad, and Fox was educated at Doveton College in Calcutta and, between 1870 and 1876, at Westminster School in London. He played cricket for Westminster between 1874 and 1876, scoring 87 runs against Charterhouse School in his first season and taking five-wicket hauls against the same opposition in 1875 and 1876. Cricket Fox made his first-class cricket debut for Surrey in June 1876 whilst still at school, playing against Gloucestershire at The Oval. He scored only four runs in the match, although his fielding was noted as "fine", and, despite playing other matches for the Surrey Club and Gentlemen of Surrey, this was his only first-class appearance for the county side. He played some club cricket for Crystal Palace Cricket Club in 1876 and 1877, but then returned to India where he lived until his father's death in 1884. After the family returned to England, Fox rejoined Crystal Palace and established a reputation as a good club cricketer, scoring almost 6,000 runs, including 14 centuries, between 1885 and 1888. He had qualified to play for Kent by residence by 1888, and played his first match for the county in June, appearing against Surrey at The Oval―his first first-class match for 12 years. He immediately made an impact, being Kent's top scoring batsman with 42 runs in a tight victory against Nottinghamshire in his second match later in June, before going on to score 93 not out on a difficult batting wicket against Yorkshire―an innings described as "altogether an excellent display of cricket".