Ken Farnes
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Farnes was an English
cricket
er. He played in 15 Tests
from 1934 to 1939.
Farnes was born in Leytonstone
, Essex
, and was educated at the Royal Liberty School
in Gidea Park
. He made his first-class
debut for Essex
in 1930, aged only 19. He took 5-36 in his second county match against Kent
. He studied at Cambridge University, playing cricket in the University side for three years while also continuing to play for Essex. After graduating, he became a teacher at Worksop College
, which limited his opportunity to play for Essex.
Farnes was reduced to tears in 1932, playing against Yorkshire
at Scarborough. Earlier that year, playing at Leyton
, Yorkshire had beaten Essex by an innings and 313 runs. Farnes reinforced Essex for the return match. Bowling as fast as he could, he conceded 75 runs to Herbert Sutcliffe
and Maurice Leyland
in 4 overs, and Essex lost again by an innings and 8 runs.
In 1933, he took 41 wicket
s for Cambridge at a bowling average
of 17.39 runs; in all, he took 113 wickets at an average of 18.38 that year. He was called up for the 1st Test against Australia in 1934, at Trent Bridge
, taking 5-102 and 5-77, although England lost by 238 runs. He also played in the 2nd Test at Lord's, but was then injured, missing the next 2 tests and only playing again towards the end of the season.
After 2 further Tests on the tour to the West Indies in 1934/35, an injury to his knee prevented him from playing in 1935. The next season, playing for the Gentlemen against the Players, he took three quick wickets, bowling Gimblett, Hammond and Hardstaff, to leave the Players at 33-4. Although rain intervened, so the match was drawn, Gubby Allen
selected him for the tour to Australia that winter, where he played in the 4th and 5th Tests. His 6-96 in the 5th Test at the MCG
could not prevent Australia scoring 604 in their first innings, and so winning the match by an innings and 200 to take the series 3-2.
In 1938, Farnes bowled the Gentlemen to their second victory against the Players since 1918, taking 8-43 and 3-60, and he returned to the Test side for 4 Tests against Australia in 1938, and he toured South Africa that winter, opening the bowling in 5 Tests with Hedley Verity
.
A tall man of 6'5", and widely recognised for his fitness, he achieved considerable pace from a short run-up, and sharp lift from a good length. His height also enabled him to take many sharp catches close to the stumps. He was a confirmed tail-ender as a batsman. He achieved his highest first-class score of 97 not out against Somerset at Taunton in 1936, putting on 149 for the tenth wicket and just missing out on his century.
He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1939, and published an autobiography, Tours and Tests in 1940. He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
in the Second World War, and trained in Canada
. He was a sergeant
prior to being commissioned as a pilot officer
on 1 September 1941. He died shortly after returning to England, when the plane that he was flying crashed near Chipping Warden
in Oxfordshire
during a night-flying exercise. He is buried at the Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er. He played in 15 Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
from 1934 to 1939.
Farnes was born in Leytonstone
Leytonstone
Leytonstone is an area of east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is a high density suburban area, located seven miles north east of Charing Cross in the ceremonial county of Greater London and the historic county of Essex...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, and was educated at the Royal Liberty School
Royal Liberty School
The Royal Liberty School, once a traditional English grammar school, now a state comprehensive boys senior school in Gidea Park in the London Borough of Havering in east London, United Kingdom.-Admissions:...
in Gidea Park
Gidea Park
Gidea Park is a place in the London Borough of Havering, east London, England. Gidea Park is a part of Romford post town.-History:Gidea Park is the location of the "Romford Garden Suburb" constructed in 1910 to 1911 on the Gidea Hall and Balgores Estates as an exhibition of town planning...
. He made his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
in 1930, aged only 19. He took 5-36 in his second county match against Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
. He studied at Cambridge University, playing cricket in the University side for three years while also continuing to play for Essex. After graduating, he became a teacher at Worksop College
Worksop College
Worksop College is a co-educational day and boarding school for boys and girls aged 13 to 18 in England. Worksop is split into eight houses - Talbot, Mason, Portland, Pelham and Shirley for boys and Gibbs, Derry and School House for girls.- Origins :...
, which limited his opportunity to play for Essex.
Farnes was reduced to tears in 1932, playing against Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
at Scarborough. Earlier that year, playing at Leyton
Leyton
Leyton is an area of north-east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, located north east of Charing Cross. It borders Walthamstow and Leytonstone; Stratford in Newham; and Homerton and Lower Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney....
, Yorkshire had beaten Essex by an innings and 313 runs. Farnes reinforced Essex for the return match. Bowling as fast as he could, he conceded 75 runs to Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
and Maurice Leyland
Maurice Leyland
Maurice Leyland , christened 'Morris Leyland', was an English cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938 and proved himself one of the best left-handers of his generation....
in 4 overs, and Essex lost again by an innings and 8 runs.
In 1933, he took 41 wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
s for Cambridge at a bowling average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 17.39 runs; in all, he took 113 wickets at an average of 18.38 that year. He was called up for the 1st Test against Australia in 1934, at Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
, taking 5-102 and 5-77, although England lost by 238 runs. He also played in the 2nd Test at Lord's, but was then injured, missing the next 2 tests and only playing again towards the end of the season.
After 2 further Tests on the tour to the West Indies in 1934/35, an injury to his knee prevented him from playing in 1935. The next season, playing for the Gentlemen against the Players, he took three quick wickets, bowling Gimblett, Hammond and Hardstaff, to leave the Players at 33-4. Although rain intervened, so the match was drawn, Gubby Allen
Gubby Allen
Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen, CBE was a cricketer who played for Middlesex, Cambridge University, MCC and England. Australian-born, Allen was a fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, who captained England in eleven Test matches...
selected him for the tour to Australia that winter, where he played in the 4th and 5th Tests. His 6-96 in the 5th Test at the MCG
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
could not prevent Australia scoring 604 in their first innings, and so winning the match by an innings and 200 to take the series 3-2.
In 1938, Farnes bowled the Gentlemen to their second victory against the Players since 1918, taking 8-43 and 3-60, and he returned to the Test side for 4 Tests against Australia in 1938, and he toured South Africa that winter, opening the bowling in 5 Tests with Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 and in 40 Tests he took 144 wickets at an average of 24.37...
.
A tall man of 6'5", and widely recognised for his fitness, he achieved considerable pace from a short run-up, and sharp lift from a good length. His height also enabled him to take many sharp catches close to the stumps. He was a confirmed tail-ender as a batsman. He achieved his highest first-class score of 97 not out against Somerset at Taunton in 1936, putting on 149 for the tenth wicket and just missing out on his century.
He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1939, and published an autobiography, Tours and Tests in 1940. He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve consists of a number of groupings of individual military reservists for the management and operation of the Royal Air Force's Air Training Corps and CCF Air Cadet formations, Volunteer Gliding Squadrons , Air Experience Flights, and also to form the...
in the Second World War, and trained in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He was a sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
prior to being commissioned as a pilot officer
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...
on 1 September 1941. He died shortly after returning to England, when the plane that he was flying crashed near Chipping Warden
Chipping Warden
Chipping Warden is a village in Northamptonshire, England about northeast of the Oxfordshire town of Banbury. The parish is bounded to the east and south by the River Cherwell, to the west by the boundary with Oxfordshire and to the north by field boundaries....
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
during a night-flying exercise. He is buried at the Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey.