A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW

There was a ripple of pride among the cricketing folk of Hampshire with the announcement that Kevin Pietersen had been appointed as England`s captain. The absence of a roar of approval was partly due to the fact that those in charge of the national game seemed not to have had the courtesy to even consult Hampshire County Cricket Club in advance of their announcement. Also, as Kevin has only appeared in one Championship game and a handful of one-dayers for the county this season, his doubtless full-time occupation as England captain is likely to keep him away from the Rose Bowl for even longer.

No matter, I wish Kevin well as he starts his first day at the Oval office this very morning against his `native` South Africa - such sweet irony. Kevin has an English mum and he spent four years becoming qualified to play for England, so he is a legitimate choice even if he still retains the South African accent which, with great respect, has to be the most grating one in the world outside Birmingham.

Kevin`s appointment as the second Hampshire player to captain his country gave rise to the question as to who might have been the first. Painstaking research has revealed that the only other Hampshire cricketer to captain England was......CB Fry. And what a character he was.

A right-handed batsman, and in his early years a good, albeit controversial, fast-bowler, Fry captained the Gentlemen, Sussex, Hampshire and England scoring over 30,000 first-class runs averaging over 50: as captain Fry never lost a single Test Match. His 94 centuries included an unprecedented six in succession in first-class matches in 1901. After his retirement from the game he was once again invited to captain England, but declined, pointing out that making a 49-year-old captain would not provide a long-term solution to the team`s problems.

Fry also played football for Southampton, appearing in the 1901 FA Cup Final against Sheffield United, played football for England, gained no less than 12 blues at Oxford, held the world long jump record, played rugby for the Barbarians and would have played for England had it not been for an injury. With echoes of Norman Wisdom, Fry was offered the throne of Albania, but didn`t have sufficient `funds` to accept it. I could go on with his equally startling career outside of sport but one thing is clear. Kevin Pietersen has much to live up to, for Charles Burgess Fry (1872 - 1956) is indeed a hard act to follow. For much, much more on CB Fry, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._B._Fry