KENNETH FARNES KILLED

Southland Times, Issue 24574, 24 October 1941, Page 5

KENNETH FARNES KILLED

(8.0.W.) RUGBY, October 22. The Test cricketer, Kenneth Fames, who is a member of the Royal • Air Force, has been killed. He returned from Canada a fortnight ago after the completion of his training. Fames, who was one of Wisden's "Five Cricketers of the Year” in 1939, was essentially a natural cricketer. In the 1936 Gentlemen v. Players match he caused a sensation by what was regarded as the fastest bowling seen at Lord’s since the time of C. J. Kortright. When he toured Australia with the M.C.C. team in the 1936-37 season he played in only two Tests, but took six wickets for 96 runs in an innings of 604 in the fifth Test, and was the most consistent bowler of the tour. Perfectly proportioned, he was just under 6ft sin and weighed 15st 61b, he sent the ball down from well over Bft and on a hard wicket his deliveries were liable to rise sharply. For a man of his speed Fames took what is nowadays considered a short run—one of 11 paces—but he quickly got into his stride and, when delivering the ball, was moving at a great pace.