International ORs

C.B. Fry >>
Henry 'Harry' Cursham >>
Henry Bunny Austin >>
Harold Abrahams >>
Chris Adams >>
Jon Batty >>
Martin Jones >>
Charlotte Craddock >>
Susie Gilbert >>
Tom Poynton >>

C.B. Fry, The Cross, 1885 - 1891

Charles Burgess Fry counts as probably England’s greatest sporting all-rounder. His achievements included playing soccer for England and appearing in an FA Cup Final for Southampton. As a student he equalled the world long jump record, and he played rugby for Oxford University, Blackheath and the Barbarians. He was also an outstanding cricketer: he captained the England cricket team without losing a Test Match and scored six centuries in successive innings.

Fry arrived in Repton in 1885 and boarded in what was then Forman House. It continues to serve as a boys’ house, now known as The Cross.

C.B. Fry left Repton in 1891 and died in 1956 after a distinguished career in journalism and public life. Such was his reputation that at one stage he was even offered the throne of Albania – an offer which he declined. On September 28 his ashes were interred at Repton Parish Church, close to the School, but his memory and inspiration live on and each year Repton makes a number of entrance awards recognising all-round achievement and potential which bear his name.

You can find out more about C.B. Fry via the links below;

Henry 'Harry' Cursham, The Hall 1875

Henry "Harry" Cusham is hardly a household name today but no player in history has scored more goals in the FA Cup. In a ten-year period, from 1877 to 1887, he scored 49. He got 48 in the Competition Proper and one in a Fourth Round Qualifying tie against Staveley. His biggest haul was six against Wednesbury Strollers in an 11-1 win. Henry achieved this record while playing for Notts County. He is also Countys unofficial top goalscorer of all time scoring 208 goals between 1877-78 and 1890-91, but only 53 came in competitive games.

Cursham accrued eight caps for the England national football team, the first of which came in a 3-2 victory against Wales in 1880. Cursham's first international goal came in just his second match, in a 13-0 win against Ireland. He scored another one in a 5-3 home defeat against Wales, and his final three came in a hat trick against Ireland on 23 February 1884; this was his final game for the national side.

Cursham's first-class cricket career began in 1880. He debuted in a draw against Surrey. His second and final match was against a team of touring South Africans, coming at the age of 44, some 24 years later. Cursham was a lower-order batsman for the Nottinghamshire team. Cursham's brother, Arthur was also a first-class cricketer and football player, picking up six international caps.
Henry "Harry" Cursham is the current top Goalscorer in the FA Cup and has held the record since 1887 with 49 goals. The closest anyone has come to breaking the record is Ian Rush when he scored his 44th FA Cup goal in 1998.

Cursham holds Notts County's all time FA Cup appearance record with 43 games played.

Henry “Bunny” Austin, The Orchard 1919-1924

Bunny Austin was the last male tennis player from the United Kingdom to reach the final of the Gentlemen's Singles at Wimbledon, a feat he achieved in 1938 (having also been losing finalist in 1932). He was also a finalist at the 1937 French Open and a championship winner at Queen's Club. Along with Fred Perry, he was a vital part of the British team that won the Davis Cup three times from 1933-35. He is also remembered as the first tennis player to wear shorts. He reached his first Wimbledon Final in 1926, just two years after leaving Repton in the men's doubles final.

Harold Abrahams, The Mitre 1916-1921

Harold Abrahams, CBE was a British athlete. He was Olympic champion in the Paris Olympics of 1924 in the 100m sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire.

Having already attended the Olympics of 1920 without winning a medal, Abrahams took gold in the 100m and silver in the 4x100m in 1924. Shortly before these games, he also set a new English Long Jump record that then stood for 32 years. He did not compete in the Long Jump in the 1924 Games.

A broken leg ended his athletics career in 1925 but he remained heavily involved in athletics and worked as an athletics journalist for 40 years. He was Team Captain of Great Britain in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. Later he was the timekeeper for Roger Bannister’s 4 minute mile.

Abrahams was immortalised in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film tells his story and that of Eric Liddell, another international athlete that competed in the 1924 Olympics.

Chris Adams, The Priory 1986-7

Chris Adams still holds all Repton’s batting records in our 1st XI cricket team. Chris made his first class debut for Derbyshire as an 18 year old in 1988, just one year after leaving Repton. His playing career then spanned twenty seasons totaling just under 20,000 first class runs with 48 hundreds. He won five Test caps for England and 5 caps in One Day Internationals. He captained Sussex to the County Championship in 2003, 2006 and 2007, and was one the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2004.

Chris Adams is now Cricket Manager at Surrey County Cricket Club.

Jon Batty

Jonathan Batty's appointment to replace Adam Hollioake as Surrey captain at the end of 2003 was a surprising move by a county who had become identifiable for big-name signings and high-profile players. Batty was one of the non-household names at The Oval, a journeyman pro who had made the most of circumstances to forge a place in a winning side. But his tenure at the helm was to last only one season, as he was replaced by the higher profile Mark Butcher. After graduating from Durham in 1993 he spent a season at Hampshire but was not retained and then trialed without success at Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Middlesex, Surrey and Somerset. He kept plugging away, playing for British Universities, Oxfordshire and Minor Counties, before he received offers for 1997 from Somerset and Surrey. He opted to be third-string keeper at The Oval behind Graham Kersey and Alec Stewart. Before Batty even arrived, Kersey was fatally injured in a car crash in Australia. With Stewart mostly away on England duty, Batty became a regular. "Someone else's terrible misfortune worked in my favour," he said. Mark Butcher's absence led to him being asked to open, and between 2001 and 2003 his Championship average rocketed from 16 to 35 to 57.

Batty equalled the world record for most catches in an innings with 8, against Kent at The Oval in 2004.

Martin Jones, The Cross 1997-1999

After representing England at all junior levels including at the Junior World Cup in 2001, Martin was selected for his first Senior International v Poland in January 2002, just two and a half years after leaving Repton. He is still a current international and his career has since included nearly 100 caps for England and 20 for Great Britain, taking in two World Cups, two European championships and the Commonwealth Games in 2006, as well as being England Hockey’s Premier League Player of the Year in 2006-7. Martin rejoined Repton in 2004 as a coach and has since taken the role of Director of Hockey here, where he has coached the Girls' 1st XI to five consecutive National Schools titles.

Charlotte Craddock, The Abbey 2005-2009

Following her performances for the gold medal winning GB U21’s at the Youth Olympics in 2007, at the age of just 17 Charlotte was selected to make her senior international debut for Great Britain against Argentina in November 2007, despite not yet having played for England seniors. She duly scored on her debut and played in a number of games over the next few months before being selected in the Great Britain Olympic Squad for the Beijing Olympics in August 2008, where she became Britain’s youngest ever hockey Olympian, and played in every game. Seven months after her return from Beijing, Charlotte starred in Repton’s fifth consecutive National Schools Title victory where she was not surprisingly the tournament top scorer. At the time she left Repton in July 2009, she had 21 GB caps and 3 England caps.

Susie Gilbert, Field House 2002-2007

Susie was Captain of Hockey at Repton in 2006-7 and led the 1st XI to the National Title that year. Just over a year after she left, she made her senior international debut for Great Britain against Germany in October 2008. Now an established international who has recently returned from the Champions Trophy in Australia, Susie has over 25 international caps. She has also attended the Youth Olympics twice and the U21 European Championships. Susie was Head Girl at Repton and attended her first Youth Olympics whilst still in the Upper Sixth.

Tom Poynton, School House 2006-2008

After completing his Lower sixth year at Repton, Tom was called up to make his first class cricket debut for Derbyshire aged just 17 against Middlesex in 2007. He was Captain of Cricket at Repton in 2008, leading the 1st XI to the National 20/20 Cup title, beating Dulwich College in the final. Tom was selected earlier in his career for England U17’s and this year was selected for England U19’s on their tour of South Africa and home series against Bangladesh. He remains a full time professional at Derbyshire CCC.