| William Fox | |
| Country: | England |
| Fullname: | William Victor Fox |
| Birth Date: | 8 January 1898 |
| Birth Place: | Middlesbrough, England |
| Death Place: | Withington, Manchester, England |
| Club1: | Worcestershire |
| Year1: | 1923–1932 |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | FC |
| Matches1: | 163 |
| Runs1: | 6,654 |
| Bat Avg1: | 26.61 |
| 100S/50S1: | 11/26 |
| Top Score1: | 198 |
| Deliveries1: | 209 |
| Wickets1: | 2 |
| Bowl Avg1: | 68.50 |
| Fivefor1: | 0 |
| Tenfor1: | 0 |
| Best Bowling1: | 1–13 |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 89/0 |
| Date: | 1 August |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Source: | http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/29/29520/29520.html CricketArchive |
William Victor Fox (8 January 1898 – 17 February 1949) was an English sportsman who played both cricket and football to a high level.
Fox made his first-class debut for Worcestershire in May 1923, making 5 and 7 in an innings defeat against Hampshire at Southampton.[1] However, thereafter he contributed some useful innings throughout the season and ended not far short of a thousand runs, including his maiden century, an unbeaten 178 against Northamptonshire.[2] His average that summer was a useful 32.70, but his career came to an enforced (though temporary) end at the end of the season when Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) ruled that his qualification was invalid.[3]
Fox's cricketing career resumed in 1926, and from then until 1930 he was a regular in the Worcestershire team. In a usually weak batting side, Fox performed well, making his thousand runs in 1926, 1928 and 1929, and missing out by a single run in 1927.[4] His best season was 1929; in this year he made 1,457 first-class runs at an average of 31, with two hundreds and seven fifties. It was in 1929 also that Fox hit his career-best innings: 198 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.[5]
His form fell away in 1930, and after hitting 134 against Lancashire at the start of July[6] Fox made only one further half-century in 15 innings that year.[7] He played not at all in 1931, and although he appeared four times in 1932 he did nothing of any note in those games.
He was a strictly occasional bowler, sending down fewer than 35 overs in his career and claiming just two first-class wickets. His victims were both substantial cricketers: Yorkshire's George Macaulay in 1926[8] and Leicestershire's Alan Shipman in 1929.[9]
Fox died at the early age of 51 following an operation, leaving Mrs Frances Vera Fox and son Kenneth Fox.
Fox played football for Middlesbrough, Wolves and Newport County.