Our man to close this week is Kenneth Farnes, and he was born on the 11th of July, 1911, in Leytonstone, Essex.
He was discovered, rather by chance, in his late teens, in 1930, and was signed up by Essex County Cricket Club. He had been playing cricket at Cambridge University, where he was training to become a teacher, and he did do just that, at Worksop College, and he was a dedicated teacher, his work always came before his sport.
In 1934, the year this card was issued, he played in the first Test against Australia, though England lost. He is not on this card just for that though, because also in 1934 he took eleven wickets for a hundred and thirty one against Yorkshire, the first time Essex had ever beaten mighty Yorkshire.
When the Second World War came, he signed up with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and was sent to Canada for training. He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 1st of September, 1941, and sent back home to England. He could have just become a pilot, but he had a bit of a dream, and wanted to fly the more dangerous night raids, which needed extra training. Therefore he was assigned to the 12th Operational Training Unit. based at Chipping Warden.
Then, on the 20th of October, 1941, he was killed, when the Vickers Wellington, tail number R1037, he was piloting on a night flying training exercise crashed, into a house in Chipping Warden, Northamptonshire, shortly after taking off. Though there is another report which says the aeroplane overshot the runway and was returning to have another attempt.
His trainer, another Pilot officer, Cecil Hayes, was also seriously injured, and died the following day, whilst Sergeants Brumby (a New Zealander) and Ralph were also injured, but survived. Mr. Farnes is buried at the Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey, whilst Mr. Hayes is buried at St. John the Baptist in Malden, Essex.
This set first appears in our original reference book RB.17, to the issues of John Player, which was published in 1950. It is described as :
- 61. CRICKETERS, 1934. Small cards. Fronts in colour, pebble surfaced card. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. Home issue, May 1934.
Error card - No.35. Initials on front (a) B.J. (b) B.A. Barnett (correct).
Like its predecessor, "Cricketers, 1930", it was only issued within the United Kingdom. However its follow-up, "Cricketers, 1938" had two versions, a home issue, with Imperial Tobacco and album clauses, and a Channel Islands issue, with neither of these things.
By the time of our World Tobacco Issues Index, in 1956, the listing was shortened, to :
- CRICKETERS, 1934. Sm. Nd. (50) ... P72-82
And this wording is identical in the updated version, save the card code, which is now P644-172