Early Life
Fender was the elder son of Percy Robert Fender, the director of a firm of stationers, and Lily, née Herbert. Born in Balham, Surrey in 1892, he was encouraged to play cricket by his mother's family who were involved in Brighton club cricket, and from the age of eight he attended cricket matches to watch Sussex when visiting them. First educated at St George's College, Weybridge, then at St Paul's School, London, Fender did not excel academically, but was proficient in many sports.
At St Paul's, Fender began to attract attention as a cricketer. Awarded his school colours in 1908, he remained in the school team for three years. In 1909, he topped the school's batting averages, scoring a century in one match against Bedford School. In the same game, he was criticised by his schoolmaster for bowling lobs. Fender's success led to his selection for a representing Public Schools XI against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's. His success for St Paul's continued in 1910, but his school career came to an abrupt end following an argument between his father and the High Master of the school. The dispute concerned a cricket match which Fender had played without his parent's permission, and his father was unhappy that cricket was taking precedence over academic studies. Fender was removed from the school immediately; he still came top of the batting averages for 1910 but although selected, he was not allowed to play at Lord's that summer as he was no longer a schoolboy. Despite his successes, St Paul's cricket masters did not consider him a reliable cricketer; he was criticised for taking too many risks when batting and for experimenting with too many different styles while bowling. Fender's biographer, Richard Streeton, observes that "Fender's experiments were frowned upon from his earliest days but that already there was never any shortage of ideas in his cricket thinking."
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