Nicholas Felix

Nicholas Felix (5 October 1804 – 3 September 1876), actual name Nicholas Wanostrocht, was an English amateur ("Gentleman") cricketer. He was one of the few players who – at his request – was routinely known by his pseudonym, Felix. When his father died in 1824 he had inherited the running of his school, aged only nineteen, and he was afraid that the parents of pupils might think that cricket was too frivolous a pastime for a schoolmaster.

Nicholas Felix

Personal information
Full name	Nicholas Wanostrocht
Born	(1804-10-05)5 October 1804 Camberwell, London, England
Died	3 September 1876(1876-09-03) (aged 71) Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Slow left arm orthodox
Role	Batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1834–1852	Kent
1846–1852	Surrey
1830	Marylebone Cricket Club
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 149 Runs scored 4,556 Batting average 18.15 100s/50s 2/15 Top score 113 Balls bowled 124+ Wickets 9 Bowling average 5 wickets in innings 10 wickets in match Best bowling 3/? Catches/stumpings 112/–
Source: CricketArchive, 3 September 1876

Frontispiece for Felix on the Bat by George Frederic Watts

Felix was a specialist left-handed batsman, though he did occasionally bowl underarm slow left-arm orthodox. Felix was a mainstay of the great Kent team of the mid-19th century alongside such players as Alfred Mynn, Fuller Pilch, William Hillyer and Ned Wenman. In the words of the famous elegy, best loved of Bernard Darwin,

And with five such mighty cricketers 'twas but natural to win

As Felix, Wenman, Hillyer, Fuller Pilch and Alfred Mynn.

Felix played for Kent from 1830 until 1852. He also appeared for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and was a popular member of the All-England Eleven.

In his overall first-class career, Felix played in 149 matches and had 264 innings including 13 not out. He scored 4,556 runs at 18.15 with a highest score of 113. He made 2 centuries, 15 fifties and took 112 catches. It should be remembered when studying his batting average that he played at a time when prevailing conditions greatly favoured bowlers. Felix was rated very highly by his contemporaries.

He was the author of a famous instruction book: Felix on the Bat, Baily Bros, 1845. He also invented the Catapulta (a bowling machine) as well as India-rubber batting gloves. A man of many talents, he was also a classical scholar, musician, linguist, inventor, writer and artist.

Felix died at Wimborne Minster in Dorset and is buried in Wimborne cemetery. Ten yards from his grave is the grave of another cricketer, Montague John Druitt, better known as a prime suspect in the Jack the Ripper crimes.