Nicholas Felix
Nicholas Wanostrocht, known as Nicholas Felix, was an English amateur "gentleman" cricketer, classical scholar, musician, linguist, inventor, writer and artist. He was one of the few players who – at his request – was routinely known by his pseudonym, Felix.
Early life
When his father died in 1824 he inherited the running of a school at age nineteen. He feared that the parents of pupils might think that cricket was too frivolous a pastime for a schoolmaster so adopted his pseudonym..Career
Felix was a specialist left-handed batsman, although he occasionally bowled underarm slow left-arm orthodox. He was a mainstay of the 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,Felix played for Kent from 1830 until 1852. He also appeared for Marylebone Cricket Club, and was a member of the All England Eleven.
Felix played in 149 matches and scored 4,556 runs with a highest score of 113. He played at a time when prevailing conditions greatly favoured bowlers and was rated highly as a batsman by his contemporaries.
He was the author of an instruction book: Felix on the Bat published in 1845. He invented the catapulta, as well as India-rubber batting gloves.