While at school, Fender spent his summers with his grandparents in Brighton, which qualified him to play County Cricket for Sussex. When he left school in 1910, he attracted the interest of the club and, after success in both local cricket and second-team matches, he made his first-class debut on 21 July as an amateur in Sussex's County Championship match against Nottinghamshire. He played one other game that season, against Worcestershire, where he was shaken by the pace of two opposing bowlers. In the two games, Fender scored 19 runs and took one wicket.