Evelyn Wellings

Evelyn Maitland "Lyn" Wellings (6 April 1909 – 10 September 1992) was an Egyptian-born English cricketer and journalist, who played for Oxford University and Surrey.[1]

Lyn Wellings
Personal information
Full name
Evelyn Maitland Wellings
Born(1909-04-06)6 April 1909
Sidi Gaber, Alexandria, Egypt
Died10 September 1992(1992-09-10) (aged 83)
Basingstoke, Hampshire, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm off-spin
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1928 – 1931Oxford University
1931Surrey
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 36
Runs scored 836
Batting average 20.39
100s/50s 1/4
Top score 125
Balls bowled 7226
Wickets 108
Bowling average 30.14
5 wickets in innings 5
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 6/75
Catches/stumpings 10/–
Source: Cricinfo, 25 January 2017

Life and career

Lyn Wellings was born in Alexandria, Egypt, where his father was a tea merchant. He was sent to England for his education at the age of six, beginning at a prep school in Bournemouth and going on to Cheltenham College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he studied Classics.[2][3] At Oxford, he won blues for cricket and golf.[2]

He had his most successful cricket season in 1931, taking 52 wickets with his off-spin at an average of 27.57.[4] At the start of the season he took his best first-class figures of 6 for 75 against Leicestershire,[5] and in the final match he took seven wickets when Oxford beat Cambridge in the University Match at Lord's.[6]

After a brief period as a schoolmaster, Wellings became a trenchant cricket correspondent, usually with the by-line E. M. Wellings, writing for the Daily Mirror and the London Evening News, the latter between 1938 and 1973,[7] with the exception of war service in the Honourable Artillery Company.[3] He wrote the annual review of Public Schools cricket in Wisden from 1945 to 1972.[7]

Ian Wooldridge said that Wellings "dipped his pen in vitriol".[7] His Wisden obituary noted that he attacked one-day cricket, overseas players in county teams, faulty technique, the isolation of South African cricket, and anything to do with the Test and County Cricket Board, and that "the tone of his argument was so forceful that it usually upset more people than it won over".[7] David Frith, however, defended Wellings, saying that "his attacks on the game's adverse trends and ill-conceived pieces of administration were the compulsion of a man whose regard for cricket was unusually deep", and came from someone who had himself played the game well and was "an outstanding analyst". Frith added, "Wellings gave every impression of enjoying his infamous reputation."[2]

Books
  • No Ashes for England 1951
  • Meet the Australians 1953
  • The Ashes Retained 1955
  • The Ashes Thrown Away: The M.C.C. Tour of Australia 1958-59 1959
  • Dexter versus Benaud: M.C.C. Tour of Australia 1962-3 1963
  • Simpson's Australians: The England Tour 1964 1964
  • A History of County Cricket: Middlesex 1972
  • Vintage Cricketers 1983

References
  1. "Evelyn Wellings". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  2. David Frith, "The Right of a Writer to Criticise", in Frith on Cricket: Half a Century of Writing, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, 2010, pp. 244–45.
  3. Chandler, Martin (19 April 2020). "He Dipped His Pen in Vitriol". Cricket Web. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  4. "First-class Bowling in Each Season by Evelyn Wellings". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  5. "Oxford University v Leicestershire 1931". Cricinfo. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  6. "Oxford University v Cambridge University 1931". Cricinfo. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  7. "Obituaries in 1992". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. John Wisden & Co. 1993. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
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