Evelyn Rockley Wilson (25 March 1879 – 21 July 1957) was an English amateur

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

er, who played for

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, first recorded in 1817, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. Depending on the circumstances of each individual match, the club has always been recognised as holding ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Life

Wilson was born in

Bolsterstone Bolsterstone is a village in South Yorkshire, England, south of Stocksbridge, and 8.5 miles to the northwest of the City of Sheffield and within the city borough. It lies on the border of the Peak District national park. Bolsterstone had a pop ...

, Stocksbridge, Yorkshire, and educated at

Bilton Grange Bilton Grange is a preparatory school located in Dunchurch, near Rugby, Warwickshire. The present headmaster is Gareth Jones. The mansion which forms the main school was built in 1846 attached to an existing farmhouse and was a private family ...

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he graduated BA in 1901 and MA in 1905. An amateur whose main profession was as a schoolmaster for 43 years at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

(1903–1946), Wilson bowled slow right-arm spinners that move either way off the pitch, and batted well enough to score a century on first-class cricket debut, and another one in the annual

Varsity match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murrayf ...

. He played a little for Yorkshire from 1899, but after leaving Cambridge in 1902, he then played no first-class cricket for the next ten years, preferring, he said, to play three club matches a week rather than two county games. But after turning down an approach in 1913 by

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, where he lived, he was persuaded to rejoin Yorkshire, the county of his birth, and stayed with them until 1923, playing mostly in the August school holidays. He played 66 times for Yorkshire. He served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the army, being commissioned Lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade before transferring to intelligence staff work. He demobilised as Captain in 1919. In 1920, at the age of 41, he bowled so successfully that he finished fourth in the national averages, and was given leave from Winchester to tour Australia with the 1920–21

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) team, led by

Johnny Douglas John William Henry Tyler Douglas (3 September 1882 – 19 December 1930) was an English cricketer who was active in the early decades of the twentieth century. Douglas was an all-rounder who played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1901 to 1 ...

. In a disastrous series in which the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) a ...

won all five Tests, Wilson made his Test debut at the age of 41 years and 337 days, the second oldest debutant in English cricket (after

James Southerton James Southerton (16 November 1827 – 16 June 1880) was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1854 and 1879. After a slow start, he became, along with Alfred Shaw, the greatest slow bowler of the 1870s. He played in th ...

in the first Test match of them all in 1877). He scored five in each innings and took three wickets cheaply, but England still lost the match. Wilson ran into trouble on the tour for filing reports back to the '' Daily Express'' newspaper. As a result, when he subsequently encountered

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3 February 1851 – 24 March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay. He was also an English amateur cricketer, mainly active ...

in the Long Room at Lord's, the encounter was frosty. Harris offered him only the most cursory of handshakes, and Wilson observed, loudly enough for Harris to hear as he moved on, "Lucky to get a touch really, lucky to get a touch." E. W. Swanton, ''Sort of a Cricket Person'', Collins, 1972, p30. Known as a witty, self-deprecating man, Wilson is credited as an influence on several generations of public school cricketers at Winchester. Amongst his pupils was

Douglas Jardine Douglas Robert Jardine ( 1900 – 1958) was an English cricketer who played 22 Test matches for England, captaining the side in 15 of those matches between 1931 and 1934. A right-handed batsman, he is best known for captaining the English ...

. Just before the 1932-33

Bodyline Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. It was designed to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's leading batsman ...

series, Wilson was asked by a journalist what England's prospects were under Jardine's captaincy. "He might well win us

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

," Wilson said, "but he might lose us a Dominion." His brother, Clem Wilson, also played for Yorkshire and England, and an older brother, Rowland, played fleetingly for Cambridge University. Wilson died in July 1957 in Winchester, Hampshire, aged 78.

References

External links

Cricinfo profile including his Wisden Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Rockley 1879 births 1957 deaths Cambridge University cricketers English cricketers England Test cricketers Schoolteachers from Hampshire Yorkshire cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Military personnel from Sheffield Cricketers from Sheffield British Army personnel of World War I Rifle Brigade officers People educated at Bilton Grange People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 B. J. T. Bosanquet's XI cricketers A. J. Webbe's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers R. A. Bennett's XI cricketers