Bob Wyatt
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Robert Elliott Storey Wyatt (2 May 1901 – 20 April 1995) was an English
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
er who played for
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
,
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in a career lasting nearly thirty years from 1923 to 1951. He was born at Milford Heath House in Surrey and died at Treliske in
Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...
. A determined
batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...
and handy medium pace bowler, Wyatt made his
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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
debut in 1923. He played his first Test match against
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
in 1927. He was controversially, by replacing Percy Chapman, appointed captain for England's last Test against the dominant Australian touring team in 1930. He was unsuccessful and lost the role to
Douglas Jardine Douglas Robert Jardine ( 1900 – 1958) was a Scottish 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 ...
for the next few years. Nevertheless, he was one of the
Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
for 1930. Serving as Jardine's vice-captain on the 1932–1933 tour of Australia, Wyatt was in charge of an early tour match that Jardine sat out of, and became the first captain to employ the controversial
Bodyline Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their English cricket team in Australia in 1932–33, 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. It was designed to combat the extraordinar ...
tactic against Australia. After Jardine resigned following the political and administrative fallout caused by Bodyline, Wyatt was made captain again. He played in 40 test matches, fifteen as captain. He is said to have captained "soundly if without inspiration". Wyatt was noted for sustaining several injuries during his career but he had a "bulldog spirit". Most famously, a ball bowled by
West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West In ...
bowler Manny Martindale hit him in the jaw during a match in Jamaica in 1935. He was carried unconscious from the field with his jaw broken in four places. When he regained consciousness in the dressing room, his first action was to signal for a pencil and paper – when these were supplied he wrote that he attached no blame to Martindale and amended his team's batting order. Wyatt played his last Test against Australia at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...
in 1937. In his test career, he scored 1,839 runs at an average of 31.70 and took 18 wickets at an average of 35.66. In his first-class career he played 739 matches, scoring 39,405 runs at an average of 40.04, and taking 901 wickets at an average of 32.84. His highest innings in a test match was 149 against South Africa at
Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...
in 1935. He captained Warwickshire from 1930 to 1937 when he was replaced by Peter Cranmer. Wyatt did not like the way this was handled, but he nevertheless continued to play for Warwickshire through the 1938 and 1939 seasons. He served in the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After the war, he transferred to Worcestershire, where he said he had six happy summers. In his penultimate match in 1951, he faced the final ball of the game against Somerset at Taunton with Worcestershire needing six to win, and "he duly drove it high into the pavilion for victory".Smith, Martin ed. (2013) ''The Promise of Endless Summer (Cricket Lives from the Daily Telegraph)''. Aurum. pp. 10–12. He lived to be 93 years old and was England's oldest living Test cricketer before his death. He has a stand named after him at Warwickshire's home ground of
Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...
. He was the cousin of politician and broadcaster
Woodrow Wyatt Woodrow Lyle Wyatt, Baron Wyatt of Weeford (4 July 1918 – 7 December 1997) was a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster, close to the Queen Mother, Margaret Thatcher and Rupert Murdoch. For the last twenty years of his life, he ...
.


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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyatt, R. E. S. 1901 births 1995 deaths England Test cricketers England Test cricket captains English cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 20th-century English sportsmen Warwickshire cricketers Warwickshire cricket captains Wisden Cricketers of the Year Worcestershire cricketers Worcestershire cricket captains Free Foresters cricketers Royal Air Force cricketers People educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry England cricket team selectors Gentlemen cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers D. R. Jardine's XI cricketers H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Lord Hawke's XI cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers North v South cricketers L. H. Tennyson's XI cricket team Sir T. E. W. Brinckman's XI cricketers Sir L. Parkinson's XI cricketers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century English businesspeople Marylebone Cricket Club West Indian Touring Team cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club South African Touring Team cricketers Cricketers from Surrey Military personnel from Surrey Royal Air Force airmen