Denys Wilcox (4 June 1910 – 6 February 1953) 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 and schoolmaster.

Career

Wilcox scored more than 1000 runs in his last season at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, then went up to

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He played three years for the university team, scoring a century in the

University Match The University Match is an annual cricket fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. First played in 1827, it is the oldest varsity match in the world. Until 2001, when first-class cricket was reorga ...

in 1932 and captaining them in 1933.''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' 1954, p. 931. He played for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

between 1928 and 1947, and made a few appearances for

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an England, English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the ...

in first-class matches after his Essex career ended, playing his final game in 1951. In 1946 he and Reginald Taylor set a record 8th-wicket partnership for Essex of 263 runs. He was joint captain of Essex from 1933 to 1939 and captained The Rest against an England team in a trial match for test selection in 1938. He played as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, spending most of his time on his duties as headmaster of

Alleyn Court Prep School Alleyn Court Prep School is a co-educational day preparatory school in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex for children up to age 11. History The school was founded in 1904 by Theodore Wilcox and first opened in September of that year. It was owned by the W ...

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (previously known as Milton, often abbreviated to Westcliff, and in the past spelt as Westcliffe-on-Sea) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, located within the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north sh ...

, which his father had founded in 1904. He was a considerable influence on the early career of

Trevor Bailey Trevor Edward Bailey (3 December 1923 – 10 February 2011) was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster. An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting. As the BBC reflected in his obituary: "His ...

, a pupil at Alleyn Court who also played for Dulwich School, Cambridge and Essex. Wilcox's son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, who also played for Essex, also later became headmaster of Alleyn Court. Denys Wilcox died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

in 1953 at the age of 42.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilcox, Denys 1910 births 1953 deaths English cricketers Essex cricketers People educated at Alleyn Court School People educated at Dulwich College People from Westcliff-on-Sea Gentlemen cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Essex cricket captains Gentlemen of England cricketers Schoolteachers from Essex Deaths from leukemia in England English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 20th-century English sportsmen