Evelyn Maitland "Lyn" Wellings (6 April 1909 – 10 September 1992) was an

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian-born 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

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, who played for

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Life and career

Lyn Wellings was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, 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 Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

and going on to

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, where he studied

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

David Frith David Edward John Frith (born 16 March 1937) is an English cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of '' Wisden Cricket Monthly''". Life and career David Frith was born in Gloucester ...

, "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. At Oxford, he won

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

for cricket and golf. He had his most successful cricket season in 1931, taking 52 wickets with his off-spin at an average of 27.57. At the start of the season he took his best first-class figures of 6 for 75 against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, and in the final match he took seven wickets when Oxford beat Cambridge 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 ...

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. 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 The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' and the ''

London Evening News The ''London Evening News'' was an evening newspaper published in London beginning on 14 August 1855. It was cheap, at a halfpenny per issue. It changed its name to ''The Day'' but "gave a poor news service", and had failed by 1859. Sources ...

'', the latter between 1938 and 1973, with the exception of

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

service in the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

. He wrote the annual review of

Public Schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

cricket in ''

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 ...

'' from 1945 to 1972. Ian Wooldridge said that Wellings "dipped his pen in vitriol". 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 The Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) was the sports governing body, governing body for Test cricket, Test and county cricket in Great Britain between 1968 and 1996. The TCCB was established in 1968 to replace the functions of the Board of Con ...

, and that "the tone of his argument was so forceful that it usually upset more people than it won over".

, 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."

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

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wellings, Evelyn 1909 births 1992 deaths Surrey cricketers Oxford University cricketers Sportspeople from Alexandria English male journalists English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Egyptian emigrants to England Egyptian cricketers Egyptian people of English descent People educated at Cheltenham College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Honourable Artillery Company soldiers Cricket writers British Army personnel of World War II 20th-century English sportsmen