Dirk MacDonald Wellham (born 13 March 1959) is a former Australian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played in six Test matches and 17 One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1981 and 1987. He is one of three players to score a century in both his first class and

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debuts. He was the first player to captain three Australian states having captained

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

during his career. As NSW captain, he won the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

in 1984–85 and 1985–86 and the McDonald's Cup in 1984–85.He is the nephew of New South Wales first-class cricketer Walter Wellham.

Early life

Welham was born in

Marrickville, New South Wales Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local government ...

and attended Ashfield Boys High School.

Career

After scoring two centuries for

in the 1980–81 Sheffield Shield, including 100 against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

on his first-class debut, Wellham was selected for the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

team to tour

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 ...

in 1981. On tour, Wellham scored 135 not out against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

and was chosen to make his Test debut in the sixth Test at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

. Wellham scored 24 and 103, thus becoming the 12th Australian batsman to score a century on Test debut. Wellham's century was criticised by some commentators for being too slow and costing Australia a chance of victory. After scoring his first 80 runs in under 90 balls,

Kim Hughes Kimberley John Hughes (born 26 January 1954) is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia, Natal and Australia. He captained Australia in 28 Test matches between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a rebel Australian team in a tour of ...

sent a runner onto the field to tell Wellham to take his time as the series had already been lost and the result didn't matter. Wellham's 103 took 221 balls and he was on 99 for 25 minutes. He was dropped from both the Test and state teams in the next season, but returned in 1983–84 as captain of New South Wales, winning the first of two consecutive Sheffield Shields that year and a McDonald's Cup in 1984–85. Wellham was recalled to the Australian team for the final Test of the 1985 Ashes tour and again for the final Test of the 1986–87 Ashes series scoring just 36 runs in these two matches. Wellham played 9 of his 17 one day international matches in the 1986–87 World Series Cup, the highlight being 97 against England at Sydney in a match more famous for batsman

Allan Lamb Allan Joseph Lamb (born 20 June 1954) is a South African-born former English cricketer, who played for the first-class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire. Making his Test debut in 1982, he was a fixture in the Test and One-Day Intern ...

hitting

Bruce Reid Bruce Anthony Reid (born 14 March 1963) is a former Australian international cricketer. A tall left-arm fast-medium bowler, Reid also played domestically for his home state Western Australia. Domestic career Reid played for Western Australi ...

for 18 runs in the final over to win the match. At first-class level, Wellham scored 8662 runs at an average of 42.25 and scored 16 centuries. In 1987–88, Wellham moved to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

for the 1988–89 season and captained the side for three seasons. In 32 matches for Tasmania, Wellham scored 1629 runs at an average of 39.73 scoring 15 fifties but no centuries. At the start of the 1991–92 season, Wellham moved to Brisbane to take up a teaching position with the

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in East Brisbane, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Q ...

. He joined the Eastern Suburbs club and was selected for

. Wellham scored 873 runs at 58.20 including two centuries, his best run-scoring season since 1982–83. On 11 December 1992, Wellham captained Queensland for the first time, thus becoming the first player to captain three Australian states. He captained Queensland in 8 first-class matches that season including their loss to NSW in the Sheffield Shield final. Wellham played three more matches for Queensland in 1993–94 before retiring from first-class cricket.

Character

Wellham had a reputation as an astute captain, having led NSW to consecutive Sheffield Shield titles in the 1980s.

Post-cricket career

Wellham previously served as Deputy Principal (Academic) at

. He has been appointed as Principal of Caloundra City Private School, commencing 2013. He received a PhD from Deakin University in 2009.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wellham, Dirk 1959 births Living people Australia One Day International cricketers Australia Test cricketers New South Wales cricketers Queensland cricketers Tasmania cricketers Cricketers who made a century on Test debut People from Marrickville Australian cricketers Deakin University alumni Cricketers from Sydney People educated at Ashfield Boys' High School