George Edward Charles Wood (22 August 1893 – 18 March 1971) 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 in three

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

in 1924.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part Two: 1919–1939'', pp. 162–164.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 2020-07-01.)George Wood
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2025-03-04. Lewis, p. 316. A

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

who habitually stood up to the stumps against all styles of bowling,George Wood

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. Retrieved 2025-03-04. he was educated at

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 Pembroke College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and played first-class cricket for

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 ...

from 1913 to 1920. He won Blues both before and after the First World War and proved his all round sporting talent by also gaining Blues in hockey and rugby.Wood, George Edward Charles, Obituaries in 1971, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''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 ...

'', 1972.
Available online
at

. Retrieved 2025-03-04.) He made his debut for

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1919, winning his cap in 1920, and played for the county until 1927. He turned down an invitation to tour Australia in 1920–21, but played for the amateur team led by

Archie MacLaren Archibald Campbell MacLaren (1 December 1871 – 17 November 1944) was an English cricketer who captained the England cricket team at various times between 1898 and 1909. A right-handed batsman, he played 35 Test matches for England, as ...

which defeated the Australians in 1921. Wood also appeared in matches for

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

from 1924 to 1932, and, with a smattering of matches for LG Robinson's XI (1913-1921), the Gentlemen (1920-1932), South of England (1920),

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 ...

(1921-1928),

CI Thornton Charles Inglis Thornton (20 March 1850 – 10 December 1929), nicknamed "Buns", was an English cricketer who played more than 200 first-class matches in the later 19th century, for no fewer than 22 different teams. He was also the founder o ...

's XI (1921), The Rest of England (1923) and

HDG Leveson-Gower Sir Henry Dudley Gresham Leveson Gower ( ; 8 May 1873 – 1 February 1954) was an English cricketer from the Leveson-Gower family. He played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Surrey and captained England in Test cricket. His school n ...

's XI (1936), made 101 first-class appearances in all. A right-handed lower order batsman, promoted on occasion to open, his only first-class century, 128, came against Free Foresters. His three Tests were played against the touring South Africans in 1924. The first was the remarkable match at Edgbaston in June which saw South Africa bowled out for just 30 in reply to England's imposing 438. The tourists rallied in their second innings, posting 390, to lose by an innings and 18 runs in the three-day match. Batting at number 10, Wood contributed just a single on debut before being bowled by Parker, and caught Dave Nourse from the bowling of

Arthur Gilligan Arthur Edward Robert Gilligan (23 December 1894 – 5 September 1976) was an English first-class cricketer who captained the England cricket team nine times in 1924 and 1925, winning four Test matches, losing four and drawing one. In fi ...

when South Africa followed on. England won the second Test at Lords by exactly the same margin, thanks to a double century by Jack Hobbs and centuries from Sutcliffe and Woolley. Wood caught South Africa's captain

Herbie Taylor Herbert Wilfred Taylor (5 May 1889 – 8 February 1973) was a South African cricketer who played 42 Test matches for his country including 18 as captain of the side. Specifically a batsman, he was an expert on the matting pitches which were ...

for 4, again from the bowling of Gilligan. Wood's last Test match was the third in the series, played at Headingley in July, which England again won in convincing style. Although run out for just 6, Wood took 3 catches and completed a stumping as England ran out winners by 9 wickets.

References

Bibliography

*Lewis P (2014) ''For Kent and Country''. Brighton: Reveille Press.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, George 1893 births 1971 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 20th-century English sportsmen English cricketers English rugby union players Free Foresters cricketers Gentlemen cricketers H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Kent cricketers L. G. Robinson's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers People educated at Cheltenham College People from Blackheath, London Cricketers from the Royal Borough of Greenwich Cricketers from the London Borough of Lewisham Wicket-keepers Rugby union players from the London Borough of Lewisham