John Wells (5 January 1760, in

Wrecclesham Wrecclesham is a village on the southern outskirts of the large town of Farnham in Surrey, England. Its local government district is the Borough of Waverley. History It was once in the estate of Henry of Westminster and Blois the powerful 13th ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

– 15 February 1835, in Wrecclesham) was a famous English

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 striki ...

er who played for

Career

Wells was a top-class all-rounder who batted right-handed. He was a fast underarm bowler but it is not known if he bowled right or left-handed. He was a fine fielder who was good enough to keep wicket on occasion. Wells made his first-class debut in the 1787 English cricket season when he played for

All-England The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the Badminton World Federation, BWF's latest grading system, it was given BWF Super Series, Super Series st ...

''versus''

White Conduit Club The White Conduit Club (WCC) was a cricket club based on the northern fringes of London that existed from c.1782 until 1788. Although short-lived, it had considerable significance in the history of the game, as its members created the first Lord ...

in one of the earliest matches at the new

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

, which had just opened that season. He played until 1815. Wells played for the Players in the second

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

match in 1806.CricketArchive – scorecard of second Gentlemen v Players match
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Family

His brother James Wells, an occasional player, also represented Surrey. John married Hannah Beldham, sister of the legendary

William Beldham William "Silver Billy" Beldham (5 February 1766 – 26 February 1862) was an English professional cricketer who played for numerous teams between 1782 and 1821. He was born at Wrecclesham, near Farnham in Surrey, and died at Tilford, Surrey. ...

References

External sources

CricketArchive

, ''The Dawn of Cricket'', Electric Press, 1906 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, John 1760 births 1835 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Surrey cricketers Players cricketers Hambledon cricketers Hampshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Kent cricketers Middlesex cricketers Left-Handed v Right-Handed cricketers The Bs cricketers Surrey and Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Brighton cricketers R. Leigh's XI cricketers Non-international England cricketers West Kent cricketers St John's Wood cricketers George Osbaldeston's XI cricketers T. Mellish's XI cricketers

Career

Family

References

External sources

Further reading