Oswald Stephen Wheatley (born 28 May 1935) is a former

cricketer 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 ...

who played for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

and

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, whom he captained from 1961 to 1966. Wheatley was born at

Low Fell Low Fell is a suburb of Gateshead situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. Built predominantly on sandstone, grindstone and clay, it is bordered by Sheriff Hill/Deckham to the east, Saltwell/Bensham to the w ...

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

. A tall, fair-haired right-arm fast-medium bowler, he came to prominence for Cambridge University in 1958 when he set the record for the most wickets in the university's abbreviated season with 80 first-class wickets for under 18 each. He played in the university holidays for Warwickshire with very limited success but in 1959 joined that county full-time, taking 100 wickets in the season though at a rather high cost. He repeated the feat in 1960, but at the end of the season was allowed to leave for Glamorgan, where he was appointed captain in place of

Wilf Wooller Wilfred Wooller (20 November 1912 – 10 March 1997) was a Welsh cricketer, rugby union footballer, cricket administrator and journalist. He was acclaimed as one of the greatest all-round sportsmen that Wales has ever produced. He captained G ...

, who had led the county since 1947. Wheatley formed a hostile new ball partnership with the

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), ...

bowler Jeff Jones for a few seasons and in six years as captain took more than 600 wickets at an average of less than 20 runs per wicket. He retired from the captaincy at the end of the 1966 season, and played only a few matches in 1967. But in 1968 an early season injury to Jones meant that Wheatley returned to play in 16

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

matches, bowling with such success that he took 82 wickets at a cost of under 13 runs each and topped the national averages for the season. He was named as a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in the 1969 edition of the almanack. Wheatley played only a few games in Glamorgan's Championship-winning season of 1969 and retired after one match on the celebratory tour of the West Indies the following winter. In all matches, he took 1,099 wickets at an average of under 21 runs per wicket. He was never allowed higher up the batting order than number ten (alternating in the last two places with Jones), and his career runs only just exceeded his wickets. In 1966 he went nine innings in a row without scoring. His highest score in purely county cricket was only 21, though in a festival match in 1961 for the Gentlemen he hit 34 not out and put on 55 for the tenth wicket with

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 ...

. In retirement, Wheatley remained prominent in cricket administration both at county and national level. He acted as a Test selector for

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 ...

and chaired

Test and County Cricket Board The Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) was the governing body for 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 Control for Test Matches (established in ...

committees, as well as being president of Glamorgan. He was appointed CBE in the

1997 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheatley, Ossie 1935 births Living people Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Cambridge University cricketers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Cricketers from Gateshead England cricket team selectors English cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Glamorgan cricket captains Glamorgan cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham Warwickshire cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year E. W. Swanton's XI cricketers