Evans William Image 1 Oxford University 1903

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Born in South Africa, all rounder William “W.H.B.” Evans was the oldest of five children born into a family with a long history in the colonial service in India and South Africa, his grandfather William Evans was Deputy Surgeon General and Inspector General of hospitals in India in the mid-1800’s.

W.H.B. Evans was educated at Malvern College where he joined the cricket team in 1896. A right-hand batsman and right-arm fast bowler, he was in the Malvern College First Eleven from 1898 to 1901, being captain in his last year, Wisden states that “he must have been about the best public school cricketer in 1901, as he headed the Malvern batting with an average of 51, and took 53 wickets.” He went up to study at Oriel College, Oxford from 1901 to 1905, during which time he won his Blue for cricket while still a freshman.

He made his first class debut for Worcestershire against Sussex in 1901 and took two wickets, his first victim being C.B. Fry. Evans’ second innings 53 also proved important, as the game ended in a draw with Worcestershire nine wickets down. In five further matches for the County he took only one more wicket, but he scored 107 against Gloucestershire at the end of August. Worcestershire’s 342 run victory in that game remains (as of April 2007) their largest ever in terms of runs.

In 1902 Evans played mostly for Oxford University, hitting his career best of 142 against Sussex in June, but he also appeared several times for his new County, Hampshire. In all he made 609 first class runs at 29.00 and took 18 wickets at 28.44. The following season, as the University’s captain, his batting was less productive (he averaged only 19 and did not score a century) but he took 50 wickets, his highest season’s aggregate, at 18.08, including hauls for Oxford of 7-41 (his career best) against Somerset and 7-43 against Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.). He also made the first of his five appearances in Gentlemen v Players matches.

1904, when he continued to captain Oxford University, was Evans’ best season with the bat, as in 19 innings he hit 861 runs at 47.83 including two hundreds and seven fifties. He took 34 wickets at a shade under 32 runs apiece, and returned nearly identical figures the following season, although this time his batting was slightly less productive.

On leaving Oxford in 1905 Evans joined the Egyptian Civil Service which resulted in fewer opportunities to play first-class cricket, and causing him to miss the next three seasons. Had he continued, Wisden considered it “quite likely that he would have had the distinction of playing for England.”

He made something of a return to the game in 1909, still with Hampshire, and claimed 32 first class wickets at 18.59, including figures of 7-59 for his County against Gloucestershire (his batting was less good: 360 runs at 24). He played twice for the Gentlemen in July, but was then absent for more than a year, returning only at the end of the 1910 season for two final County Championship matches, in which he could manage only 55 runs and four wickets in total.

This marked the end of Evans’ first class career, which spanned 66 matches, scoring 3,175 runs at an average of 29.12 with 5 centuries and 18 half centuries. He took 175 wickets at exactly 26 a piece, with a best performance of 7-41, taking 10 wickets in a match twice and taking five wickets in an innings on a dozen occasions. He also took 61 catches in those games.

A fine all-round sportsman, Evans also distinguished himself at football, playing for Malvern’s First Eleven and representing Oxford University First Eleven for three seasons from 1902 where he played with another Old Malvernian, James Balfour-Melville. In company with B. S. Foster, he also won the Public School Racquets Championship in 1900.

He died on Laffans Plain near Farnborough in Hampshire in a flying accident in August 1913, aged only 30.

A number of his relatives played cricket to a high standard. His cousin John Evans played one Test for England; while his brothers Alfred and Dudley, another cousin Ralph and his uncle Alfred Henry Evans all played for Hampshire.