John Wells was a famous English cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er who played for Surrey

Surrey county cricket teams

Surrey county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. The first definite mention of cricket anywhere in the world is dated c.1550 in Guildford.-17th century:...

.

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

1787 English cricket season

The 1787 English cricket season is widely seen as a watershed in the history of cricket for it marked the sport's transition from an essentially rural game into an urban and metropolitan one....

 when he played for All-England

All-England Eleven

In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...

 versus White Conduit Club

White Conduit Club

The White Conduit Club, although short-lived, was perhaps the most significant club in cricket history for it bridged the gulf between the rural and rustic Hambledon era and the new, modern and metropolitan era of MCC and Lord's, the two entities that it spawned.We do not know for certain when the...

 in one of the earliest matches at the new Lord's Cricket Ground

Lord's Cricket Ground

Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

, which had just opened that season. He played until 1815.

Wells played for the Players in the second Gentlemen v Players

Gentlemen v Players

The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...

 match in 1806.

Family

His brother James Wells

James Wells (cricketer)

James Wells was an English cricketer. Wells was the brother of cricketer John Wells.Wells made his first-class debut for pre-county club Hampshire against an early England team...

, an occasional player, also represented Surrey. John married Hannah Beldham, sister of the legendary William Beldham.

External sources

• CricketArchive

Further reading

• G B Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935
• Arthur Haygarth
  Arthur Haygarth
  Arthur Haygarth was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians....
  
  , Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862
• H T Waghorn
  H T Waghorn
  Henry Thomas Waghorn , was a cricket statistician and historian. He is best known for his two classic researches into cricket's early history: The Dawn of Cricket and Cricket Scores: 1730 - 1773....
  
  , The Dawn of Cricket, Electric Press, 1906