EVANS, DAVID GWILYM LLOYD (1933-1990), cricketer and cricket umpire
Date of birth: 1933
Date of death: 1990
Gender: Male
Occupation: cricketer and cricket umpire
Area of activity: Sports and Leisure Pursuits
Author: D. Huw Owen
Born 27 July 1933 at Lambeth, London but his family moved soon afterwards to Pen-y-groes, Carmarthenshire. He attended the village primary school, and afterwards the Amman Valley Grammar School, Ammanford. He was married with two children.
David Evans played for the Ammanford cricket club and impressed the Glamorgan committee members during a benefit match against the county team. He made his debut as a wicket-keeper for Glamorgan in 1956, and was awarded his county cap in 1959 when the long-serving Haydn Davies retired. Highly-regarded for his efficient and unobtrusive approach, he was considered to be one of the finest wicketkeepers in the County Championship, and in 1963 claimed 89 victims, a county record. In 1967 he was awarded a Churchill Scholarship which enabled him to travel to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Sri Lanka and Singapore where he delivered lectures and studied coaching methods. He retired after the 1969 season, when he had been given a benefit, and during his county career he had scored 2,875 runs at an average of 10.53, and as wicketkeeper he caught 502 and stumped 56 victims.
He was then responsible for coaching duties at The Hague and Tasmania, and in 1971 joined the first-class umpires list. He officiated in nine Test matches between 1981 and 1985, and his first Test was the famous Ashes match between England and Australia held at Headingley in 1981, when England's Ian Botham almost single-handedly beat Australia. Ill-health led to his retirement from the Test match panel but the respect in which he was held was reflected by his appointment as chairman of the professional group of first-class umpires.
He was a popular after dinner speaker, and, a fluent Welsh speaker, he frequently contributed to BBC Welsh-language sports programmes.
David Evans died at Dre-fach, Llandysul on 25 March, 1990.
Author
- D. Huw Owen
- Andrew Hignell, A Who's Who of Glamorgan County Cricket Club 1888-1991 (1992)
Sources
- Wikipedia Article: David Evans
Further Reading
Published date: 2015-03-19
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
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