{{short description|English cricketer}} {{for-multi|the British structural engineer|Alan Arthur Wells|the Scottish sprinter and Olympic 100 m champion|Allan Wells}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Use British English|date=November 2014}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Alan Wells | image = | caption = | fullname = Alan Peter Wells | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1961|10|2}} | birth_place = Newhaven, Sussex, England | heightft = | heightinch = | heightm = | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right-arm medium | role = Middle order batsman | family = Colin Wells (brother)<br />Daniel Wells (son)<br />Luke Wells (son) | international = true | country = England | internationalspan = 1995 | onetest = true | testdebutdate = 24 August | testdebutyear = 1995 | testdebutagainst = West Indies | testcap = 576 | oneodi = true | odidebutdate = 28 May | odidebutyear = 1995 | odidebutagainst = West Indies | odicap = 132 | odishirt = | club1 = Sussex | year1 = 1981–1996 | club2 = Border | year2 = 1981/82 | club3 = Kent | year3 = 1997–2000 | columns = 4 | column1 = Test | matches1 = 1 | runs1 = 3 | bat avg1 = 3.00 | 100s/50s1 = 0/0 | top score1 = 3* | deliveries1 = – | wickets1 = – | bowl avg1 = – | fivefor1 = – | tenfor1 = – | best bowling1 = – | catches/stumpings1 = 0/– | column2 = ODI | matches2 = 1 | runs2 = 15 | bat avg2 = 15.00 | 100s/50s2 = 0/0 | top score2 = 15 | deliveries2 = – | wickets2 = – | bowl avg2 = – | fivefor2 = – | tenfor2 = – | best bowling2 = – | catches/stumpings2 = 0/– | column3 = FC | matches3 = 376 | runs3 = 21,099 | bat avg3 = 38.57 | 100s/50s3 = 46/101 | top score3 = 253* | deliveries3 = 1,171 | wickets3 = 10 | bowl avg3 = 82.00 | fivefor3 = 0 | tenfor3 = 0 | best bowling3 = 3/67 | catches/stumpings3 = 227/– | column4 = LA | matches4 = 377 | runs4 = 9,381 | bat avg4 = 30.75 | 100s/50s4 = 8/58 | top score4 = 127 | deliveries4 = 128 | wickets4 = 7 | bowl avg4 = 20.28 | fivefor4 = 0 | tenfor4 = 0 | best bowling4 = 1/0 | catches/stumpings4 = 108/– | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/22361.html ESPNcricinfo | date = 22 May | year = 2017 }} '''Alan Peter Wells''' (born 2 October 1961) is an English cricketer. He played for Sussex from 1981 to 1996, where he was captain from 1992 to 1996. He then played for Kent from 1997 to 2000. In total he played 376 first-class matches in a career spanning twenty seasons, with a batting average of 38.57 and a top score of 253 not out (against Yorkshire at Middlesbrough in 1991).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/54/54760.html|title=The Home of CricketArchive|website=cricketarchive.com}}</ref>
He only played twice for England, once in a Test match (where he was dismissed for a golden duck by the West Indian fast bowler Curtly Ambrose),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/25885951/joe-denly-joins-england-list-30-plus-debutants |title=Late bloomers: Joe Denly joins England's list of 30-plus debutants |work=ESPN Cricinfo |access-date=30 January 2019}}</ref> and once in a One Day International. In 1989–90, Wells joined the rebel tour of South Africa as a replacement when Roland Butcher pulled out.
==Domestic career== Wells played most of his career with Sussex, helping them to win the John Player League in 1982 and the 1986 NatWest Trophy. He moved to Kent in 1997, appearing in the final of that year's Benson & Hedges Cup and briefly played with Border in South Africa in 1981–82.
==England A== Wells toured South Africa with England A in 1993–94, impressing by making 130 (and 45 not out) in the unofficial 'Test',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1993-94/ENG-A_IN_RSA/ENG-A_RSA-A_27-31JAN1994.html|title=South Africa 'A' v England 'A', Port Elizabeth, 27-31 January 1994|publisher=ESPNCricinfo|access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref> as well as 126 against Eastern Province.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1993-94/ENG-A_IN_RSA/ENG-A_EPR_17-20DEC1993.html|title=Eastern Province v England 'A', Port Elizabeth, 17-20 December 1993|publisher=ESPNCricinfo|access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref>
During the following winter of 1994–95, Wells led England 'A' to a long and highly successful tour of the Indian subcontinent. They convincingly won the three unofficial tests against their Indian counterparts. The three-match One-Day series was much closer, but still England 'A' emerged victorious (2–1). Wells produced his best in the 2nd 'Test' at the Eden Gardens, Calcutta. There, he scored 93 & 65. The Indian leg was followed by a short tour of Bangladesh in mid-February. England 'A' won the two One-Day matches, while the 3-Day match was drawn.<ref>"Indian Cricket 1995" (Compiled by P.V. Vaidyanathan), Kasturi & Sons Limited, Madras. Published in December 1995.</ref> Wells' able leadership was a key factor in the success of the tour, Simon Hughes praising Wells as a "hard, aggressive captain".<ref name="hughes">{{cite web|url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1994-95/ENG-A_IN_IND/ENG-A_TOUR_REVIEW_HUGHES_28FEB95.html|title=Tourists return home with winning habit|publisher=ESPNCricinfo|access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref> It was a great learning experience for some of the young England players. Some of them, like, Nick Knight, Michael Vaughan, Dominic Cork, Jason Gallian, went on to play for the main England outfit, others such as tour vice-captain Mark Ramprakash and Ian Salisbury also presently resuming their Test careers.
==International career== Hughes however suggested at the end of the India leg of the 1994-5 tour that while Wells "still has aspirations for Test cricket ... these are probably just wishful thinking despite his versatility".<ref name="hughes" /> Nonetheless, Wells did briefly get a limited chance for international cricket the following summer (1995).
In his only one-day international, an England victory over the West Indies, his innings was limited by the solidity of England's higher order batting, especially captain Michael Atherton who made his first one-day international century, ''Wisden'' observing that "Wells, making his England debut at 33, had to walk out for a ten-minute thrash after Atherton finally departed to a standing ovation".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/england-v-west-indies-1995-151104|title=England v West Indies 1995|publisher=ESPNCricinfo|access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref>
It was a similar story in his only Test match three months later, Christopher Martin-Jenkins observing that on Wells' first day of Test cricket, Ambrose "turned Alan Wells' moment of destiny after his long wait for a Test innings into deepest bathos by dismissing him first ball".<ref name="cmj">{{cite web|url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1995/WI_IN_ENG/WI_ENG_T6_24-28AUG1995_MR|title=England v West Indies, Test 6|publisher=ESPNCricinfo|access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref> Then "on a perfect pitch for batting",<ref name="cmj" /> Brian Lara, Carl Hooper and others racked up big scores and once again a lengthy innings by Atherton (this time a draw-ensuring rearguard) left Wells almost no opportunity to bat in the second innings, Martin-Jenkins observing that "Atherton`s untimely fall five short of a century allowed Alan Wells to get off the mark in Test cricket, albeit in what was a 'no win' situation".<ref name="cmj" /> Wells finished three not out as the match ended, his only Test runs.
Wells' brother, Colin Wells, also played for Sussex and England (in two One Day Internationals ten years earlier).
==Later career==
Alan Wells is now director of cricket at St Bede's School, Hailsham.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/alan-wells-22361|title=Alan Wells profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos|website=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{cricinfo|id=22361}}
{{S-start}} {{s-sports}} {{succession box| |before=Paul Parker |title=Sussex county cricket captain |years=1992–1996 |after=Peter Moores }} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Alan}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:England Test cricketers Category:England One Day International cricketers Category:Sussex cricketers Category:Sussex cricket captains Category:Kent cricketers Category:Border cricketers Category:English cricketers Category:People from Newhaven, East Sussex Category:Test and County Cricket Board XI cricketers Category:Cricketers from East Sussex Category:20th-century English sportsmen