The War of the Wealds - more than just a pun
04.06.26, 15:39 Updated 08.06.26, 10:20
Fred Atkins
It’s fairly well know that Matthew Fleming, the former Kent captain, was the great nephew of Ian Fleming, and that the creator of James Bond named Ernst Stavro Blofeld after Henry Blofeld’s father, Thomas.
It’s less well know that another former Kent cricketer had an equally famous relative who produced some of the world’s greatest science-fiction novels.
The Spitfire’s mind almost short-circuited this week on learning that HG Wells’ father, Joseph, was a gardener from Penshurst who made his Kent debut at 34 and was the very first player to take four wickets from four balls in a first-class game...
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Fred Atkins Fred Atkins is a former Kent Messenger sports editor and has written several books, including The Spitfire Diaries, an account of Kent's 2021 season and Monty Panesar's "The Full Monty". He has followed KCCC since 1993 and has covered them for the ECB and Wisden since 2021.