Greville Stevens

Greville Thomas Scott Stevens (7 January 1901 – 19 September 1970) was an English amateur cricketer who played for Middlesex, the University of Oxford and England. A leg-spin and googly bowler and attacking batsman, he captained England in one Test match, in South Africa in 1927. He was widely regarded as one of the leading amateur cricketers of his generation who, because of his commitments outside cricket, was unable to fulfil his potential and left the game early.

Stevens was an outstanding schoolboy cricketer, whose exploits at University College School brought him to the attention of Middlesex, for whom he made his debut in 1919 while still at school. He won cricket blues at the Oxford in each of the years 1920 to 1923, and was captain of the university side in 1922. He played for Middlesex between 1919 and 1932, and appeared altogether in 10 Test matches. The first of these was against South Africa in 1922–23, the last against the West Indies in 1929–30. He was a member of the side that regained the Ashes from Australia in 1926.

Had he been able to devote himself more fully to cricket, Stevens's overall first-class record would, in the view of commentators, have been more impressive. After he left Oxford in 1923, his cricket appearances became increasingly intermittent, and in 1932, at the age of 31, he gave up the first-class game altogether, although he played in occasional minor matches until 1947. He served as an officer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War.