[2] He played in the university holidays for Warwickshire with very limited success but in 1959 joined that county full-time, taking 100 wickets in the season though at a rather high cost.
He repeated the feat in 1960, but at the end of the season was allowed to leave for Glamorgan, where he was appointed captain in place of Wilf Wooller, who had led the county since 1947.
Wheatley played only a few games in Glamorgan's Championship-winning season of 1969 and retired after one match on the celebratory tour of the West Indies the following winter.
He was never allowed higher up the batting order than number ten (alternating in the last two places with Jones), and his career runs only just exceeded his wickets.
[5] His highest score in purely county cricket was only 21,[6] though in a festival match in 1961 for the Gentlemen he hit 34 not out and put on 55 for the tenth wicket with Trevor Bailey.