Edward George Wynyard DSO OBE (1 April 1861 – 30 October 1936) was an English sportsman and a career officer in the British Army.

He was an important figure in Hampshire's return to first-class status in 1894, and shortly after their re-elevation he was engaged as both their captain and president.

In 1881, he was a member of the Old Carthusians team that won the FA Cup Final, in which he scored the opening goal in a 3–0 victory over Old Etonians at The Oval.

A career soldier, Wynyard was commissioned into the Warwick Militia in September 1879 and later served with the King's Liverpool Regiment from May 1883.

He joined the Welsh Regiment in 1890, and in the lead-up to the Second Boer War he held a number of staff appointments and instructed at the Royal Military College.

Wynyard was the recipient of the medal of the Royal Humane Society in 1894, for bravery at "great personal risk" when he rescued a Swiss peasant who had fallen under the ice on a lake.

[8] In recognition of his actions, he was appointed to command a company of the Welsh Regiment, and was awarded the Indian General Service Medal.

[12][1] He was adjutant of the Oxford University Volunteers until late 1899,[13][14] prior to being appointed an instructor of military engineering at Sandhurst from 26 December 1899 until August 1902, when he returned to his regiment.

He revealed his identity minus beard and cap at the teams' lunch, but no one had seen through the disguise and his realistic imitation of Grace's batting style.

[1] After the outbreak of the First World War, Wynyard was recalled in September 1914 as a temporary major with the King's Liverpool Regiment,[17] then was attached to the Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) in May 1915.

[21] Wynyard was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1919 Birthday Honours, in recognition of his service during the war.

[16] There, it was opined by the School Chronicle that he "would do well to remedy the grave faults of being too eager to make big hits, and of getting before his wicket".

[24] By the time he had returned home later in 1887, Hampshire had lost their first-class status two years prior, following a number of poor seasons.

[29] In 1893, he averaged 50 across the season, leading to his selection for the Second Class Counties combined team against the touring Australians at Edgbaston,[23][30] while in 1894 he notably scored three successive centuries for Hampshire.

[31] Prior to his arrival in August, four second-class counties (Derbyshire, Essex, Leicestershire and Warwickshire) were earmarked for elevation to first-class status for the 1895 season, but Hampshire were initially overlooked.

Wynyard's good form contributed to a change of heart, with Hampshire added to the elevated list in October 1894.

[34] He was prolific in 1896, beginning the season by scoring his maiden first-class century (121 runs) playing for Charles Thornton's personal team against Cambridge University.

[23] His one century in 1898 came in a Championship match against Leicestershire, making a quick 140 in just under three hours of play, contributing to a 145-runs victory for Hampshire.

[23] Wynyard had a successful full-time return to the Hampshire team, passing 1,000 first-class runs for the second time,[37] and was well complemented by a fellow army cricketer Robert Poore, who headed the national averages.

[47][8] With the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899, Wynyard felt compelled to resign the Hampshire captaincy in November 1899 to focus on his military duties.

He returned to first-class cricket in 1903, playing four times early in the season for the MCC without much success,[50] before making three appearances in August for Hampshire in the County Championship,[23] scoring half-centuries against Essex and Somerset.

[50] His retirement from the army in 1903 enabled him to dedicate more time to playing cricket, and he made eleven first-class appearances in 1904.

[23] The pitches in the West Indies suited his playing style, with Wynyard heading the team's batting averages.

[37] This form led to his selection to tour South Africa with the MCC, captained by Plum Warner, in the winter which followed the 1905 season.

[23] He was described by Wisden as "a splendid forcing batsman",[60] and "a fine, free hitter" who "used a great variety of strokes, especially those in front of the wicket".

[62] Shortly before the First World War, Wynyard became president of Charterhouse School's Cricket and Football Club in 1913, an appointment he would hold until 1919.

[14] It was while competing in the 1893 event that he rescued a peasant from drowning in a lake on 9 December, when she had become drawn under the ice following a mountain torrent;[28] his actions earned him the medal of the Royal Humane Society in 1894, for bravery at "great personal risk".

[77] Other clubs he joined were Beaconsfield, Royal Wimbledon (of whom he was an elected honorary member)[14] and Oxford Graduates' Golfing Society.

[28] Wynyard died at his home, The Red House, at Knotty Green near Beaconsfield on 30 October 1936, aged 75,[14] and was buried in the churchyard at Penn, Buckinghamshire.

[1] The England footballer Arthur Melmoth Walters also attended,[1] as did notable figures from the British armed services and the aristocracy.