Major Rowland Bowen (born c. 1916; died 4 September 1978 at Buckfastleigh, Devon) was a noted cricket researcher, historian and writer. 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Buckfastleigh is a small town in Devon, England, partly within Dartmoor National Park, and on the A38. ... Devon is a large county in South West England, bordering on Cornwall to the west, Dorset and Somerset to the east. ... For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ...

Bowen is best known for his book Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development throughout the World (1970) and for being the editor of the magazine The Cricket Quarterly which ran from 1963 until 1970. Bowen was something of a "character" and became embroiled in numerous disputes with other people in the field of cricket research. 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ...

Educated at Westminster, Bowen served in the British armed forces and spent many years in Egypt, Sudan and India. He returned to England in the 1950s and was employed by the War Office, where he had the rank of major. He became involved in cricket research and history in 1958 but there is strong evidence that the pastime developed into an obsession. Old War Office Building, Whitehall, London - the former location of the War Office The War Office was a former department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1963, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Source

The Man Who Remade History: Rowland Bowen by Peter Wynne-Thomas (Cricket Lore magazine) Peter Wynne-Thomas (born Retford, Nottinghamshire 30 July 1934) is an English cricket archivist, writer, historian and statistician. ...