- Malcolm Walker
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For the American football player, see Malcolm Walker (American football).
Malcolm Walker Personal information Full name Malcolm Walker Born 14 October 1933
Mexborough, Yorkshire, EnglandDied 2 September 1986 (aged 52)
Retford, Nottinghamshire, EnglandBatting style Right-handed batsman Bowling style Right-arm off-break Role All-rounder Domestic team information Years Team 1952–58 Somerset First-class debut 28 May 1952 Somerset v India Last First-class 23 May 1958 Somerset v Yorkshire Career statistics Competition First-class Matches 29 Runs scored 574 Batting average 11.71 100s/50s 1/1 Top score 100 Balls bowled 1542 Wickets 28 Bowling average 34.85 5 wickets in innings 2 10 wickets in match - Best bowling 5/45 Catches/stumpings 8/0 Source: CricketArchive, 02 Jun 2008 Malcolm Walker, born at Mexborough, Yorkshire, on 14 October 1933 and died at Retford, Nottinghamshire, on 2 September 1986, was a cricketer who played for Somerset in first-class matches between 1952 and 1958.
Biography
Walker was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-spin bowler. He played five matches as a 16-year old for Yorkshire's second eleven in 1950, and one the following year, but then joined Somerset where he made his first-class debut in the match against the 1952 Indian side. Three wickets in the match earned him a contract, and in 1953 he started the season as a regular member of what was a very weak side. But in nine matches he scored just 74 runs and took only nine wickets, and was upstaged that summer by an even younger off-spin bowler, Brian Langford, who took 51 County Championship wickets, including 26 in his first three matches.[1]
Walker did not play at all in Somerset's first team in 1954, but he reappeared in mid 1955 in the match against Essex at Romford and, having batted at No 6 in the first innings, was promoted to open the second innings.[2] He made exactly 100, putting on 152 with Peter Wight for the fourth wicket and more than doubling his previous first-class aggregate. Wisden reported that he "drove splendidly, hitting fifteen 4's".[3] After the match, Walker was found to be suffering appendicitis. That limited his further appearances, but he failed to reach 50 in any other innings that season, though his off-spin produced a return of five for 45 against Gloucestershire at Bristol, and that, like his century, remained the best of his career.[4] In its review of Somerset's season, Wisden said the innings at Romford "raised hopes of [Walker] developing into an attractive opening batsman".[5]
The hopes were not realised. In 1956, Walker's fellow Yorkshireman Lewis Pickles became a regular opening batsman, and though the combination of Pickles and Walker, according to Wisden, "promised at one stage to develop into a sound opening pair", Walker lost form after scoring 72 in the match against Derbyshire at Yeovil and was unable to regain his place.[6]
Though Walker played fairly regularly for Somerset's second eleven in both 1957 and 1958, he made only one further first-class appearance, scoring 4 and 0 against Yorkshire at Bath in 1958, a game that was also the last first-class appearance for Pickles, his opening partner.
Walker died in a motorcycle accident in 1986 at Retford.
References
- ^ "Somerset in 1953". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1954 ed.). Wisden. pp. p520.
- ^ "Essex v Somerset in 1955". www.cricketarchive.com. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/21/21638.html. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
- ^ "Essex in 1955". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1956 ed.). Wisden. pp. p331–332.
- ^ "Gloucestershire v Somerset in 1955". www.cricketarchive.com. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/21/21700.html. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
- ^ "Somerset in 1955". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1956 ed.). Wisden. pp. p525.
- ^ "Somerset in 1956". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1957 ed.). Wisden. pp. p514.
Categories:- 1933 births
- 1986 deaths
- English cricketers
- Somerset cricketers
- Motorcycle accident victims
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