Malcolm Walker (cricketer)

Malcolm Walker

Personal information
Full name	Malcolm Walker
Born	14 October 1933 Mexborough, Yorkshire, England
Died	2 September 1986 (aged 52) Retford, Nottinghamshire, England
Batting 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, 2 Jun 2008

Malcolm Walker (14 October 1933 – 2 September 1986) was a cricketer who played for Somerset in first-class matches between 1952 and 1958.

Biography

born at Mexborough, Yorkshire, on 14 October 1933, 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 at Retford on 2 September 1986.

References

1. "Somerset in 1953". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1954 ed.). Wisden. p. 520.
2. "Essex v Somerset in 1955". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
3. "Essex in 1955". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1956 ed.). Wisden. pp. 331–332.
4. "Gloucestershire v Somerset in 1955". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
5. "Somerset in 1955". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1956 ed.). Wisden. p. 525.
6. "Somerset in 1956". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1957 ed.). Wisden. p. 514.