David Walker (cricketer)
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | David Frank Walker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Loddon,Norfolk,England | 31 May 1913||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 7 February 1942 nearTrondheim,German-occupied Norway | (aged 28)||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Slow left arm orthodox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1933–35 | Oxford University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:Cricinfo,1 September 2009 |
David Frank Walker(31 May 1913 – 7 February 1942) was an Englishcricketer.He was a right-hand batsman and slow left-arm bowler who playedfirst-class cricketforOxford Universityandminor counties cricketforNorfolk.
Born inLoddon,Norfolk,Walker began his cricket career withUppinghamXI topping the batting averages in his three seasons (1930-1932) with them.[1]
At this time Walker also played for Norfolk, in his second match scoring 73not outagainstKent Second XIin theMinor Counties Championship,[2]the innings was the highest for Norfolk that season.[1]He scored his maiden century for Norfolk two seasons later against the same opposition.[3]Walker continued to play for Norfolk until the Second World War, in nine seasons scoring 4034 runs atan averageof 62, seven times he topped the County averages and three times heading the Minor Counties Competition's.[1]His highest score came in 1939 when he made an innings of 217 againstNorthumberland,he shared in a Minor Counties record first-wicket partnership of 323 withHarold Theobald.[4]
While attendingBrasenose College, Oxford,Walker played 34 first-class matches for the University team between 1933 and 1935, scoring 1799 runs at 30.49 with two centuries.[5]The first came againstGloucestershirein only his second appearance,[6]the second againstWorcestershirein 1934.[7]He was appointed captain of the team in 1935, his highest score of that season came against the touringSouth Africans,he scored 83 having shared in a 198 run stand withMandy Mitchell-Innes.[8]
After he left Oxford, Walker taught atHarrow School,where he was master in charge of cricket.[9]
Military career and death[edit]
In September 1939 he undertook an educational role in Sudan, then joined theRAFin South Africa.[1]On 7 February 1942,Flight LieutenantWatson, part ofNo. 608 Squadron,took off as the pilot of aLockheed Hudsonwith 4 aboard. The plane was assigned to take off fromRAF Wickand conduct an anti-shipping operation along theNorwegiancoast. The plane was either shot down or crashed into fjords, and 1 crew member died. Walker was mortally wounded, anddied of woundsa day after the crash. The other two crew members went missing, and their fates are unknown, though it is presumed they died in the crash.[10]Aged 28 at the time of his death, Walker had married three months earlier.[1][11]
References[edit]
- ^abcdeWisden 1943 - Obituaries,Wisden Cricketers' Almanack,Retrieved on 13 December 2008
- ^Norfolk v Kent Second XI, Minor Counties Championship 1931,CricketArchive, Retrieved on 13 December 2008
- ^Kent Second XI v Norfolk, Minor Counties Championship 1933,CricketArchive, Retrieved on 13 December 2008
- ^Norfolk v Northumberland, Minor Counties Championship 1939,CricketArchive, Retrieved on 13 December 2008
- ^First-class batting averages for each team,CricketArchive, Retrieved on 13 December 2008
- ^Player Oracle,CricketArchive, Retrieved on 13 December 2008
- ^Oxford University v Worcestershire, University Match 1934,CricketArchive, Retrieved on 13 December 2008
- ^Oxford University v South Africans, South Africa in British Isles 1935,CricketArchive, Retrieved on 13 December 2008
- ^Bill Edrich,Cricket Heritage,Stanley Paul, London, 1948, p. 98.
- ^1942 Operations with 608 SquadronArchived19 July 2012 atarchive.today,BBC,Retrieved on 13 December 2008
- ^"Hudson AM601 at Thornaby airfield".yorkshire-aircraft.uk.Retrieved28 February2020.
External links[edit]
- 1913 births
- 1942 deaths
- English cricketers
- Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
- Oxford University cricketers
- Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II
- Norfolk cricketers
- People from Loddon
- People educated at Uppingham School
- Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
- Aviators killed by being shot down
- Royal Air Force officers
- Military personnel from Norfolk
- Cricketers from Norfolk