| 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, 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.
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.