John Halliday (cricketer)
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Gordon Halliday | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
4 July 1915 Cockermouth, Cumberland, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died |
3 December 1945 (aged 30) Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting style | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1934–1937 | Oxford University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1934 | Minor Counties | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1932–1939 | Oxfordshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: Cricinfo, 8 June 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Gordon Halliday (4 July 1915 – 3 December 1945) was an English cricketer active in the nineteen-thirties. Born at Cockermouth, Cumberland, Halliday was a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler who made over twenty apperarances in first-class cricket.
Life and career
Halliday was educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys, where he excelled at cricket.[1] He debuted for Oxfordshire in the 1932 Minor Counties Championship,[2] and, while studying at the University of Oxford, made his debut in first-class cricket for the university cricket team in 1934 against Gloucestershire.[3] Making five first-class appearances for the university in 1934, Halliday was also selected to play for the Minor Counties cricket team against Oxford University in that same year.[3] He played first-class cricket for university until 1937, making a total of 25 appearances.[3] Though unable to recapture his form as a schoolboy cricketer,[1] Halliday nonetheless scored a total of 766 runs at an average of 23.21, making eight half centuries and top-scoring with 87.[4] As a bowler, he took 18 wickets at an average of 37.66, with best figures of 3/11.[5] Halliday's minor counties career with Oxfordshire continued until 1939, making sixty appearances.[2] He was elected county captain in 1938.[1]
Halliday served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, holding the rank of pilot officer in 1940,[6] in the following year he became a flying officer.[7] In June 1942 he was promoted to flight lieutenant,[8] At some point after this Halliday became a wing commander.[1] Following the end of the war, he remained with the Royal Air Force, serving with No. 59 Squadron. He was a passenger on board a B-24 Liberator on 3 December 1945, when it was struck by lightning and crashed near Rochefort in France, killing all 28 on board.[9] He was buried at Rochefort-sur-Mer Naval Cemetery.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Deaths in the war, 1945". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Minor Counties Championship Matches played by John Halliday". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "First-Class Matches played by John Halliday". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ↑ "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by John Halliday". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ↑ "First-class Bowling For Each Team by John Halliday". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 34854. p. 3037. 21 May 1940.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 35183. p. 3234. 6 June 1941.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 35725. p. 4259. 29 September 1942.
- ↑ "No. 59 Squadron RAF". www.number59.com. Retrieved 8 June 2014.