John Walker (1768 – 3 September 1835), was a noted professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er in the late 18th century. His career spanned the 1789 to 1806 seasons and he played mainly for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and various representative sides, including

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC). He was born in Churt, near

Frensham Frensham is a village in Surrey, England, next to the A287 road, WSW of Guildford, the county town. Frensham lies on the right bank of the River Wey (south branch), only navigable to canoes, shortly before its convergence with the north branc ...

, and belonged to a cricketing family, his brothers being the more famous

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

and

Harry Walker Harry William Walker (October 22, 1918 – August 8, 1999) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. Known by the nickname "Harry the Hat", he played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball between 1940 and 1955, ...

. John Walker was a useful batsman who made either 50 or 51 known appearances in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

matches. He has been credited with 682 runs in 98 innings with a highest score of 35. He has also been credited with 23 catches and 1 (bowled) wicket. His fielding statistics are made uncertain by scorecards stating "c Walker" when he was playing alongside one or both of his brothers. His appearances total depends on whether it was he or James Wells who played for All-England against Hampshire in 1794: S&B records Wells but adds that Walker is included in another account. It is possible that Walker was selected and Wells stood in for him.Haygarth, p.175. Walker continued to play in local cricket until his death which was caused by an accident on the field. He had tripped over a tuft of grass and ruptured himself. He died from complications nine days later, in Thursley, Surrey. In ''Scores & Biographies'', Arthur Haygarth states that Walker lived in Thursley for 41 years and was a grocer because he had confused him with the John Walker that created the Johnnie Walker whisky brand.

References

CricketArchive record of John Walker

References

Further reading