John James Warr (16 July 1927 – 9 May 2016) was an English
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 str ...
er. A successful county player for
Middlesex County Cricket Club, he took part in two
Test matches for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Warr was known for his sense of humour and made many humorous
after-dinner speeches.
First-class career
Warr played for
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
as a right-arm fast-medium bowler, in 260
first-class matches between 1949 and 1960. He took 703 wickets for the county at an average of 20.75, with personal best
figures
Figure may refer to:
General
*A shape, drawing, depiction, or geometric configuration
* Figure (wood), wood appearance
*Figure (music), distinguished from musical motif
* Noise figure, in telecommunication
* Dance figure, an elementary dance patt ...
of 9 for 65 against
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
in August 1956. Playing for both Middlesex and the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
, he took 87 wickets in the
1950 season which ranked him 32nd on the list of wicket-takers in the first-class season.
While still studying at Cambridge, Warr was selected for the
1950–51 tour of Australia. He played in two of the five Test matches, with the worst debut bowling performance in Test cricket, taking no wickets but conceding 142 runs, a record which stood until 2009 when Australian
Bryce McGain
Bryce Edward McGain (born 25 March 1972) is an Australian former cricketer who played a single Test match for the Australia national cricket team, as well as domestically for Victoria. McGain made his first-class debut in 2002 against New Sou ...
went wicketless while conceding 149 runs against South Africa. He went on to take just one wicket, that of Australia's number seven,
Ian Johnson,
caught behind. In those two matches, he conceded 281 runs, the worst bowling figures of any Test cricketer in history until the record was surpassed in 1985 by Sri Lanka's
Roger Wijesuriya
Roger Gerard Christopher Ediriweera Wijesuriya (born 18 February 1960) is a Sri Lankan former cricketer, who played four Tests and eight One Day Internationals (ODIs) for the Sri Lanka cricket team. He is known for having the worst bowling avera ...
. his bowling average remains the worst of any retired England Test player; only
Ravi Bopara
Ravinder Singh Bopara (born 4 May 1985) is an English cricketer who plays for Sussex County Cricket Club in one day cricket. Originally a top-order batsman, his developing medium pace bowling has made him a batting all rounder in the one day ...
has a worse average. According to the 1952 ''
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'' Warr "tried hard and cheerfully, but he could not be regarded as Test class."
John in fact in these two Tests took one for 281, which caused a few of us thereafter childishly to hum in his presence the Ancient and Modern Hymn number 281, 'Lead us Heavenly Father, lead us', with emphasis on the lines "Lone and Dreary, Faint and Weary, Through the Desert thou did'st go." In fact, of course, it was J.J. Warr's prime virtue was that he never seemed either faint or weary, on the field or off. Laughter was seldom far away when he was about... – E. W. Swanton
Warr
captained Middlesex between 1958 and 1960.
He took 100 first-class wickets twice – in
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...
and
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
.
Warr also played fifteen matches for the Gentlemen of England
Cricket, and hence English amateur cricket, probably began in England during the medieval period but the earliest known reference concerns the game being played c.1550 by children on a plot of land at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, Surrey ...
, three times for E. W. Swanton's XI in the West Indies in 1955-56, and three times for the Duke of Norfolk's XI
The Duke of Norfolk's XI is a scratch cricket team. It was originally named for the 16th Duke, but following his death in 1975 the team played on in his widow's name as Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk's XI. After her own death in 1995, the title re ...
in Jamaica in 1956-57.
Personal life
Born in Ealing, Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
, England, Warr was the youngest of three children.[ He attended ]Ealing Grammar School for Boys
West London College, legally known as the Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College is a large further and higher education college in West London, England, formed in 2002 by the merger between Ealing Tertiary College and Hammersmith and West ...
before four years of national service in the Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...
. Warr won Blues every year from 1949 to 1952 while he studied History at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and was captain of the Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club, first recorded in 1817, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. Depending on the circumstances of each individual match, the club has always been recognised as holding ...
in 1951.[ He married Valerie Powell in 1957; they had two daughters.][ After retirement, he wrote for '']The Sunday Telegraph
''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings.
It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
'' and worked as a discount broker. He later became a member of the Jockey Club in 1977 and was chairman between 1989 and 1993.[
Warr became a popular after-dinner speaker and was asked to become Australia’s Board of Control's representative in England after one such appearance, a position he held until 1987.][ He was President of the ]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) in 1987–88,[ and was made honorary life Vice-President in 1996.] He became president of the Berkshire County Cricket Club in 1990.[
Warr died on 9 May 2016, aged 88.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warr, John
1927 births
2016 deaths
England Test cricketers
English cricketers
Middlesex cricket captains
Cambridge University cricketers
People educated at Ealing County Grammar School for Boys
Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
People from Ealing
Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club
English cricket administrators
Gentlemen cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Gentlemen of England cricketers
North v South cricketers
Middlesex cricketers
T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers