Walter Norman Powys (28 July 1849 — 7 January 1892) was an English first-class

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. He played mostly for Cambridge University Cricket Club in first-class cricket and was most renowned for his exploits on his first-class debut, when he took 13 wickets, which included innings figures of 9 for 42. These remain as of 2023 the fifth-best innings bowling figures on debut in first-class cricket.

First-class cricket and life

Powys was the son of

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

and Reverend Atherton Legh Powys and Charlotte Elizabeth Norman, he was born in July 1849 at Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire. After being privately educated, he matriculated to

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

in 1870; his academic studies were characterised by interruptions, with him being readmitted to the university in 1874 and 1877, finally graduating in 1879. Powys was a member of the Cambridge University Cricket Club and made his debut 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 ...

for the club against 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 ...

at Fenner's in 1871. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge until 1874, making eighteen appearances. These included three appearances in The University Matches of 1871, 1872 and 1874, taking 24 wickets in these matches with his left-arm roundarm fast bowling. In his eighteen appearances for Cambridge, he took a total of 78 wickets at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 11.42; he took a

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taking ...

on five occasions and twice took

ten wickets in a match In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

. His best innings figures of 9 for 42 came on debut against the

in 1871; these figures rank as the fifth-best innings bowling figures on debut in first-class cricket. He was described by the magazine ''

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 ...

'' as a bowler who bowled at terrific pace. He was the honorary secretary of Cambridge University Cricket Club in 1873, a season in which he did not feature for Cambridge due to commitments in the United States. Powys also played first-class cricket for a number of other teams, including the

Gentlemen of the North A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...

in 1871, for the Gentlemen in the 1872

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

fixture, for the MCC on three occasions from 1877 to 1879 (and for their gentlemen's team in 1872), and for the

Orleans Club The Orleans Club was a London-based cricket club that existed from 1878 to 1888 and took part in four first-class matches. It was founded by C. I. Thornton who had organised occasional teams to play on the Orleans Club Ground at Orleans Road, Tw ...

against the touring

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in 1878. He also played first-class matches for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, having qualified to play for the county through residency (his father was a Reverend in Southsea, Hampshire). However, he only made two appearances for Hampshire, against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 1877 and

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 ...

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

in 1878. His overall tally of first-class wickets was 98 at an average of 14.44, with six five wicket hauls and three ten wicket hauls in a match. '' Wisden'' described him as "one of the best

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

fast bowlers in England". Whilst at Cambridge, Powys studied law and was admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1878, however he was not

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

. He instead went into business in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. Owing to ill-health, Powys spent sometime in the United States on medical advice, but returned invalided. He died at Nottingham on 7 January 1892, leaving behind a widow, Ada, whom he had married in March 1880. His brother's, Arthur and

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

, also played first-class cricket, as did his uncle, Arthur Crichton.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Powys, Walter 1849 births 1892 deaths People from North Northamptonshire Cricketers from Northamptonshire Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Gentlemen of the North cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Hampshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Orleans Club cricketers 19th-century English businesspeople