Walter Reader-Blackton (4 July 1895 – 1 January 1976) 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 striki ...

er who played

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

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 ...

between 1914 and 1921. Reader-Blackton was born at

Shirland Shirland is a former pit village in Derbyshire, England. Together with the neighbouring villages of Higham, Stretton and Stonebroom, it forms part of the civil parish of Shirland and Higham, which had a population of 4,802 at the 2011 Census ...

as Walter Blackton. He began playing for Derbyshire at the age of 18 in 1914, and after a game in the 2nd XI, made his first-class debut against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

in August 1914 when he was not out for 31. First-class cricket was interrupted by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and Reader-Blackton served in the

Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both W ...

(4th Bn Territorial Force). He was awarded the MC in 1919

...for conspicuous gallantry and cool leadership on 18th September, 1918, near Haisnes. He took a patrol through the enemy front line to the main line of resistance, where he remained some time acquiring valuable information, and returned safely with his patrol, though discovered by the enemy. The following night when attempting to capture a machine-gun post which he had located, his patrol was discovered, and came under heavy fire, but he got all his men back safely.

After the war, Reader-Blackton resumed playing for Derbyshire. He played two matches in 1920 in which he was out for 1 in each of his four innings and with a score of 1 in his first match in 1921 became the first player to be dismissed for 1 in five consecutive first-class innings. Against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in 1921 he took a rare bowling spell and achieved 3 for 40. He concluded his first-class career after his five matches in 1921. Reader-Blackton was a right-hand batsman and played 15 innings in eight first-class matches with an average of 7.64 and a top score of 31 not out. He was a right-arm medium pace bowler and took 5 first-class wickets at an average of 16.20 and a best performance of 3 for 40.Walter Reader-Blackton at Cricket Archive
/ref> Reader-Blackton married at Leek in 1922 and died at

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reader-Blackton, Walter 1895 births 1976 deaths Derbyshire cricketers English cricketers People from Shirland Cricketers from Derbyshire