William Norman Walker (23 January 1894 — 14 September 1960) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 and cricket administrator, and an officer in the British Army. Walker was born at

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

in January 1894 and was educated at The Glasgow Academy. He served in the British Army during the First World War, being commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

in August 1914, with promotion to lieutenant following in August 1915. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917, for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in endeavouring to extinguish blazing ammunition which had been set alight by heavy

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

shelling. Walker was made second in command of a battalion in March 1918, at which point he was made an acting

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

; he relinquished his acting rank in August 1918 and ceased to be employed in the army in May 1919. He remained commissioned until September 1922, when he resigned his commission and was granted the rank of captain. A club cricketer for Greenock, he made his debut in first-class cricket for Scotland against Ireland at Glasgow in 1922. He played first-class cricket for Scotland until 1925, making six appearances. Playing as an all-rounder in the Scottish side, Walker scored 200 runs in his six matches at an average of 18.18; he made one half century score of 58. With his right-arm medium pace bowling, he took 18 wickets at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 27.88, with best figures of 4 for 55. Walker returned to military service in the Second World War with the Territorial Army. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Renfrewshire in July 1945. Walker was appointed honorary colonel of the 328 Medium Regiment (Highland) in July 1947, before relinquishing his commission in December of the same year. Walker served as the president of the Scottish Cricket Union the following year. He relinquished his appointment as honorary colonel in July 1950. A

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Renfrewshire, Walker died at Renfrew in September 1960. His brother, John, was also a first-class cricketer. Walker was a direct descendant of Johnnie Walker, the founder of the Scotch whiskey brand of the same name.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, William 1894 births 1960 deaths Cricketers from Greenock People educated at the Glasgow Academy Royal Field Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross Scottish cricketers British Army personnel of World War II Deputy Lieutenants of Renfrewshire Scottish justices of the peace Scottish cricket administrators