Peter James Loader (25 October 1929 – 15 March 2011) 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 and

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

, who played thirteen 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 ...

. He played for Surrey and Beddington Cricket Club. A

whippet The Whippet is a dog breed of medium size. It is a sighthound breed that originated in England, descended from the Greyhound. Whippets today still strongly resemble a smaller Greyhound. Part of the hound group, Whippets have relatively few ...

-thin fast bowler with a wide range of pace and a nasty bouncer, he took the first post-war Test

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

as part of his 6 for 36 against the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

in 1957. It was only the twelfth hat-trick ever taken in Test cricket, and it was another 38 years before

Dominic Cork Dominic is a name common among Roman Catholics and other Latin-Romans as a male given name. Originally from the late Roman-Italic name "Dominicus", its translation means "Lordly", "Belonging to God" or "of the Master". Variations include: Domini ...

became the next England bowler to take one.''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1996 Edition, . The cricket writer, Colin Bateman, remarked that Loader was, "angular, accurate and with an aversion to breaking down".

Life and career

Loader was born in

Wallington, Surrey Wallington is a town in the London Borough of Sutton, in South London, England. It is south south-west of Charing Cross. Before the Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington merged into the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London in 19 ...

. He was an important part of Surrey's attack, helping them to achieve their run of seven successive

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

titles between 1952 and 1958. He made his debut in 1951, and cemented his place in July 1953, when in three successive matches he took 34 wickets. Because of the talent of

Frank Tyson Frank Holmes Tyson (6 June 1930 – 27 September 2015) was an England international cricketer of the 1950s, who also worked as a schoolmaster, journalist, cricket coach and cricket commentator after emigrating to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "T ...

Fred Trueman Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowled ...

and

Brian Statham John Brian Statham, (17 June 1930 – 10 June 2000) was an English professional cricketer from Gorton, in Manchester, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1968 and for England from 1951 to 1965.Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

, and spent several days in bed with a high temperature, but still played in the First Test in the following week. He had a groin strain which kept him out of the New South Wales game and the following Fourth Test. He and Statham were in a car crash before the Fifth Test and he never played for England again. Loader was accused of "chucking" although he was never called by an umpire because his bouncers were noticeably faster than his normal delivery. Frank Tyson wrote "His inexplicable wide range of pace has from time to time, raised the suspicion of a 'kink' in his action. He can certainly generate a great deal of speed for a man who is of slender build".Tyson, p166 He twice took nine wickets in an innings for Surrey: 9 for 23 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 1953 and 9 for 17 against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

in 1958. On seven occasions he took one hundred or more first-class wickets in a season, the last time in 1962. Though not much of a batsman, he made his highest score of 81 against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

in 1955. He came in with the score at 119 for 8, and his innings enabled Surrey to recover to 268 all out. He emigrated to

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, in 1963, so ending his career with Surrey. He played one match for the state side in 1963-4, his final first-class appearance. He subsequently took up umpiring. Loader retired from umpiring at the top grade for the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) in 2007. Loader died in

in March 2011, at the age of 81.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loader, Peter 1929 births 2011 deaths English cricketers England Test cricketers Test cricket hat-trick takers Surrey cricketers Western Australia cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Players cricketers North v South cricketers English emigrants to Australia A. E. R. Gilligan's XI cricketers