David Walker: Norfolk’s Master Batsman
£15.00
by Andy Dawson
In his day, David Walker was the finest batsman England never had. Sir Pelham Warner believed he would have opened for his country had he joined one of the first-class counties who invited him. Instead, Walker opted to play for the county of his birth: Norfolk.
He became captain of Oxford University, led an MCC side in Ireland, and also toured Egypt with HM Martineau’s XI. As master of cricket at Harrow, he oversaw its first victory over Eton in 31 years. He topped the Norfolk batting averages in seven of the nine seasons he played in the 1930s.
Then, when war came, he joined the Sudan Political Service, trained to fly and, tragically, was killed in February 1942, aged just 28, during an RAF operation off the Norwegian coast.
This biography draws on contemporary accounts of David Walker, intimate letters and photos from his family’s archive, and the testimonies of those who knew him during his brief life.
