Wal Walmsley

Walter Thomas Walmsley (16 March 1916 – 25 February 1978) was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for three Australian state teams and for Northern Districts in New Zealand between 1945–46 and 1959-60.

The Tasmanian team that played the Indians at Hobart in January 1948. Wal Walmsley is seated third from the right.

Wal Walmsley
Personal information
Full nameWalter Thomas Walmsley
Born(1916-03-16)16 March 1916
Homebush, New South Wales
Died25 February 1978(1978-02-25) (aged 61)
Hamilton, New Zealand
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm leg-break
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1945-46New South Wales
1947-48Tasmania
1954-55 to 1958-59Queensland
1958-59 to 1959-60Northern Districts
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 37
Runs scored 1064
Batting average 27.28
100s/50s 2/4
Top score 180*
Balls bowled 7916
Wickets 122
Bowling average 31.64
5 wickets in innings 3
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling 6/56
Catches/stumpings 8/–
Source: Cricket Archive, 25 September 2013

A batsman who could bat at any position in the order and a leg-break and googly bowler, Wal Walmsley made his first-class debut for New South Wales against Queensland in a friendly match in 1945-46. He moved to Launceston, Tasmania, to coach, where he captained North (of Tasmania) against South in January 1948, taking 10 wickets in the match and scoring 63 in the second innings.[1] He played in Tasmania's three first-class games that followed shortly afterwards, scoring 180 not out and taking three wickets against the Indian touring team at Launceston.[2]

He was appointed coach of the Queensland Cricket Association in 1948-49,[3] but did not play for Queensland until the 1954-55 season, after which he became a regular in the side. In his first Sheffield Shield match, at the age of 38, he took 5 for 84 and 3 for 90 to help Queensland to victory over South Australia.[4]

In 1956-57 he took 3 for 52 and 5 for 124 against New South Wales.[5] His batting by this stage was generally less effective than his bowling (in 28 matches for Queensland he scored 577 runs at 21.37[6] and took 102 wickets at 30.12[7]) but he scored 106 not out batting at number 10 against New South Wales in 1957-58, sharing a ninth-wicket partnership of 120 with Ray Reynolds and an unbroken tenth-wicket partnership of 105 with John Freeman. He also took six wickets in the match.[8]

In 1958-59 he took 6 for 56 to help Queensland to an innings victory over South Australia.[9] Before the season ended, he moved to New Zealand to take up a position with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hamilton,[10] playing his first first-class match in New Zealand, for a combined Northern Districts and Central Districts team against the touring MCC, almost immediately.

He played three matches for Northern Districts in 1959-60 at the age of 43, taking 12 wickets at 26.58,[11] then retired.

He remained in New Zealand with his large family, and died suddenly in Hamilton at 61.[12]

See also

References
  1. South v North 1947-48
  2. Tasmania v Indians 1947-48
  3. Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket, Oxford UP, Melbourne, 1996, p. 560.
  4. South Australia v Queensland 1954-55
  5. New South Wales v Queensland 1956-57
  6. Wal Walmsley batting by team
  7. Wal Walmsley bowling by team
  8. Queensland v New South Wales 1957-58
  9. Queensland v South Australia 1958-59
  10. Oxford Companion, p. 560.
  11. Wal Walmsley bowling by season
  12. Wisden 1979, p. 1088.
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