Walter Marcon (28 March 1824 – 14 November 1875) was an English cleric, noted as a cricketer who played six first-class matches for Oxford University in 1843 and 1844. He had previously established a reputation for extremely fast bowling at Eton College.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 28 March 1824 Swaffham, Norfolk, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 14 November 1875 (aged 51) Edgefield, Norfolk, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm fast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1843–1844 | Oxford University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FC debut | 28 May 1843 Oxford University v MCC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last FC | 5 August 1844 West of England v MCC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricInfo, 26 October 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Schools cricket
editBorn at Swaffham, Norfolk, Marcon played for the Eton College First XI in 1841 and 1842, alongside another fast bowler, Harvey Fellows.[1] Marcon's pace was so fast that he warranted three long stops, despite the wicketkeeper standing well back.[1] WG Grace said that "Harvey W Fellows and W Marcon were two of the fastest and best...I do not think that Fellows or Marcon would now be allowed to bowl. Few people nowadays realise how fast they bowled."[2]
In his book Cricket, W. G. Grace wrote that Marcon's deliveries would smash a stump if making a direct hit without bouncing first; he reported his father saying that he "could hardly trace the ball" when fielding at point.[1] Marcon once bowled a ball that knocked the bat out of the batsman's hands and through the wicket.[3]
First-class career
editSurprisingly, given his reputation as a bowler, Marcon took no known wickets in his first-class career. Bowling analyses were rarely compiled at the time, and bowlers were not credited with wickets which fell to catches.
Marcon went up to Worcester College, Oxford, in 1842,[4] and joined the Oxford University Cricket Club in 1843, making his debut against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on 24 May at Bullingdon Green, near Oxford. Batting third, he scored 2 in the first innings and was run out for a duck in the second.[5] That was his only match in 1843.
In 1844, he played against MCC at the Magdalen College Ground on 30 May, scoring 15 and 5.[6] He then played for the West of England at Lord's on 24 June, making no score in either innings.[7] He scored another duck followed by his career best 29 playing for Oxford against MCC at Lord's on 27 June.[8]
In the University Match against Cambridge at Lord's on 4 July, Marcon scored 24 and eight not out.[9] His final match was for the West of England against MCC at Bath on 5 August, when he scored two and was not out without scoring in the second innings. His bowling analysis was recorded in this match: he took no wickets for eight runs from forty balls.[10]
Later life
editMarcon abandoned cricket after he left Oxford to become a vicar in Cornwall and eventually the Rector of Edgefield in his native Norfolk. He married Caroline Eliza Hayes Middleton in about 1847, and they had seven children.[11] Walter Marcon died in Edgefield in 1875.[1] The couple's eldest child, also called Walter, succeeded his father as Rector of Edgefield and served there from the 1870s to the 1930s.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b c d David Frith, The Fast Men, Transworld Publishing, 1975; p.40-41.
- ^ Grace, W.G. (1910). Little Book. London: MacMillan and Co Ltd. p. 27.
- ^ Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum Press, 1999; p. 69
- ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
- ^ "Oxford University v Marylebone Cricket Club". Cricket Archive. 1843. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ "Oxford University v Marylebone Cricket Club". Cricket Archive. 1844. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ "Marylebone Cricket Club v West". Cricket Archive. 1844. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ "Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University". Cricket Archive. 1844. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ "Oxford University v Cambridge University". Cricket Archive. 1844. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ "West v Marylebone Cricket Club". Cricket Archive. 1844. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ a b "Walter Marcon". RootsWeb. Retrieved 17 September 2019.