FOUR IN FOUR!
Walker Makes Notts History
When the rules were relaxed in 1968, English counties quickly signed up overseas stars for the County Championship, but a decade earlier Notts were regularly fielding two Australians in their First Eleven.
Spinner Bruce Dooland was the first, debuting in 1953, and was soon joined by left-arm seamer Alan Walker, who died in his native Sydney twenty years ago today (19 June). He was born 100 years ago, in Manly – famed for its connections with Don Bradman – on 19 October 1925.
If Dooland was the more successful, still holding the record for most dismissals in a season (181) for Notts in his second season, Walker also holds a record that will take some beating.
Against Leicestershire at Grace Road in 1956, he achieved what was at the time a unique feat of capturing the first three Leicester wickets in their second innings with the first three balls of that innings.
Gerald Lester was LBW to Walker’s first ball, he clean bowled Maurice Tompkin next ball and had Gerald Smithson caught by Cyril Poole off ball three! (How many other hat-tricks included two players called Gerald!?).
As Walker had finished off the first innings by taking the final wicket – bowling Jack Firth – he ended with four in four!
He remains the only Notts bowler to have taken four wickets with consecutive balls, albeit spread across two innings. His hat trick with the first three balls of an innings also remains unequalled by any Notts bowler.
Alan Walker was educated at Sydney Grammar School. Before he appeared in First-Class cricket, Walker was capped for Australia as a rugby centre three-quarter. He toured Great Britain and France with the 1947/48 Australian squad and played in five Rugby Union Internationals between 1947 and 1950.
Walker was picked for the Australian cricket tour of South Africa in 1949/50 but although he took 25 wickets at an average of 20.24 on that tour, he was kept out of the Test side by the formidable trio of Lindwall, Miller and Johnston. Unusually, the Test side was injury free and fielded the same eleven in all Tests bar one, so Walker never got a Test cap.
Dooland, incidentally, was also a dual international – representing Australia at baseball as well as in three Tests.
Walker was seriously injured playing rugby in 1951, badly damaging his left shoulder. He missed the whole 1951/52 cricket season as a result and retired from top class rugby. In 1954 he came to England to play for Rawtenstall in the Lancashire League and captured 59 wickets at 13.38.
He signed for Notts but had to qualify by residence and that season only played against Pakistan at Trent Bridge. He made an impressive debut, taking four of the six wickets that fell in Pakistan’s first innings and scoring 61 and 33 not out; his 61 coming in 45 minutes.
The two Aussies played in the same Notts XI in that Pakistan match and were regular team-mates in 1956, when Walker was able to make his Championship debut, and 1957.
Despite his record feats, Alan Walker was to confess much later that his left shoulder never recovered properly from the 1951 rugby injury; in 1958 he played in only three matches and his contract was terminated by mutual agreement. He returned to Australia, playing in a few Sydney Grade games for Manly, before retiring altogether.
His compatriot Dooland’s final season with Notts was 1957 when he not only topped the bowling table, but came second in the batting averages, his figures in all games being 1,604 runs and 141 wickets. The County were keen for him to continue but he decided he wanted his children educated in Australia and thus after five years of county cricket he returned to his native land.
Both Aussie imports have a permanent place in Nottinghamshire’s proud cricket history and shared many great moments on and off the field.
June 2025