John Halliday (cricketer)

John Gordon Halliday (4 July 1915 – 3 December 1945) was an English cricketer active in the 1930s. Born at Cockermouth, Cumberland, Halliday was a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler who made over twenty appearances in first-class cricket.

John Halliday
Personal information
Full name
John Gordon Halliday
Born(1915-07-04)4 July 1915
Cockermouth, Cumberland, England
Died3 December 1945(1945-12-03) (aged 30)
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1934–1937Oxford University
1934Minor Counties
1932–1939Oxfordshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 26
Runs scored 848
Batting average 24.94
100s/50s –/5
Top score 29
Balls bowled 1,509
Wickets 21
Bowling average 35.57
5 wickets in innings –
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling 3/11
Catches/stumpings 8/–
Source: Cricinfo, 8 June 2014

Life and career

Halliday was educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys, where he excelled at cricket.[1] He debuted for Oxfordshire in the 1932 Minor Counties Championship,[2] and, while studying at Merton College, Oxford,[3] made his debut in first-class cricket for the university cricket team in 1934 against Gloucestershire.[4] Making five first-class appearances for the university in 1934, Halliday was also selected to play for the Minor Counties cricket team against Oxford University in that same year.[4] He played first-class cricket for university until 1937, making a total of 25 appearances.[4] Though unable to recapture his form as a schoolboy cricketer,[1] Halliday nonetheless scored a total of 766 runs at an average of 23.21, making eight half centuries and top-scoring with 87.[5] As a bowler, he took 18 wickets at an average of 37.66, with best figures of 3/11.[6] Halliday's minor counties career with Oxfordshire continued until 1939, making sixty appearances.[2] He was elected county captain in 1938.[1]

Halliday served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, holding the rank of pilot officer in 1940,[7] in the following year he became a flying officer.[8] In June 1942 he was promoted to flight lieutenant,[9] At some point after this Halliday became a wing commander.[1] Following the end of the war, he remained with the Royal Air Force, serving with No. 59 Squadron. He was a passenger on board a B-24 Liberator on 3 December 1945, when it was struck by lightning and crashed near Rochefort in France, killing all 28 on board.[10] He was buried at Rochefort-sur-Mer Naval Cemetery.[11]

Notes
  1. "Deaths in the war, 1945". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  2. "Minor Counties Championship Matches played by John Halliday". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  3. Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900-1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 245.
  4. "First-Class Matches played by John Halliday". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  5. "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by John Halliday". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  6. "First-class Bowling For Each Team by John Halliday". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  7. "No. 34854". The London Gazette. 21 May 1940. p. 3037.
  8. "No. 35183". The London Gazette. 6 June 1941. p. 3234.
  9. "No. 35725". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 September 1942. p. 4259.
  10. "No. 59 Squadron RAF". www.number59.com. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  11. "HALLIDAY, JOHN GORDON". CWGC. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
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