Walter Marcon

Born 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]

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.[2]

Surprisingly, 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,[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] He then played for the West of England at Lord's on 24 June, making no score in either innings.[6] He scored another duck followed by his career best 29 playing for Oxford against MCC at Lord's on 27 June.[7]

In the University Match against Cambridge at Lord's on 4 July, Marcon scored 24 and eight not out.[8] 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.[9]

Marcon 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.[10] 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.[10]

• Walter Marcon at ESPNcricinfo