n/a
1831-03-09
On 9 March 1831 Thomas 'Old Everlasting' Walker — the most famous defensive batter of the Hambledon school and one of the last surviving regulars of the great 1780s side — died at Churt, Surrey, in his early seventies. With Beldham still alive but long retired, Walker's death effectively closed the personal lineage of Hambledon cricket as a presence in the contemporary game.
Hampshire / Surrey / occasional XIs
1808-07-01
Tom Walker, born at Hambledon in 1762 and nicknamed 'Old Everlasting' for the unhurried, immovable defensive batting that once let him face 170 balls from David Harris for one run, was the last Hambledon man still appearing in important cricket through the early 1800s. His attempted 'higher arm' bowling had been ruled foul play by the Hambledon Club committee in 1788 — a forgotten experiment that John Willes would revive in 1807 and that would eventually become roundarm.
Kent XXIII vs All-England XIII
1807-07-29
In July 1807 the Kent farmer John Willes bowled what one newspaper called 'straight arm bowling' for a Kent XXIII against an All-England XIII at Penenden Heath, near Maidstone, in a match for £1,000 a side. It was the first attempt since Tom Walker's experiments in the 1780s to revive the higher-arm action that would become roundarm. The newspaper noted Willes's deliveries were 'an obstacle against getting runs'. The MCC would not formally legalise roundarm bowling for another 21 years.
Beldham vs Walker
1803-08-22
On 22 August 1803 the two greatest survivors of the Hambledon batting school — William 'Silver Billy' Beldham and Tom 'Old Everlasting' Walker — played a single-wicket match at Lord's for stakes of 25 guineas. Beldham, faster-scoring and more elegant, won by 14 runs. The fixture is one of the few well-documented direct contests between the two senior professionals of the period.
Hampshire vs Surrey
1800-06-23
On 23 June 1800 Thomas 'Old Everlasting' Walker batted for the best part of two days for Hampshire against Surrey at Lord's. Contemporaries said he scored at a rate of barely a run an over. The innings — 41 in roughly four and a half hours — was Walker's longest at Lord's and the most extreme example of the Hambledon-school defensive batting that had governed the major game since the 1780s.