Walter Money

The Rev. Walter Baptist Money, who was born at Sternfield in Suffolk on July 27, 1848, died suddenly at Edgbaston on March 1, 1924. As Walter Money retired from first-class cricket directly he entered the Church, only people whose memories go back more than 50 years will recall him in the field, but for a few seasons he was in the first flight of amateur cricketers -- a dominating figure at Harrow and Cambridge. Few men have ever had a pleasanter experience of Lord's ground. In the matches there that specially appealed to him, he was never on the losing side until in 1871, Butler--taking all 10 wickets in the first innings--brought about the downfall of the Cambridge XI. Money was in the very strong Harrow teams that beat Eton in one innings m 1865 and 1866 and was captain in the drawn game of 1867. In those days he was essentially an all-round player and more to be feared for his lob bowling than his batting. He took in the three matches 21 Eton wickets, doing the hat-trick in 1866 By the way Canon McCormick, who saw all the lob bowlers from William Clarke to Walter Humphreys, thought that Money in his prime was always rather underrated.

Going up from Harrow with a big reputation, Money stepped straight into the Cambridge XI as a Freshman in 1868 and played the regulation four years. He does not seem to have been in residence in 1871, as he only took part in the London matches, and to judge from his scores he could scarcely have been in full practice. Cambridge beat Oxford by 168 runs in 1868 and by 58 runs in 1869. Then came the two runs victory in 1870 -- Cobden's match -- when Money was captain. In 1871 Oxford won by eight wickets. Of the many stones that have enshrouded the Cobden match -- the Balaclava Charge of the cricket field -- Money himself contributed one of the best, telling how Jack Dale, when reproached for allowing a simple catch at point to go unheeded, apologised by saying, "I'm awfully sorry, Walter, I was looking at a lady getting out of a drag "

Money's record at Cambridge was curiously uneven. Only in 1868 was he in form both as batsman and bowler--he had a batting average of 31 that year and took 30 wickets for less than 10½ runs each. In 1869 he bowled better than ever, but for the time he lost his batting, his best score for Cambridge in six matches being 23 not out. Then in 1870 there was a great change. His skill in bowling lobs deserted him but he batted as he had never batted before, scoring 165 against Birkenhead Park Club and Ground at Cambridge and 134 against Surrey at the Oval. He failed in the University match, but his average for Cambridge was 53--very high indeed in those days. He was at the top of his form and for Gentlemen against Players at the Oval he enjoyed the biggest success of his cricket life, scoring 70 and 109 not out. Fenner's and the Oval were the grounds that suited him best. Like two of his brilliant contemporaries at Cambridge--H. A. Richardson and F.E.R. Fryer--but not to the same extent, he found the wickets at Lord's rather too difficult for him. In a word, with all his fine qualities as a batsman, he had not the defence of Yardley or Ottaway.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack