Born in Bristol but brought up in South Africa, Peter Walker was a tall (6'4") allrounder and a quite brilliant close fielder who took 656 catches in his career, almost all at slip or short leg. In 1952, aged 16, Walker hitch hiked from the Cape to South Wales to visit his grandparents, and while visiting had a trial for Glamorgan. He joined the staff in 1955 as an attacking middle-order batsman and left-arm swing bowler, although towards the end of his career he developed into an orthodox left-arm spinner. A good season in 1959 - he scored 1564 runs and 80 wickets - led to him being brought into the England side for the first three Tests against South Africa in 1960 where he performed solidly, but he was dropped and never again played Test cricket. He continued to serve Glamorgan well with both bat and ball, and when Tony Lewis stood down as county captain at the end of 1971 Walker was expected to be appointed. But Majid Khan got the job, and at the end of the 1972 season Walker retired to concentrate on his blossoming TV and journalism career. In the 1990s he became chief executive of the Cricket Board of Wales.
Martin Williamson