The 1859 English cricket season saw one of the sport's most remarkable all-round performances by V E Walker.
1859 match list
1 March. Formation of the present Kent CCC.
21 to 23 July. V E Walker of Middlesex, playing for England versus Surrey at The Oval, took all ten wickets in the Surrey first innings and followed by scoring 108 in the England second innings, having been the not out batsman in the first (20*). He took a further four wickets in Surrey’s second innings. England won by 392 runs.
7 September. Departure of cricket’s first-ever touring team. A famous photograph was taken on board ship before they sailed from Liverpool. The team of English professionals went to North America and played five matches, winning them all. There were no first-class fixtures. The 12-man squad was:
George Parr (captain)
James Grundy
John Jackson (all of Nottinghamshire);
Robert Carpenter
Alfred Diver
Thomas Hayward (all of Cambridgeshire);
Julius Caesar
William Caffyn
Tom Lockyer
HH Stephenson (all of Surrey);
John Lillywhite
John Wisden (both of Sussex)
See also : English cricket team in North America in 1859
James Grundy was the leading runscorer with 530 @ 17.09
Other leading batsmen were: FP Miller, Tom Lockyer, V E Walker, John Lillywhite, William Caffyn, John Wisden, JH Hale, Thomas Hayward, HH Stephenson
John Jackson was the leading wicket-taker with 83
Other leading bowlers were: V E Walker, Edgar Willsher, William Caffyn, James Grundy, HH Stephenson, John Wisden
Fred Lillywhite, The Guide to Cricketers, Lillywhite, 1860
Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volume 6 (1858-1860), Lillywhite, 1862
