V.E. Walker Takes All Ten — Every Wicket at Lord's, Middlesex v Lancashire, 1865

Taking all ten wickets in an innings requires not only exceptional bowling but a degree of luck — all the catches held, no no-balls called, all the LBWs given. Walker's conditions at Lord's in July 1865 combined skill and circumstance perfectly.

V.E. Walker was the most distinguished member of a remarkable cricketing family from Southgate, north London. Seven Walker brothers played first-class cricket; V.E. was the best, an all-rounder who captained Middlesex and England and was also a capable lower-order batsman. His bowling was right-arm medium-pace, accurate and deceptive in flight, and on Lord's wickets of the 1860s — which could be treacherous after rain — he was almost unplayable. The Lancashire innings of July 1865 gave him ideal conditions: a damp surface and a batting order unaccustomed to Lord's pace. Walker bowled unchanged and took every wicket to fall, finishing with figures that contemporaries agreed represented the finest individual bowling performance seen at Lord's since the roundarm revolution. The achievement was all the more remarkable because Walker was simultaneously captaining his side in the field — directing his own attack was impossible, requiring each wicket decision to be made instinctively.

“Walker's bowling that day was something altogether beyond the ordinary — pitch, flight and the wicket itself conspiring to make him irresistible.”

Walker continued to captain Middlesex and play representative cricket through the late 1860s. He served on the MCC committee and was one of the driving forces behind the organisation of county cricket.