George Baker (cricketer, born 1862)

George Robert Baker (18 April 1862 – 6 February 1938)[1] was an English first-class cricketer, who played seven matches for Yorkshire in 1884, and then 227 games for Lancashire between 1887 and 1899. Baker umpired one first-class match in 1901.[2]

For other cricketers with the same name, see George Baker (cricketer, born 1838) and George Baker (cricketer, born 1849).

George Baker
Personal information
Full nameGeorge Robert Baker
Born(1862-04-18)18 April 1862
New Malton, Yorkshire, England
Died6 February 1938(1938-02-06) (aged 75)
Wing Hill, Buckinghamshire, England
BattingRight-hand
BowlingRight-arm medium pace
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1884Yorkshire
1887-1899Lancashire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 249
Runs scored 7563
Batting average 21.48
100s/50s 4/39
Top score 186
Balls bowled 9061
Wickets 145
Bowling average 29.43
5 wickets in innings 6
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 6/18
Catches/stumpings 152/
Source: Cricket archive, 27 July 2012

Life and career

Baker was born in New Malton, Yorkshire, England. He was a right-handed middle-order batsman, who scored 7,563 runs in 249 first-class matches, at an average of 21.28 with four centuries and 39 fifties. His best score was 186 against Sussex, and he posted 153 against Nottinghamshire, 140 against Hampshire and 109 against Kent. He was a fairly moderate performer until 1894, though his first century came in 1892. He passed 1,000 runs in a season only three times, with a best of 1,444 runs in 1897 at an average of 32.81. His three highest centuries came in that season, and his Lancashire aggregate and average in a season, in which the team won the County Championship, were exceeded only by Albert Ward.[3]

He took 152 catches and was an increasingly useful bowler, taking 145 first-class wickets at an average of 24.93 with his right-arm medium pace, including spells of 6 for 18 against Gloucestershire in 1896 and 6 for 28 against Sussex in 1898.

Despite his apparently modest career figures, Baker was accorded a benefit season by Lancashire in 1898, which raised £1,850. His obituary in Wisden in 1939 noted that he was a man of "happy disposition and popular with everyone".[3] He left first-class cricket after the 1899 season, and was later coach at Harrow School for twelve years.

Baker died in February 1938 at Wing Hill, Buckinghamshire, at the age of 75.

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References
  1. Warner, David (2011). The Yorkshire County Cricket Club: 2011 Yearbook (113th ed.). Ilkley, Yorkshire: Great Northern Books. p. 363. ISBN 978-1-905080-85-4.
  2. George Baker cricket umpire Retrieved 27 July 2012
  3. "Obituary, 1938". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1939 ed.). Wisden. p. 906.
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