Peter James Loader (25 October 1929 – 15 March 2011) was an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

, who played thirteen

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He played for

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and Beddington Cricket Club. A

whippet The Whippet is a British breed of dog of sighthound type. It closely resembles the Greyhound and the smaller Italian Greyhound, and is intermediate between them in size. In the nineteenth century it was sometimes called "the poor man's raceh ...

-thin fast bowler with a wide range of pace and a nasty bouncer, he took the first post-war Test

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

as part of his 6 for 36 against the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

in 1957. It was only the twelfth hat-trick ever taken in Test cricket, and it was another 38 years before

Dominic Cork Dominic Gerald Cork (born 7 August 1971) is a former English county and international cricketer. Cork was a right-handed lower-order batsman who bowled right-arm fast-medium, and was renowned for his swing and seam control. In 1995, he took ...

became the next England bowler to take one.''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1996 Edition, . The cricket writer, Colin Bateman, remarked that Loader was, "angular, accurate and with an aversion to breaking down".

Life and career

Loader was born in

Wallington, Surrey Wallington is a town in the London Borough of Sutton, South London, England, south south-west of Charing Cross. Before the Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington merged into the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London in 1965, it was ...

. He was an important part of Surrey's attack, helping them to achieve their run of seven successive

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

titles between 1952 and 1958. He made his debut in 1951, and cemented his place in July 1953, when in three successive matches he took 34 wickets. Because of the talent of

Frank Tyson Frank Holmes Tyson (6 June 1930 – 27 September 2015) was an England international cricketer of the 1950s, who also worked as a schoolmaster, journalist, cricket coach and cricket commentator after emigrating to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed " ...

Fred Trueman Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowled ...

and

Brian Statham John Brian Statham, (17 June 1930 – 10 June 2000) was an English professional cricketer from Gorton, in Manchester, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1968 and for England from 1951 to 1965.Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

, and spent several days in bed with a high temperature, but still played in the First Test in the following week. He had a groin strain which kept him out of the New South Wales game and the following Fourth Test. He and Statham were in a car crash before the Fifth Test and he never played for England again. Loader was accused of "chucking" although he was never called by an umpire because his bouncers were noticeably faster than his normal delivery. Frank Tyson wrote "His inexplicable wide range of pace has from time to time, raised the suspicion of a 'kink' in his action. He can certainly generate a great deal of speed for a man who is of slender build".Tyson, p166 He twice took nine wickets in an innings for Surrey: 9 for 23 against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1953 and 9 for 17 against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

in 1958. On seven occasions he took one hundred or more first-class wickets in a season, the last time in 1962. Though not much of a batsman, he made his highest score of 81 against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in 1955. He came in with the score at 119 for 8, and his innings enabled Surrey to recover to 268 all out. He emigrated to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia, in 1963, so ending his career with Surrey. He played one match for the state side in 1963–4, his final first-class appearance. He subsequently took up umpiring. Loader retired from umpiring at the top grade for the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) in 2007. Loader died in

, Western Australia in March 2011, at the age of 81.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loader, Peter 1929 births 2011 deaths English cricketers England Test cricketers Test cricket hat-trick takers Surrey cricketers Western Australia cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Players cricketers North v South cricketers English emigrants to Australia A. E. R. Gilligan's XI cricketers People from Wallington, London 20th-century English sportsmen