{{about||the 17th-century English radical|John Warr (radical)}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = John Warr | image = File:John Warr of Middlesex.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | fullname = John James Warr | birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|7|16|df=y}} | birth_place = Ealing, Middlesex, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2016|5|9|1927|7|16}} | death_place = | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right-arm fast-medium | columns = 2 | column1 = Test | matches1 = 2 | runs1 = 4 | bat avg1 = 1.00 | 100s/50s1 = 0/0 | top score1 = 4 | deliveries1 = 584 | wickets1 = 1 | bowl avg1 = 281.00 | fivefor1 = 0 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = 1/76 | catches/stumpings1= 0/– | column2 = First-class | matches2 = 344 | runs2 = 3,838 | bat avg2 = 11.45 | 100s/50s2 = 0/3 | top score2 = 54* | deliveries2 = 53,012 | wickets2 = 956 | bowl avg2 = 22.79 | fivefor2 = 35 | tenfor2 = 5 | best bowling2 = 9/65 | catches/stumpings2= 118/– | international = true | country = England | testdebutagainst = Australia | testdebutdate = 5 January | testdebutyear = 1951 | lasttestdate = 2 February | lasttestagainst = Australia | lasttestyear = 1951 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/22319.html Cricinfo | date = 8 August | year = 2021 }}
'''John James Warr''' (16 July 1927 – 9 May 2016) was an English cricketer. A successful county player for Middlesex County Cricket Club, he took part in two Test matches for England. Warr was known for his sense of humour and made many humorous after-dinner speeches.<ref name="Cap"/>
==First-class career== Warr played for Middlesex as a right-arm fast-medium bowler, in 260 first-class matches between 1949 and 1960. He took 703 wickets for the county at an average of 20.75, with personal best figures of 9 for 65 against Kent in August 1956.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.middlesexccc.com/news/2016/may/jj-warr-1927-2016/ | title = JJ Warr (1927–2016) | publisher = Middlesex County Cricket Club | date = 9 May 2016 | access-date = 11 May 2016}}</ref> Playing for both Middlesex and the University of Cambridge, he took 87 wickets in the 1950 season which ranked him 32nd on the list of wicket-takers in the first-class season.
While still studying at Cambridge, Warr was selected for the 1950–51 tour of Australia.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1950_f_Bowling_by_Wickets.html | title = First-class Bowling in England for 1950 (Ordered by Wickets) | publisher = CricketArchive | access-date = 6 September 2006}}</ref> He played in two of the five Test matches, with the worst debut bowling performance in Test cricket, taking no wickets but conceding 142 runs, a record which stood until 2009 when Australian Bryce McGain went wicketless while conceding 149 runs against South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/11931128/Adil-Rashid-is-record-breakingly-bad-for-England-but-is-spared-complete-humiliation.html| title = Adil Rashid is record-breakingly bad for England – but is spared complete humiliation |first = Alistair | last = Tweedle| work = The Daily Telegraph|location=London | access-date = 11 May 2016 | date = 14 October 2015}}</ref> He went on to take just one wicket, that of Australia's number seven, Ian Johnson, caught behind. In those two matches, he conceded 281 runs, the worst bowling figures of any Test cricketer in history until the record was surpassed in 1985 by Sri Lanka's Roger Wijesuriya. {{As of|2016}} his bowling average remains the worst of any retired England Test player; only Ravi Bopara has a worse average.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Records/England/Test/Bowling/Career_Bowling_by_Average.html |title = Career Bowling for England in Test Matches (Ordered by Average) |publisher = CricketArchive| access-date = 11 May 2016}}</ref> According to the 1952 ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' Warr "tried hard and cheerfully, but he could not be regarded as Test class."<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152955.html |work = Wisden |title = 1952 – M.C.C. team in Australia and New Zealand, 1950–51| publisher = ESPNcricinfo| access-date = 6 September 2006}}</ref>
<blockquote> John in fact in these two Tests took one for 281, which caused a few of us thereafter childishly to hum in his presence the Ancient and Modern Hymn number 281, 'Lead us Heavenly Father, lead us', with emphasis on the lines "Lone and Dreary, Faint and Weary, Through the Desert thou did'st go." In fact, of course, it was J.J. Warr's prime virtue that he never seemed either faint or weary, on the field or off. Laughter was seldom far away when he was about... – E. W. Swanton<ref>E. W. Swanton, ''Swanton in Australia with MCC 1946–1975'', Fontana/Collins, 1975, p. 59.</ref> </blockquote>
Warr captained Middlesex between 1958 and 1960.<ref name=cricinfobio>{{Cite web | url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/22319.html| publisher = ESPNcricinfo| title = John Warr | access-date = 11 May 2016}}</ref> He took 100 first-class wickets twice – in 1956 and 1959.<ref name=TelegraphObituary/><ref name=ESPNbio>{{cite web |first=Martin |last=Williamson |title=John Warr |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/22319.html |publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=10 May 2016 }}</ref> Warr also played fifteen matches for the Gentlemen of England, three times for E. W. Swanton's XI in the West Indies in 1955–56, and three times for the Duke of Norfolk's XI in Jamaica in 1956–57.<ref>{{Cite web| url = http://ab.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/882/First-Class_Matches.html| title = First-class matches played by John Warr (344)| access-date = 11 May 2016| publisher = CricketArchive| archive-date = 3 June 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160603165726/http://ab.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/882/First-Class_Matches.html| url-status = dead}}</ref>
==Personal life== Born in Ealing, Middlesex, England,<ref name="Cap">{{cite book |title=If The Cap Fits |last=Bateman |first=Colin |year=1993 |publisher=Tony Williams Publications |isbn=1-869833-21-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/ifcapfits0000unse/page/184 184] |url=https://archive.org/details/ifcapfits0000unse/page/184 }}</ref> Warr was the youngest of three children.<ref name=TelegraphObituary/> He attended Ealing Grammar School for Boys before four years of national service in the Fleet Air Arm. Warr won Blues every year from 1949 to 1952 while he studied history at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and was captain of the Cambridge University Cricket Club in 1951.<ref name=cricinfobio/><ref name=TelegraphObituary/> He married Valerie Powell in 1957; they had two daughters.<ref name=TelegraphObituary/> After retirement, he wrote for ''The Sunday Telegraph'' and worked as a discount broker. He later became a member of the Jockey Club in 1977 and was chairman between 1989 and 1993.<ref name=TelegraphObituary/>
Warr became a popular after-dinner speaker, and in 1974 he was asked to become Australia's Board of Control's representative in England after one such appearance, a position he held until 1987.<ref name=TelegraphObituary/> He was President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1987–88,<ref name=TelegraphObituary/> and was made honorary life vice-president in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.lords.org/news/2016-2/may/former-mcc-president-jj-warr-dies/ | title = Former MCC President JJ Warr dies | access-date = 11 May 2016| publisher = Lord's | date = 9 May 2016}}</ref> He became president of the Berkshire County Cricket Club in 1990.<ref name=TelegraphObituary/>
Warr died on 9 May 2016, aged 88.<ref name=TelegraphObituary>{{cite news |title=John Warr, cricketer—obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/05/10/john-warr-cricketer--obituary/ |website=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |date=10 May 2016 |access-date=10 May 2016 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-sports}} {{succession box| |before=Bill Edrich |title=Middlesex County Cricket Captain |years=1958–1960 |after=Ian Bedford }} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warr, John}} Category:1927 births Category:2016 deaths Category:England Test cricketers Category:English cricketers Category:Middlesex cricket captains Category:Cambridge University cricketers Category:People educated at Ealing County Grammar School for Boys Category:Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Category:People from Ealing Category:Cricketers from the London Borough of Ealing Category:Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Category:English cricket administrators Category:Gentlemen cricketers Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:Gentlemen of England cricketers Category:North v South cricketers Category:Middlesex cricketers Category:T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Category:Duke of Norfolk's XI cricketers Category:E. W. Swanton's XI cricketers Category:20th-century English sportsmen