{{Short description|Pakistani cricketer (1935–1994)}} {{Use Pakistani English|date=October 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Wallis Mathias | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1935|2|4}} | birth_place = Karachi, British India | death_date = {{death date and age|1994|9|1|1935|2|4|df=yes}} | death_place = Karachi, Pakistan | image = | caption = | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right-arm medium | columns = 2 | column1 = Test | matches1 = 21 | runs1 = 783 | bat avg1 = 23.72 | 100s/50s1 = 0/3 | top score1 = 77 | deliveries1 = 24 | wickets1 = 0 | bowl avg1 = – | fivefor1 = – | tenfor1 = – | best bowling1 = – | catches/stumpings1= 22/– | column2 = First-class | matches2 = 146 | runs2 = 7,520 | bat avg2 = 44.49 | 100s/50s2 = 16/41 | top score2 = 278* | deliveries2 = 1,090 | wickets2 = 13 | bowl avg2 = 40.92 | fivefor2 = 0 | tenfor2 = 0 | best bowling2 = 2/4 | catches/stumpings2= 130/– | international = true | country = Pakistan | testdebutagainst = New Zealand | testdebutdate = 7 November | testdebutyear = 1955 | lasttestdate = 16 August | lasttestagainst = England | lasttestyear = 1962 | testcap = 23 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/41278.html Cricinfo | date = 13 June | year = 2016 }}
'''Wallis Mathias''' (4 February 1935 – 1 September 1994) was a Pakistani cricketer who played in 21 Test matches from 1955 to 1962. A Catholic, he was the first non-Muslim cricketer to play for Pakistan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wisden |title=Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 132nd edition |edition=1995 |editor-last=Engel |editor-first=Matthew |editor-link=Matthew Engel |publisher=John Wisden & Co Ltd |location=London |page=1388}}</ref> He belonged to Karachi's Goan community.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Pakistans-Goa-Connections/articleshow/55213561.cms|title=Pakistan's Goa Connections|work=The Times of India|date=3 November 2016|accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="Oborne2015">{{cite book|author=Peter Oborne|title=Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXXGBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA526|date=9 April 2015|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-84983-248-9|pages=526}}</ref>
The son of a porter at the Karachi Gymkhana Club,<ref>Omar Noman, ''Pride and Passion: An Exhilarating Half Century of Cricket in Pakistan'', OUP, Karachi, 1998, p. 94.</ref> Mathias was a stylish right-handed middle-order batsman. He made three half centuries in his Test career, all of them against West Indies. In the Second Test against West Indies in Dacca in 1958–59, he top-scored in each innings with 64 and 45, as Pakistan won a low-scoring match by 41 runs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/west-indies-tour-of-pakistan-1958-59-61923/pakistan-vs-west-indies-2nd-test-62856/full-scorecard|title=Pakistan vs West Indies, 2nd Test at Dhaka, Mar 06 1959|publisher=Cricinfo|access-date=7 April 2026}}</ref>
He was also a gifted slip fielder with exceptional reflexes, whose "great skill was to make hard chances look simple".<ref>''Wisden'' 1995, p. 1388.</ref> According to Imtiaz Ahmed, the Test wicket-keeper at the time, he was Pakistan's first good slip fielder, who "changed the atmosphere in the slip cordon", which previously had been the domain of players "who did not want to run".<ref>Quoted in Omar Noman, ''Pride and Passion'', p. 95.</ref>
He was a prolific run scorer in Pakistani domestic cricket. After he returned from the tour of England in 1962, in the next four years he made 1357 runs in 13 matches at an average of 113.08,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/1/1029/f_Batting_by_Season.html|title=Wallis Mathias batting by season|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=7 April 2026}}</ref> including his career-best score of 278 not out for Karachi Blues against Railways Greens in 1965–66.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/27/27985.html|title=Karachi Blues v Railways Greens, 1965-66|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=7 April 2026}}</ref> Four years later he joined the newly formed National Bank cricket team and became their first ever captain, playing for them until 1976-77 and later coaching the side. In 146 first-class matches he made 7,520 runs, average 44.49, including 16 centuries. He held 130 catches, 22 in Tests.
Mathias died of a brain haemorrhage in 1994, aged 59.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/717192-non-muslims-to-play-international-cricket-for-pakistan|title=Non-Muslims to play international cricket for Pakistan | Sports | thenews.com.pk|website=thenews.com.pk}}</ref>
==Education== He was educated at the St. Patrick's High School, Karachi.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://stpats.edu.pk/about/notable-alumni/ |title=Notable Alumni – St. Patrick's High School |access-date=26 August 2019 |archive-date=31 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231070939/http://stpats.edu.pk/about/notable-alumni/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{cricinfo|id=41278}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathias, Wallis}} Category:1935 births Category:1994 deaths Category:Pakistan Test cricketers Category:Sindh cricketers Category:National Bank of Pakistan cricketers Category:Pakistani Roman Catholics Category:Pakistani cricketers Category:Karachi cricketers Category:Karachi A cricketers Category:Karachi Blues cricketers Category:Karachi Whites cricketers Category:South Zone (Pakistan) cricketers Category:Pakistani people of Goan descent Category:St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni Category:Cricketers from Karachi