John William King

Who was John William King?

John William King was an English cricketer who played 48 first-class matches for Worcestershire and Leicestershire in the late 1920s. He was the nephew of another John King, who played one Test for England, and the son of James King, who played first-class cricket for Leicestershire.

King made his debut in May 1927, for Worcestershire against Sussex at Hove, scoring 7 and 0. He remained in the side, but did not make a really sizeable contribution until his 12th innings, when he struck 91 against Essex at Leyton. He ended the season with disappointing figures of 386 runs in 31 first-class innings, at an average of 13.78.

In 1928, King did rather better, and indeed his 629 runs at 19.06, with three half-centuries, represented easily the best season's return of his short career. He passed a thousand runs for his career in late August, when he hit an unbeaten 50 against Warwickshire at New Road. However, in four further innings before the end of the season he never made more than 2, and for 1929 he switched counties to Leicestershire.

King's one season with the county of his birth was not a success.