William Burns

Who was William Burns?

William Beaumont Burns was an English cricketer who played more than 200 first-class matches in the early 20th century, the great bulk of them for Worcestershire, for whom he filled in as captain on a number of occasions when the usual incumbents were not available. Burns' obituary in Wisden described him as a "dashing, hard-hitting batsman" but added that his bowling — which he scarcely pursued until the middle of his career — had to be considered suspect: "the fairness of his delivery was often questioned — and not without good reason".

Born in Rugeley, Staffordshire, Burns played for that county in the Minor Counties Championship while aged just 16, but his debut came in May 1903 when he represented Worcestershire against Oxford University at The Parks, making 3 and 35. He also played that season against Cambridge University and the Philadelphians, but could not appear in the County Championship because he had not yet qualified.

In 1904 Burns became a near-regular, appearing 19 times, and he finished with 834 runs at 26.00, including an innings of 165 in 180 minutes against Oxford University. The following season was not as impressive, but he returned to form with a vengeance in 1906, hitting 1,206 first-class runs at 43.07, with another innings of 165 against Oxford among his three centuries. That winter he visited New Zealand with MCC: he did relatively little with the bat, only twice passing 50 in 11 innings, but he did take his maiden wicket when he dismissed Wellington's Harold Monaghan.