Max Walker

For the actor, see Max Walker (actor).

Max Walker

Personal information
Born	12 September 1948 (1948-09-12) Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Batting style	Right-handed batsman (RHB)
Bowling style	Right-arm fast-medium (RFM)
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODIs
Matches	34	17
Runs scored	586	79
Batting average	19.53	9.87
100s/50s	0/1	0/0
Top score	78*	20
Balls bowled	1682.2	167.4
Wickets	138	20
Bowling average	27.47	27.30
5 wickets in innings	6	0
10 wickets in match	0	n/a
Best bowling	8/143	4/19
Catches/stumpings	12	6/0
Source: [1], 4 January 2006

Maxwell Henry Norman Walker AM (born 12 September 1948) is a former Australian cricketer and VFL/AFL footballer. Formerly an architect, he currently works as a media commentator and motivational speaker and has diverse business interests.

Football career

Walker was educated at The Friends' School, Hobart and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology graduating with a Fellowship Diploma of Architecture.

Walker started his sports career when he played Australian rules football with the Melbourne Football Club from 1967 to 1972. He was a ruckman and defender who played 85 games and scored 23 goals. He played senior football at VFL level, never playing locally in Tasmania. After his foray in football he moved to cricket.

Cricket career

Walker then moved to cricket and played 70 first-class games for Victoria and 38 Tests for Australia, taking 138 wickets as a medium-fast bowler. He played in 29 ODI's between 1974 and 1981, including matches during World Series Cricket from 1977 to 1979. His strange bowling action, particularly the way he moved his feet, earned Walker the nickname of "Tangles" or "Tanglefoot".

Writing career

Max Walker famous for his sporting exploits is also the author of 14 books with his sales exceeding 1 million copies. This includes seven Number 1 best sellers. His first book was Tangles (written with Neil Phillipson), was published in 1976 while his fourteenth book Caps, Hats and Helmets came out in 2006.

Media career

Once he retired from cricket, Walker became a big celebrity on television and radio. He appeared on The Sunday Footy Show as a panellist, and also hosted the Nine Network's Nine's Wide World of Sports program until it was cancelled in 1999. He was also a commentator for Channel Nine's cricket matches between 1986 and 1991.

Walker is also a writer, and has written many light hearted books including The Wit of Walker, How to Kiss a Crocodile and How to Puzzle a Python. Today, Walker is prominent on the public speaking circuit, and in 2005 made a rare TV appearance on the Nine Network's sports show Any Given Sunday, hosted by James Brayshaw, as well as ABC2's sports programme "Late Night Legends" featuring highlight of the 1974/75 Ashes series in which Walker played a prominent role. he has begun writing his new book titled A Joker I A.

Walker has also been parodied by The Twelfth Man, on the 1994 album Wired World of Sports II. It follows Walker through a day at his job at the Nine Network in which he is involved in an assault on co-host Ken Sutcliffe in order to increase his chances of being included on the cricket commentary team. Also, there is a reference to Walker's book publishing when on the album Billy Birmingham (as Walker) remarks, "Have you got my latest book, Alligators and Arseholes? What about Dingoes and Dropkicks?" These were initial Walker Books

He is a supporter of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.

He also appears on one of the Australian Pensioners Insurance Agency's advertisements.

Honours

On 13 June 2011, Walker was named a Member of the Order of Australia for service to cricket at a national and international level as a player and commentator, and to the community through a range of youth and social welfare organisations.

Personal life

Married to Kerry Walker he has five children (three of them from a first marriage).

Walker is an avid collector of fountain pens and in fact uses one when writing the manuscripts for his books.

See also

• List of Australian rules football and cricket players

External links

• Player profile: Max Walker from ESPNcricinfo
• AFL Statistics: Max Walker
• Brydon Coverdale, "Australia's Winter Allrounders: XI Test Cricketers who played Australian Rules football at the highest level", Cricinfo, 28 May 2007
• Max Walker's Full Biography
• Max Walker - Official Website
• Speaker Solutions - Max Walker
• Interview on ABC Television's Talking Heads February 2007
• List of Max Walker's books