Edward Balfour (cricketer)

Edward Balfour
Personal information
Full name
Edward Balfour
Born2 January 1833
Marylebone, Middlesex, England
Died11 August 1856(1856-08-11) (aged 23)
Genoa, Kingdom of Sardinia
BattingRight-handed
BowlingUnknown-arm roundarm slow
RelationsRobert Balfour (brother)
Archibald Balfour (brother)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1852–1854Oxford University
1853–1854Marylebone Cricket Club
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 28
Runs scored 586
Batting average 12.73
100s/50s –/2
Top score 62
Balls bowled ?
Wickets 44
Bowling average 10.00
5 wickets in innings 3
10 wickets in match 1
Best bowling 5/?
Catches/stumpings 14/2
Source: Cricinfo, 21 August 2019

Edward Balfour (2 January 1833 – 11 August 1856) was an English first-class cricketer.

The son of Charles Balfour, he was born at Marylebone in January 1833. He was educated at Westminster School, before going up to Christ Church, Oxford.[1] While studying at Oxford, he made his debut in first-class cricket for Oxford University against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Oxford in 1852. Balfour played first-class cricket for Oxford until 1854, making nine appearances.[2] Playing as an all-rounder, he scored 152 runs for Oxford at an average of 11.69 and a high score of 62.[3] With his roundarm slow bowling, he took 35 wickets for Oxford, taking five wickets in an innings on three occasions and taking ten wickets in a match once.[4] In addition to playing for Oxford, Balfour also played first-class cricket for the MCC on seven occasions in 1853–54,[2] scoring 129 runs with a high score of 36.[3] His best batting return came for the Gentlemen of England, for whom he made five first-class appearances from 1852–54,[2] scoring 185 runs at an average of 23.12.[3] Balfour's other first-class appearances included three each for England and the Gentlemen in the Gentlemen v Players, in addition to one match for the Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club.[2]

His father, a merchant, had business at Genoa in the Kingdom of Sardinia with his company Grants, Balfour & Co. Balfour joined his father in Genoa in 1856, where he died in August "after a few days' illness".[5][6] His brothers, Robert and Archibald, both played first-class cricket.

  1. ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Balfour, Edward (1)" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
  2. ^ a b c d "First-Class Matches played by Edward Balfour". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Edward Balfour". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  4. ^ "First-class Bowling For Each Team by Edward Balfour". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  5. ^ The Morning Post (London, England), Saturday, August 16, 1856; pg. 8; Issue 25779.
  6. ^ Barker, G. F. Russell; Stenning, Alan H. (1928). The Record of Old Westminsters. The Chiswick Press. p. 46.