Max Walker (cricketer)

Maxwell Henry Norman "Max" Walker AM (12 September 1948 – 28 September 2016) was an Australian sportsman who played both cricket and Australian rules football at high levels. After six years of balancing first-class cricket in summer, professional football in winter and study for a degree in architecture, Walker earned a place in the Australian cricket team in 1973 and represented his country in the sport until injury ended his career in 1981. Following his retirement he worked as an architect and also commenced a career in radio and television media. He wrote 14 books over a period of thirty years and became a successful public speaker. His unorthodox cricket bowling action earned him the nickname "Tangles", and his larrikin character made him a much-loved figure with the Australian public. Walker died of myeloma on 28 September 2016 after being diagnosed with the disease three years earlier.

Walker was born in Hobart, Tasmania, on 12 September 1948. While in high school he represented Tasmania as an opening batsman in their colts team, scoring a century in one match. After graduating from a Hobart high school in 1967 he relocated to Melbourne to play football and also enrolled in an architecture degree at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He graduated with a fellowship diploma in 1973.

In 1966, while still a high school student, Melbourne Football Club coach Norm Smith visited Walker's family home in Hobart to sign him to the Demons. He relocated from Hobart to Melbourne in 1967 and made his VFL debut the same year. He spent six seasons with Melbourne, playing 85 games as a ruckman and defender and earning one Brownlow Medal vote in 1968. After returning from the Australian cricket team's 1972–73 tour of the West Indies, Walker informed the club that he would not be joining them for the 1973 VFL season, as the season was about to start and he needed to complete a thesis for his university degree.