William Burns ( cricketer ) William Beaumont Burns ( 29 August 1883 – 7 July 1916 ) 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 . Burns had a mediocre 1907 season , but in all the following four summers he passed 1 , 000 first - class runs , in 1908 hitting three centuries as he had done two years earlier . In 1909 , in a rich vein of form which saw him score over 500 runs in five matches , he made his career - best score of 196 against Warwickshire . He and Ted Arnold shared a fifth - wicket stand of 393 , which as of 2007 remains a Worcestershire record for this wicket . The innings - and - 233 - run victory margin remained Worcestershire ' s widest until 2002 . This period also saw Burns develop his bowling . In 1908 he sent down 633 deliveries , almost twice the number he had bowled in his first - class career up to that point , and claimed 16 wickets at 28 . 50 including a haul of 6 - 110 against Hampshire . In the following three seasons he bowled around 2 , 000 deliveries each summer , claiming a total of 145 first - class wickets , and recording career - best figures of 7 - 58 for the Gentlemen against the Players at The Oval in July 1910 . This was the first of three appearances he made in such matches , but in the others he made little impression . Burns suffered another dip in his form in 1912 , scoring only 599 runs and taking only six wickets in his 22 matches , but he recovered his form , with the ball especially , the next season and ended with 42 first - class wickets at 30 . 81 , as well as 866 runs at 27 . 06 . He made his last hundred , 102 not out against Gloucestershire , in June , while he claimed six wickets in an innings twice : once against Hampshire in July , and once in his very last first - class game , Worcestershire ' s innings victory over Somerset in late August . He took one final wicket in the second innings of that game : that of Len Braund . According to David Frith ' s book " The Fast Men " , Burns was an exceptionally quick bowler — Frank Chester , who played against him before the war , named him the fastest bowler , ahead even of Harold Larwood , that he ever saw — , but he was handicapped by suspicions that he threw . He then emigrated to Canada . In the First World War , he joined the Worcestershire Regiment of the British Army and served as a Second Lieutenant in France . He was killed in action at Contalmaison during the Battle of the Somme .