 Halliday was educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys, where he excelled at cricket.He debuted for Oxfordshire in the 1932 Minor Counties Championship, and, while studying at Merton College, Oxford, made his debut in first-class cricket for the university cricket team in 1934 against Gloucestershire.Making five first-class appearances for the university in 1934, Halliday was also selected to play for the Minor Counties cricket team "against" Oxford University in that same year.