Ernest Hayter (31 July 1913 — 16 December 2005) was an English first-class cricketer and footballer.

Hayter was born at Bournemouth in July 1913. His father was the secretary of Brockenhurst Cricket Club in the New Forest.^[1] He was a member of the ground staff at Hampshire by the mid-1930s,^[1] with Hayter making his debut in first-class cricket against Derbyshire at Queen's Park, Chesterfield in the 1935 County Championship. He made two further first-class appearances for Hampshire in 1937, against Cambridge University at Basingstoke, and Northamptonshire at Rushden in the County Championship.^[2] In these, he scored 36 runs with a highest score of 17.^[3]

Outside of cricket, Hayter played football as a goalkeeper for Lymington Town. In 1936, he had trials with Norwich City.^[4] In August 1937, while at sea on board SS Dunvegan Castle, Hayter was the victim of an attempted murder, when he was stabbed by Antonio Mifsud, a Maltese kitchen porter.^[5] He later served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, playing minor exhibition matches for the Royal Air Force cricket team during the war.^[6] Hayter died suddenly whilst playing golf at Southampton in December 2005, aged 92. He had resided during his final years at Bartley, Hampshire.^[7]