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George Gilbert (cricketer)

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George Gilbert
Personal information
Full name
George Henry Bailey Gilbert
Born(1829-09-02)2 September 1829
Cheltenham, England
Died16 June 1906(1906-06-16) (aged 76)
Summer Hill, Sydney, Australia
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1855/56–1875/76New South Wales
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 18
Runs scored 283
Batting average 8.32
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 31
Balls bowled 262
Wickets 28
Bowling average 10.00
5 wickets in innings 2
10 wickets in match 1
Best bowling 6/65
Catches/stumpings 13/–
Source: Cricinfo, 6 March 2020

George Henry Bailey Gilbert (2 September 1829 – 16 June 1906) was an English cricketer.

Life and career

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Gilbert was born in Cheltenham. He was the elder brother of Walter Gilbert and a cousin of E. M., W. G. and Fred Grace. He made six first-class cricket appearances in 1851 including two for Middlesex and one for the Gentlemen against the Players.

He emigrated to Australia in 1852. He played in 12 first-class matches for New South Wales, all of them against Victoria, over a 19-year period from March 1856 to March 1875.[1][2] He captained New South Wales to victory over Victoria in their inaugural first-class match, and for several seasons afterwards.[3]

In 1857 the Australian Cricketer's Guide said of him:

His batting is very effective, but wanting in finish, and he would do more if not so fond of hitting to leg. Is a good change round-arm bowler. His fielding is good, and would be rendered much more elegant if he curbed his sometimes too exuberant spirits.[4]

Gilbert made the top score of the match when New South Wales beat Victoria in Sydney in 1856-57, 31 in the second innings.[5] The next season he took the first hat-trick in Australian first-class cricket, though it did not prevent Victoria from winning.[6]

Gilbert later spent some time in New Zealand, where he struggled financially.[7] A tobacconist by preference, he also worked as surveyor, clerk, station master and timber worker to feed his nine children.[1] He was also at one stage the groundsman for the cricket ground in the Sydney suburb of Burwood, and later fossicked for gold at Fish River, near Bathurst.[8]

Gilbert died in June 1906 at his daughter's house in the Sydney suburb of Summer Hill after being ill for four months.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "George Gilbert". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. ^ "George Gilbert". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  3. ^ "Victoria v New South Wales, 1855-56". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  4. ^ "New South Wales Eleven". Sydney Morning Herald: 5. 7 October 1857.
  5. ^ "New South Wales v Victoria, 1856/57". Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  6. ^ A. G. Moyes, Australian Cricket: A History, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1959, p. 112.
  7. ^ Censor (12 December 1885). "Cricket Gossip". The Sydney Mail and NSW Advertiser: 1247.
  8. ^ a b "Cricket". Referee: 9. 20 June 1906.