User:Mmemaigret/GaryG

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Gary John Gilmour (26 June 1951 – 10 June 2014) was an Australian cricketer who played in 15 test matches and five One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1973 and 1977. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 Cricket World Cup.

Gilmour showed promise as a schoolboy. He was selected to play club cricket for Newcastle as a teenager and, aged 16, he played for Northern New South Wales against New Zealand and was picked in the Australian Schoolboys team to tour the West Indies in 1969–70. Gilmour made his first-class debut in 1971. In 1972–73 season, he took two five wickets hauls and started to talked about as an international prospect.[1] A breakout 1973–74 season saw him picked in the Australian side for the first test. On debut, he scored 52 not out off 58 balls and took 4–75 and took 7 wickets in the third test at Auckland, to set up a series-tying victory.[2] He also won man of the match award for the first ODI.[3]

A good domestic summer in 1974–75 earned him selection on the 1975 tour of England. In the semi-final of the 1975 World Cup against England at Headingley, Gilmour finished 6 for 14, and Australia bowled out the opposition for 93. It was the first time that a bowler had taken 6 wickets in an ODI, and remained the best ODI bowling performance until 1983. Gilmour's best season, however, was in 1975–76. The remainder of his career was plagued by injury. After his omission from the 1977 Australian tour of England, he had an operation on his foot and signed up to play World Series Cricket for the 1977-78 and 1978-79 summers. He had a patchy World Series Cricket but toured the West Indies in 1978 with the Australian World Series team. Following the end of World Series Cricket, Gilmour only played two more first-class games for New South Wales although he continued to play for club cricket. A heel injury, however, brought an early end to his 1980–81 summer.[4] There was some talk that Gilmour might return to NSW ranks but it did not happen and he retired soon after. In 2009 he was appointed manager of the Newcastle representative cricket team.[5]


At the peak of his career, Gilmour combined "talented hitting" with a "penetrative" left-arm swing bowling and slip catching.[6] He earned comparisons to the Australian all-rounder Alan Davidson.[6] He was called "Newcastle's greatest all-rounder and arguably its greatest cricketer".[7]

References

  1. "Pakistan bats could run riot in second Test". The Canberra Times. Vol. 47, no. 13, 318. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 29 December 1972. p. 14. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Gilmour prevents Australian fall". The Canberra Times. Vol. 48, no. 13, 702. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 23 March 1974. p. 36. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "The Home of CricketArchive".
  4. "CRICKET Shield selectors to test Done's fitness". The Canberra Times. Vol. 55, no. 16, 506. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 4 December 1980. p. 30. Retrieved 7 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Neil Goffet, "Mo appealing first-up speaker for De Courcy Club", The Newcastle Herald, 26 November 2009, p 65 (The Leading Edge column).
  6. Haigh, Gideon. "Gary Gilmour". ESPNCricinfo. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  7. Dan Proudman, "Gary Gilmour: Charisma at the crease" Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Newcastle Herald 10 June 2014 accessed 11 June 2014