Brian Dennis Gessner (born 20 June 1947) is a former South African

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er. Gessner was a left-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

who bowled left-arm

fast-medium Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

. He was born in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, Natal Province. Gessner made his first-class debut for Natal B against

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in the 1970/71

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

. He appeared in first-class cricket for

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

representative teams from 1971 to 1977, making 32 first-class matches appearances, the last of which came for Natal B against Border in the 1976/77 Currie Cup. He made 19 appearances for Natal B, taking 65 wickets at an

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of 19.56, with 3

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taki ...

s. His best innings bowling figures of 6/67 came against

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in the 1976/77 Currie Cup. The remainder of his 13 first-class appearances came for Natal, with Gessner taking 36 wickets at an average of 22.30. He took just the one five wicket haul for the Natal first team, which came against Rhodesia in the 1972/73 Currie Cup, with Gessner taking 5/58. It was for Natal that he made his List A debut against

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

in the 1972/73 Gillette Cup. Gessner made 3 further List A appearances for Natal, the last of which came against

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

in the 1975/76 Gillette Cup. In his 4 List A appearances for Natal, he took 7 wickets at an average of 20.14, with best figures of 2/24. Had

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

not been expelled from international cricket by the

International Cricket Conference The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. It was founded as the ''Imperial Cricket Conference'' in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England and South Africa. It was renamed as the ''International C ...

, Gessner may well have had an international career. He later played for Staffordshire in English county cricket, making his debut for the county in the 1978 Minor Counties Championship against

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

. He played

Minor counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

cricket in 1978 and 1979, making 11 appearances. He made a single List A appearance for the county in the 1978 Gillette Cup against Sussex. In this match, he took the wicket of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

cricketer

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

for the cost of 51 runs from 12 overs. With the bat, he ended Staffordshire's innings

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

on 9, with Sussex winning by the narrow margin of 2 runs.

References

External links

Brian Gessner
at

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Brian Gessner
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Gessner, Brian 1947 births Living people Cricketers from Durban South African cricketers KwaZulu-Natal cricketers Staffordshire cricketers South African expatriate cricketers in England