George Gunn (13 June 1879 – 29 June 1958) was an English

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 who played in 15 Test matches between 1907 and 1930. Domestically, he played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

from 1902 to 1932, and is their all-time leading run scorer.

Playing career

Along with other notable batsmen such as

Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882– 21 December 1963), always known as Jack Hobbs, was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Mast ...

Frank Woolley Frank Edward Woolley (27 May 1887 – 18 October 1978) was an English professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1906 and 1938 and for the England cricket team. A genuine all-rounder, Woolley was a left-handed batsman ...

and

Phil Mead Charles Phillip Mead (9 March 1887 – 26 March 1958) was an English first-class cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman for Hampshire and England between 1905 and 1936. He was born at 10 Ashton Buildings (since pulled down), second elde ...

, he was one of a group who, beginning their careers in the

Edwardian Era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victor ...

, seemed to go on for ever. In Gunn's case, it was from 1902 to 1932, in the course of which he made more runs for

than anyone else, before or since: 31,592 at 35.70.

Christopher Martin-Jenkins Christopher Dennis Alexander Martin-Jenkins, MBE (20 January 1945 – 1 January 2013), also known as CMJ, was a British cricket journalist and a President of MCC. He was also the longest serving commentator for ''Test Match Special'' (TMS) on ...

wrote of him: "A whimsical artist, George Gunn was capable of making runs against any attack, orthodox or unorthodox, as the mood took him. His record in a long career is outstanding, but all who saw him play regularly seem agreed that he should have scored even more runs than he did."Christopher Martin-Jenkins (1981) ''The Wisden Book of County Cricket'', Queen Anne Press, , p. 33. His Test career was an unusual one, all but one of his 15 Tests being outside England. He was not selected for the 1907–8 tour of Australia, but visited the country anyway, for the good of his health. It was arranged that he could be called upon by England if necessary. In the event, it ''was'' necessary, and he appeared in the first Test at Sydney. Scores of 119, in his first innings in Test cricket, and 74 ensured that he would play in all five Tests. He made another century, 122, in the fifth Test, also at Sydney. He topped the averages, with 462 runs at 51.33. He was only chosen for one Test in England's home series against Australia in 1909, making 0 and 1 in the second Test at Lord's, but toured again in 1911–12. Though not quite as successful as four years earlier, he made 381 runs at 42.33. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was out of favour, and his final four Tests did not come until 1929–30, on a tour to the West Indies when several veteran players (e.g.

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

and Sandham) seem to have been chosen as a reward for long service. He was a member of a notable Nottinghamshire cricketing family, being a younger brother of John Gunn and a nephew of

Billy Gunn Monty Kip Sopp (born November 1, 1963), better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, although he is currently finding renewed popularity under the ring name Daddy Ass, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wres ...

, both of whom also played Test cricket, and the father of G. V. Gunn. He scored 164 not out on his fiftieth birthday, 13 June 1929, at Worcester. In 1931, at the age of 52 he scored 183 against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, with his son scoring 100

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 ...

in the same innings, a unique occurrence in first-class cricket. He was a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1914.

References

External links

*
Wisden Cricketer of the Year article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, George 1879 births 1958 deaths England Test cricketers Cricketers who made a century on Test debut English cricketers English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 Nottinghamshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Players cricketers North v South cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year People from Hucknall English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 L. G. Robinson's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers