Gerald Hill (15 April 1913 – 31 January 2006) was an English

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 ...

er who played for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

from 1932 to 1954. A right-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 ...

and right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler, Hill played 371 first-class games for Hampshire. Hill was spotted by the cricketer and writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle was playing

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

with Hill's father when he spotted the young Hill playing on an adjoining pitch. Doyle then wrote to

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

J. G. Greig, Hampshire's secretary, to arrange a trial. In 1935, Hill was hit for 32 in an over by Glamorgan's Cyril Smart (6, 6, 4, 6, 6, 4), then the most expensive six-ball over in first-class history. In 1937, during a

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

match played against Sussex at the

United Services Recreation Ground The United Services Recreation Ground is a sports ground situated in Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The ground is also bordered to the north by Park Road, along which the railway line to Portsmouth Harbour and Gunwharf Quays ove ...

, Hill and Donald Walker put on 235 for the 5th wicket, which remains to this day a Hampshire record.

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

captain

Percy Chapman Arthur Percy Frank Chapman (3 September 1900 – 16 September 1961) was an English cricketer who captained the England cricket team between 1926 and 1931. A left-handed batsman, he played 26 Test matches for England, captaining the side in 17 ...

, a family friend of Hill's, presented him with his County Cap in 1935. Hill was accidentally shot in the leg by teammate Len Creese, while bowling in the nets. The bullet stayed in Hill's leg for the remainder of his life. Hill fought in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and resumed his first-class career with Hampshire after the resumption of the

in 1946. Hill retired from first-class cricket in 1954. Hill batted in all 11 positions for Hampshire scoring four centuries, including a highest score of 161 against Sussex at Portsmouth. Hill died in his sleep at his home at Lyndhurst in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...

on 31 January 2006.

References

External links

Gerry Hill
on Cricinfo
Gerry Hill
on CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Gerry 1913 births 2006 deaths People from Totton and Eling English cricketers Hampshire cricketers British Army personnel of World War II British Army soldiers