Gordon John Ross (1917 – 27 April 1985) was a sports journalist and author, and a vice-president of Lancashire CCC. He was closely associated with numerous cricket publications. He succeeded

Peter West Peter Anthony West (12 August 1920 – 2 September 2003) was a BBC presenter and sports commentator best known for his work on the corporation's cricket, tennis and rugby coverage as well as occasionally commentating on hockey. Throughout his te ...

as editor of the ''

Playfair Cricket Annual ''Playfair Cricket Annual'' is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. It has been published every year since 1948. Its main purposes are to revie ...

'' in 1954, remaining in this role until his death. He edited the ''Cricketer Quarterly Facts and Figures'' and also the ''Playfair Cricket Monthly'' throughout the thirteen years of its existence. He was an associate editor of ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' (under

Norman Preston Norman Preston, MBE (18 March 1903 – 6 March 1980) was an English cricket journalist. He began his career with the old Pardon's Cricket Reporting Agency in 1933 and served on three overseas tours as Reuters' correspondent. He succeeded his ...

) between 1978 and 1980, for whom he reviewed books (1979 and 1980) and wrote articles. His brochures covered football of both codes (he edited the ''Playfair Rugby Annual'' for many years) and his books included one on the University Boat Race, as well as a short history of

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 striki ...

and other histories of

Surrey CCC Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...

, such as ''The Surrey Story'', West Indian cricket and the Gillette Cup. He worked regularly as a sports journalist for the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' and the ''

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

''. As a consultant to

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

and subsequently

NatWest National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

, he had been directly involved with one-day county cricket since its inception in 1963. Although he was a consultant to Gillette, he refused to use its products. He was a well-known and popular figure around English cricket grounds, always dapper and seldom seen without a red carnation in his buttonhole. He died at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

after watching a day's cricket.

References

External links

Wisden obituary
1917 births 1985 deaths Print editors English male journalists Cricket historians and writers English rugby union commentators Place of birth missing {{UK-journalist-stub