George Gilbert (2 September 1829 – 16 June 1906) 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 striki ...

er.

Life and career

Gilbert was born in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

. He was the elder brother of

Walter Gilbert Walter Gilbert (born March 21, 1932) is an American biochemist, physicist, molecular biology pioneer, and Nobel laureate. Education and early life Walter Gilbert was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 21, 1932, the son of Emma (Cohen), a ...

and a cousin of E. M., W. G. and

Fred Grace George Frederick Grace (13 December 1850 – 22 September 1880) was an English first-class cricketer active from 1866 to 1880 who played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Gloucestershire and the United South of England Eleven (USEE). He ...

. He made six

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 officiall ...

appearances in 1851 including two for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

and one for the

Gentlemen against the Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

. He emigrated to Australia in 1852. He played in 12 first-class matches for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, all of them against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, over a 19-year period from March 1856 to March 1875. He captained New South Wales to victory over Victoria in their inaugural first-class match, and for several seasons afterwards. In 1857 the ''Australian Cricketer's Guide'' said of him:

His batting is very effective, but wanting in finish, and he would do more if not so fond of hitting to leg. Is a good change round-arm bowler. His fielding is good, and would be rendered much more elegant if he curbed his sometimes too exuberant spirits.

Gilbert made the top score of the match when New South Wales beat Victoria in Sydney in 1856-57, 31 in the second innings. The next season he took the first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in Australian first-class cricket, though it did not prevent Victoria from winning. He later spent some time in New Zealand, where he struggled financially. A tobacconist by preference, he also worked as surveyor, clerk, station master and timber worker to feed his nine children. He was also at one stage the groundsman for the cricket ground in the Sydney suburb of Burwood, and later fossicked for gold at Fish River, near Bathurst. He died in June 1906 at his daughter's house in the Sydney suburb of Summer Hill after being ill for four months.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, George 1829 births 1906 deaths English cricketers Middlesex cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club and Metropolitan Clubs cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Grace family Surrey Club cricketers New South Wales cricketers Sportspeople from Cheltenham

Life and career

See also

References