Alfred Herbert Harold Gilligan (29 June 1896 – 5 May 1978) 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
Sussex and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Gilligan captained England on their four-
Test
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* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
tour of New Zealand in 1929–30, which England won 1–0.
Life and career
Harold Gilligan played regularly for Sussex from 1919 to 1930. A right-handed batsman of style but limited ability and an occasional change bowler, Gilligan set a record in 1923 that is unlikely to be equalled when, in batting 70 times during the season, he scored 1,186 runs at an average of 17.70 runs per innings: the average is the lowest by any cricketer who achieved 1,000 runs in a season. He had his most successful season in 1929, scoring 1161 runs at an average of 23.69, including his only first-class century, 143 against
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
.
['']Wisden
''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 ...
'' 1979, pp. 1076–77. His ''
Wisden
''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 ...
'' obituary described him as a "beautiful stylist" who typically got out to an impetuous stroke just when a substantial innings looked possible.
[ He toured South Africa with S. B. Joel's XI in 1924–25, virtually an England second team, but was not successful and did not play in any of the five matches against ]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 ...
.[
Gilligan's brother was Arthur Gilligan, who captained England in 1924–25, making them the first, and to date only, brothers to have captained England. Arthur was originally selected to be captain-manager of the tour of New Zealand, but illness prevented him from going, and the selectors asked Harold instead. The Test tour of New Zealand was played at the same time as an England Test tour to the West Indies, where England were captained by the Honourable Freddie Calthorpe. Harold frequently deputised as Sussex captain when Arthur was absent, and in 1930 he captained the team for the whole season.][
Both brothers attended ]Dulwich College
Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...
, as did their brother Frank
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
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* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
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Curr ...
, who played for Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
.[Hodges, S. (1981) ''God's Gift: A Living History of Dulwich College'', Heinemann, London, p. 233. .] Harold's daughter, Virginia, married the England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
Test captain Peter May in 1959. They had four daughters.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilligan, Harold
1896 births
1978 deaths
People from Denmark Hill
People educated at Dulwich College
England Test cricketers
England Test cricket captains
English cricketers
Sussex cricketers
Sussex cricket captains
Royal Air Force cricketers
Gentlemen cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
English cricketers of 1919 to 1945
North v South cricketers