Eddie Gilbert (cricketer)
Eddie Gilbert (
August 1 1905, Durundur
Queensland -
January 9 1978,
Brisbane, Queensland) was a Queensland
Aboriginal cricketer. He was an exceptionally
fast bowler.
Gilbert was probably only the fourth Aboriginal to play
first-class cricket in Australia and to be in serious contention for inclusion in the
national side; the others being
Johnny Mullagh (
1868),
Alec Henry (
1901) and
Jack Marsh (
1902).
[2] (Mullagh did play in the
1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England, but was too early for the era of
Test cricket which did not start until
1877).
Gilbert was taken from his home near Woodford at the age of three as part of a government policy on Aboriginals and grew up on farms whilst living in the Barambah and Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlements in Queensland, north of
Brisbane. He took up cricket at a young age, initially playing as a slow bowler but quickly developing pace cultivated through a flexible wrist which he said was from years of
boomerang throwing.
After playing with the State Colts in
1930, he came into the Queensland
Sheffield Shield team in
1931. Shortly after on
November 6 in a match against
New South Wales at the recently opened
Brisbane Cricket Ground in the Brisbane suburb of
Woolloongabba, he dismissed
Don Bradman and
Wendell Bill[3] for ducks in his first over, both caught behind by
wicket-keeper Len Waterman[4]. The ball previous to the one that dismissed Bradman had knocked the bat from his hands.
|
Gilbert dismisses Bradman for a duck in November 1931 |
Bradman recalled years later that the six deliveries he faced from Gilbert in that match were the fastest he had experienced in his career.
The keeper took the ball over his head, and I reckon it was halfway to the boundary, he said, and that the balls from Gilbert
were unhesitatingly faster than anything seen from Larwood or anyone else.He unfortunately had a suspect action and was called on a number of occasions by several umpires for bending his right forearm arm during his whippy follow through action. During one match between
Victoria and
Queensland at the
MCG in 1931, the umpire
Andrew Barlow, no-balled him 13 times for his action.
Racial discrimination probably played a part in his non-selection into the national team, however his bowling action may also have played a part.
Gilbert played against Bradman on two more occasions, as well as
Douglas Jardine during the
1935 Bodyline tour.
In his career, he played in 19
Sheffield Shield matches, taking 73 wickets at an average of 29.75. A further 14 wickets were taken off touring
MCC,
West Indies and
South Africa sides. In one match against the touring West Indian team, he took 5/65.
Gilbert retired from the game in
1936, largely due to officials in the Queensland Cricket Board and the Aboriginal Protectorate arranging for his return to an Aboriginal settlement. Gilbert died at the Wolston Park Hospital near Brisbane on
January 9 1978, aged 72 after many years of ill health due to alcoholism and mental illness. Bradman attended his funeral.
*
1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England"Eddie Gilbert - The True Story Of An Aboriginal Cricketing Legend" by Mike Coleman and Ken Edwards. ABC Books (2002).
*
Cricinfo article on Eddie Gilbert*
Abc of Cricket article
