Gerry Weigall

Infobox cricketer biography
playername = Gerry Weigall
country = England
fullname = Gerald John Villiers Weigall
nickname = Gerry
dayofbirth = 19
monthofbirth = 10
yearofbirth = 1870
placeofbirth = Wimbledon, Surrey
countryofbirth = England
dayofdeath = 17
monthofdeath = 5
yearofdeath = 1944
placeofdeath = Dublin
countryofdeath = Republic of Ireland
batting = Right-handed
club1 = Europeans (India)
year1 = 1917 – 1920
club2 = Kent
year2 = 1891 – 1903
club3 = Cambridge University
year3 = 1891 – 1892
deliveries = balls
columns = 1
column1 = First-class
matches1 = 232
runs1 = 6866
bat avg1 = 19.39
100s/50s1 = 3/28
top score1 = 138 not out
deliveries1 = 52
wickets1 = 1
bowl avg1 = 45.00
fivefor1 = –
tenfor1 = –
best bowling1 = 1/4
catches/stumpings1 = 92/–
date = 17 May
year = 1944
source = http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/22598.html Cricinfo

Gerald John Villiers Weigall (October 19, 1870 – May 17, 1944) was an English cricketer.

Career

Born in Wimbledon, he made his first-class debut for Kent County Cricket Club as an opening batsman against MCC in 1891; scoring a half-century in the second innings, [cite web|url=http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/3/3691.html|title=Marylebone Cricket Club v Kent in 1891|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=2008-07-19] before achieving his Cambridge blue later in the season. An all-round sportsman, he also represented Cambridge in rackets, and popularised squash — a sport he played into his seventies.

A defensive batsman with a strong cut shot,cite web|url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/228199.html|title=1945 – Obituaries in 1944|publisher=Wisden Cricketers' Almanack|accessdate=2008-07-19] he often batted down the order after leaving Cambridge and often added useful runs, including his highest first-class score of 138 not out which helped Kent to victory over the Gentlemen of Philadephia in 1897. [cite web|url=http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/4/4847.html|title=Kent v Gentlemen of Philadelphia in 1897|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=2008-07-19]

Following his playing career, Weigall became a coach, coaching young players from Kent's Tonbridge stable and the second eleven. He is credited with the discovery of Les Ames; who went on to play in 47 Test matches for England. [Carlaw, Derek (2005): "Leslie Ames"; from Kent County Cricket Club Annual, p. 73. "Kent County Cricket Club". ISBN 0952 792613.] He also coached Yorkshire's colts side for a time. As a coach, he was noted as a "stickler for orthodox batting", and would demonstrate a perfect technique with items ranging from borrowed bats to umbrellas.

He was a great character. According to E.W. Swanton, "He always had a few pet bees buzzing around in his bonnet, and used to inveigh against the criminal folly of selectors and authority generally if their view did not match his own." When Maurice Leyland was preferred to Frank Woolley in the touring party to Australia in 1928-9, he fulminated against the selection of a "cross-batted village-greener". When he scored 63* in the 1892 University Match, three of the best Cambridge batsmen were run out during his innings, including no less a figure than F.S. Jackson, his captain. When it appeared that one of them would have to go, Weigall is supposed to have sacrificed his partner by calling: "Get back, Jacker. I'm set." Swanton sums him up thus: "... he may well sound a rather preposterous fellow... I can only say that every cricketer was his friend, and that he never spoke an unkind word about anyone." [EW Swanton, "Sort of a Cricket Person", Sportsman's Book Club edition, 1974, pp84-5.]

He died in a Dublin hospital on May 17, 1944; "troubled by illness from the outbreak of war"

References

External links

*cricinfo|ref=england/content/player/22598.html