Harold Gimblett

Author:

By David Foot

Format:

Hardback

Availability:

In print, usually dispatched within 3-4 days.

Price:

£15.00

Tagged with:

Cricket, Biography, Somerset CCC

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Further Details

• Published: 1st Jun 2003
• ISBN: 095311967X
• Pages: 176
• Photos: 30

From Word of Sport:

This is a revised edition of the classic biography of the great Somerset batsman. A telling foreword from John Arlott gives the SP: 'There is no other book like it in cricket literature. No one else has ever gone - or honestly attempted to go - down into the pit with a cricketer'.

From the Publisher:

Harold Gimblett made the most dramatic debut in the history of first-class cricket. Rejected after a fortnight’s trial with Somerset in May 1935, he was asked on the final afternoon to make up numbers for the county in their match at Frome the next day.

Travelling from Bicknoller in West Somerset, he missed the early morning bus and found himself hitching a lift in a lorry. Then he scored the fastest century in England that summer.

The following year he was opening the batting for England at Lord’s and, though he only played in three Tests, he went on to become the greatest run-scorer in the history of Somerset cricket, a record he holds to this day. Whenever he walked to the wicket, crowds grew excited at the prospect of his thrilling stroke play.

Despite such expressive batting, however, he suffered spells of depression, and in May 1954 his nerves finally gave way. After two low scores in a match against Yorkshire, he walked away, never to return.

Over twenty years later he approached David Foot with the idea of writing a book about his experiences. They agreed that he would put his memories on tape, but the darkness of his depression intensified and David heard little from him till he read the news of his suicide.

Some months later the Gimblett family passed over the tapes to David, who undertook the harrowing task of writing this book. The result is one of the most compelling reads in all cricket’s literature.

Another twenty years have passed, and David has now revisited the material, adding some further insights and appending a final chapter that looks back once more on the story.

From the Critics:

“David Foot has subtitled Harold Gimblett “Tormented Genius of Cricket” and his biography justifies it. This is no cosy recital of runs or wickets, of comfortable success; but of the mental agony of one man who, despite his outstanding cricket gifts, never gained the satisfaction they seemed to offer. Mr Foot is an experienced journalist; and, just as this is not a comfortable book, neither is it a sentimental one. In a way it is an autobiography, for the man recorded much of his agony and indecision on tapes. There is no other book like it in cricket literature; no one else has ever gone – or honestly attempted to go – down into the pit with a cricketer. Because it is so honest, because it has a tragic and not a happy ending, this may never be a “popular” book; but it is fine, compassionate and wise. Mr Foot deserves the admiration and thanks of all who care for human truth in a game which does not always face facts.”

John Arlott, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 1983