Gerry Weigall

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

Gerry Weigall
Personal information
Full nameGerald John Villiers Weigall
Born(1870-10-19)19 October 1870
Wimbledon, Surrey, England
Died17 May 1944(1944-05-17) (aged 73)
Dublin, Ireland
NicknameGerry
BattingRight-handed
RelationsLouis Weigall (brother)
Evelyn Weigall (brother)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1891–1892Cambridge University
1891–1903Kent
1917–1920Europeans (India)
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 232
Runs scored 6,866
Batting average 19.39
100s/50s 3/28
Top score 138*
Balls bowled 52
Wickets 1
Bowling average 45.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/4
Catches/stumpings 92/–
Source: Cricinfo, 6 June 2020

Family

Born in Wimbledon, Weigall was the son of a Victorian artist, Henry Weigall (best known for his portrait of Benjamin Disraeli in 1878–1879), and his wife, the writer Lady Rose Sophia Mary Fane.[1] Through his mother, he was connected to several powerful aristocratic dynasties including the Duke of Wellington. A younger brother was Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Ernest George Archibald Weigall, 1st Baronet, KCMG, a Conservative MP who was Governor of South Australia. Two other brothers, Louis and Evelyn, were also first-class cricketers.

He married, in 1897, Josephine Harrison, and they had issue.

Career

Gerry Weigall was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, before going up to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1889.[1] He made his first-class debut for Kent County Cricket Club as an opening batsman against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1891; scoring a half-century in the second innings,[2] 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.[3]

A defensive batsman with a strong cut shot,[3] 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 Philadelphia in 1897.[4]

Following his playing career, Weigall became a coach, coaching young players from Kent's Tonbridge Nursery and the second eleven. He is credited with the discovery of Les Ames; who went on to play in 47 Test matches for England.[5] 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.[3]

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 not out 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."[6]

He died in a Dublin Hospital on 17 May 1944, "troubled by illness from the outbreak of war".[3]

References
  1. "Weigall, Gerald John Villiers (WGL889GJ)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. "Marylebone Cricket Club v Kent in 1891". CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  3. "1945 – Obituaries in 1944". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  4. "Kent v Gentlemen of Philadelphia in 1897". CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  5. Carlaw, Derek (2005): "Leslie Ames"; from Kent County Cricket Club Annual, p. 73. Kent County Cricket Club. ISBN 0-9527926-1-3.
  6. EW Swanton, Sort of a Cricket Person, Sportsman's Book Club edition, 1974, pp84-5.
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