Gary Gilmour was a match winner
Western Suburbs District Cricket Club Sydney | May 22, 2024
One of the great natural talents of his generations, Gary Gilmour was a clean striker of the ball, lively swing bowler and brilliant fieldsman.
The fact that he was a left hander from Newcastle in New South Wales invited comparisons with Alan Davidson. At his peak, he was a superb cricketer, and his relatively short career was littered with memorable performances: 122 against South Australia on his first class debut in 1971-72; 52 and 4-75 on his test debut against New Zealand in 1973-74; a mesmerising spell of 6-14 against England in the 1975 World Cup semi-final and five wickets against the West Indies at Adelaide in 1975-76; and a brutal century against new Zealand in Christchurch in 1977.
Sadly, fitness problems and injuries shortened his career.
In Grade cricket for Wests, he was a match winner: in each of his first three seasons for the Club, Wests reached the First Grade final, winning two premierships.
Gary Gilmour was selected in the Western Suburbs District Cricket Clubs team of the millennium
Here’s a wonderful video tribute to Gary Gilmour
This brought back so many great memories of Gus. What a player who was endowed with the same natural talent as AKD.
I played Poidevin Gray and 1st Grade with him and have never seen a more naturally gifted player than him.
I remember him hitting a six at Pratten Park that went so high it came down vertically on the Palm tree next to the Curator’s House.
When Wests won the 2 Competitions that he played in, he returned ridiculous bowling figures that won Wests both Comps. I saw him run a batsman out from the boundary.
You couldn’t help but marvel at how he swung the ball both ways. I remember fielding to him at short leg at the SCG No 2 and you could hear the ball zinging through the air. We rolled the opposition twice on the one day.
The great Wally Wellham once told me that Gary Gilmour and Davo were the best players he had ever played with or against, but I could see in his eye that Gus might have had his nose in front!