HAROLD GIMBLETT
Tormented Genius of Cricket
David Foot
Foreword by John Arlott
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.