Gary John Gilmour (26 June 1951 – 10 June 2014) was an Australian cricketer who played in 15 test matches and five One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1973 and 1977. He was a part of the Australian squad that finished as runners-up at the 1975 Cricket World Cup.
Gilmour showed early promise as a schoolboy. He was selected to play club cricket for Newcastle as a teenager and, aged 16, he played for Northern New South Wales against New Zealand, and was picked in the Australian Schoolboys team to tour the West Indies. Gilmour made his first-class debut in 1971. By the 1972–73 season, he started to be talked about as an international prospect. A breakout 1973–74 season saw him picked in the Australian side for the first test. On debut, he scored 52 not out off 58 balls and took 4–75. This was followed by a 7 wicket haul in the third test at Auckland, to set up a series-tying victory. He also won man of the match award for the first ODI.
A good domestic summer in 1974–75 earned him selection on the 1975 tour of England. In the semi-final of the 1975 World Cup against England at Headingley, Gilmour finished 6 for 14, and Australia bowled out the opposition for 93. It was the first time that a bowler had taken 6 wickets in an ODI, and remained the best ODI bowling performance until 1983. Gilmour's best season, however, was in 1975–76. The remainder of his career was plagued by injury. After his omission from the 1977 Australian tour of England, he played World Series Cricket for the 1977–78 and 1978-79 summers. He toured the West Indies in 1978 with the Australian World Series team but, following the end of World Series Cricket, Gilmour only played two more first-class games for New South Wales although he continued to play club cricket. A heel injury, however, brought an early end to his 1980–81 season and he retired soon after. In 2009, he was appointed manager of the Newcastle representative cricket team.
At the peak of his career, Gilmour combined "talented hitting" with a "penetrative" left-arm swing bowling and slip catching. He earned comparisons to the Australian all-rounder Alan Davidson. He was called "Newcastle's greatest all-rounder and arguably its greatest cricketer".
Gary John Gilmour was born on 26 June 1951, in Waratah, Newcastle. He attended Waratah Primary School and Newcastle Boys High School. As a schoolboy, he was awarded two sporting "blues" by the New South Wales Combined High Schools Sports Association, one in 1967 for baseball and another in 1969 for cricket.
Gilmour was selected to play club cricket for Newcastle while he was a teenager. At the age of 16, he was picked for Northern New South Wales against New Zealand and took 5–70 for Newcastle against Metropolitan when he was only 17. He was picked in the Australian Schoolboys team to tour the West Indies in 1969–70 and in 1970–71 he was selected in the State Colts team. In 1969 he hit 58 runs in 52 minutes for Northern New South Wales against the West Indies, causing Gary Sobers to predict Gilmour would play test cricket.
Gilmour made his first-class debut in 1971 and was selected in the New South Wales team to play South Australia in January 1972. This came after a Colts game where Gilmour took 4-38 and hit 106 in 83 minutes. Alan Davidson said "Gary reminds me very much of myself. He is a far better batsman than I ever was but he is not as quick in the bowling. I regard him as a very useful bowler, an explosive batsman and he is capable of brilliant things in the field. I don't think there is any limit to this player's ability. He could be anything, provided he applies himself." In his first game Gilmour scored 122 in New South Wales' second innings. The Age declared "Gilmour announced to the world at large that a new personality player had arrived... Have we had the unbelievable luck to produe another Alan Davidson-type player so soon?"
His third match, against South Australia, saw him take 4–69 in South Australia's second innings. In 1972–73 season, he took five wickets against Victoria and five wickets plus an innings of 73 against Queensland. People began to discuss him as an international prospect. In the 1973–74 season, he had five and seven wicket hauls against Western Australia and had six wickets and 59 runs against SA. A good all round performance for New South Wales against the touring New Zealand team helped his cause, taking seven wickets and making a score of 54. He was picked in the Australian side for the first test.
Gilmour made his test debut against New Zealand. During the match, he scored 52 not out off 58 balls and took 4–75. He only bowled three overs in the second innings as Australia's spinners took the bulk of the wickets; New Zealand only made 200. Gilmour found things slightly tougher in the second test. Gilmour was made twelfth man for the third test so the Australian selectors could trial other bowlers. Peter McFarline in The Age wrote that Gilmour might be at risk of missing the squad to tour New Zealand despite having then taken 44 first class wickets because he "has developed such a lacksidasical attitude to the game" and the selectors were "keen to make Gilmour realise that it takes more than natural ability to make a good test cricketer."
However, he did make the squad . He took first class 45 wickets at 31 for the summer – this would be Gilmour's highest ever aggregate.
In 1974 on the New Zealand tour, Gilmour was made twelfth man for the first two tests. A six wicket haul against the provincial Otago, saw him back in the eleven for the third test. He took 7 wickets in a Test at Auckland, which included 5 for 64 in the first innings to set up a series-tying victory. He also won the man of the match award for the first ODI, taking 2–19 off 7 overs. Gilmour took 20 first class wickets on the tour at an average of just 15.
The 1974–75 competition for fast bowling places in the Australian team was intense due to the excellent form of Max Walker, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, and Gilmour wasn't selected for the 1974–75 Ashes series. However, he had a good domestic summer against interstate teams. These efforts – 31 Shield wickets at 30 – and his all round ability earned him selection on the 1975 tour of England.
Gilmour was twelfth man in the early stages of the tournament but was selected for the semi-final against England at Headingley. On a day almost tailor-made for his style of bowling, he finished 12 overs with 6 for 14 and Australia bowled out the opposition for 93. It was the first time that a bowler had taken 6 wickets in an ODI, and remained the best ODI bowling performance until Winston Davis claimed 7–51 in the 1983 competition. Although Australia lost the final to West Indies, Gilmour bagged 5–48 and scored 14 off 11 balls.
Gilmour made a brief appearance at the 197 Ashes. He was called on at Headingley, replacing Alan Turner. He bagged 6 for 85 in the first innings in a game that was famously called off because protestors vandalised the pitch.
In September 1975 Ian Chappell declared "I'm now convinced that Gary Gilmour is ready for test cricket... I can how see him forcing his way into the Australian side as an all rounder. There's no reason at all why he can't secure a place as No. 6 or 7 batsman to complement his bowling. If I was Gary Gilmour I'd concentrate on making a few big scores early in the season."
Gilmour's best season was in 1975–76. He started well, taking 5–75 and scoring 40 for NSW against Queensland. He followed this with scores of 65 and 75 and three wickets against WA (Kim Hughes's first-class debut). He scored 74 against South Australia and took three wickets for NSW against the touring West Indians.
Gilmour was picked in the Australian side for the first test and second tests against the West Indies and one ODI.
An injury to Dennis Lillee saw Gilmour back in the side for the fourth test. In the fifth test, Gilmour hit 95 off 94 balls in Australia's first innings and got a duck in the second; he took 2–37 and 3–44 with the ball. In the sixth test, he took 5–34 in the West Indies first innings, helping set up another Australian victory.