Walter Gilbert

Walter Raleigh Gilbert (16 September 1853 – 26 July 1924) was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and Gloucestershire between 1873 and 1886. A cousin of W. G. Grace, he played for Gloucestershire when, dominated by the Grace family, it was the leading county. Gilbert's best season was 1876, when he scored 205 not out for the county, but he was subsequently less successful. Closely connected with the United South of England Eleven, a professional touring team of which he eventually became secretary, Gilbert was financially affected by a declining interest in such teams. With insufficient income to continue as an amateur he became a professional in 1886, but played only one match before he was caught stealing from teammates in a minor match, ending his first-class career. After serving a 28-day prison sentence Gilbert moved to Canada, where he worked for the Land Titles Office in Calgary while remaining a prominent cricketer. He died aged 70 in 1924, but for nearly 60 years after his death, there seemed to be a conspiracy of silence over his fate.

Early life and career Walter Gilbert was born in London on 16 September 1853. He spent some time living in Downend with his maternal aunt, Martha Grace, the mother of W. G. Grace, as a result of which he became friendly with Grace and his brothers. Between 1869 and 1871 Gilbert made several appearances in minor cricket for teams representing Worcestershire and went on to play for the United South of England Eleven, one of several fully professional teams that toured the country playing mainly minor matches. In 1871 he made his first-class debut, playing as an amateur in a team chosen by for a match against Kent. He scored 13 and 1, kept wicket in at least the first innings, held two catches, and achieved a stumping. By virtue of his London birth, Gilbert was qualified to play cricket for Middlesex. He made nine appearances for the county during the 1873 and 1874 seasons, achieving a highest score of 49, averaging 17.40 with the bat and taking two wickets. His first score of over fifty runs in first-class matches came for the United South of England XI, for whom he continued to play regularly, against the United North of England XI in 1874. He also achieved some success as a bowler, taking five wickets for W. G. Grace's team against Kent in 1873. He also played in the corresponding fixture the following year. His highest score was 205 not out for an England XI against Cambridge University, the third-highest score of the season after W. G. Grace's two triple centuries. His innings lasted about seven hours, and he batted on each of the three days of the match.

Decline and disgrace Over the next few seasons Gilbert was not as successful with the bat; in 1877 he failed to exceed 47 in any innings, he scored about half the number of runs that he had during the previous year, and his average dropped to 15.70. His average remained below 20 in four of the next five seasons and never passed 23. In six seasons, he scored only six fifties. although many did receive financial inducements such as generous expenses and sinecure positions within county organisations. Unlike the Grace brothers, Gilbert did not have a profession outside cricket to provide a supplementary income allowing him to live comfortably. A solution seemed to arrive in 1880, when Fred Grace, the manager of the United South of England XI touring side and one of W. G. Grace's brothers, died and Gilbert took over his paid job as secretary. But the popularity of professional touring teams was already in decline, and the increasing number of matches between county teams attracted more interest. An indication of trouble came in 1882 when a professional cricketer took Gilbert to court over unpaid fees for an appearance in a match.

In three seasons between 1883 and 1885 Gilbert's batting form improved somewhat. Appearing mainly for Gloucestershire, A few days after the article's appearance Gilbert announced that he would in future play for Gloucestershire as a professional, but after only one appearance for the county he disappeared from first-class cricket. On being confronted, Gilbert produced the coins, one of which had been marked so that it could be identified. The East Gloucestershire match continued, but Gilbert's name was omitted from the published scorecard; the wickets he had taken on the first day were credited to "Smith", and either only ten players were listed or Gilbert's position in the batting order was taken by "Mr E. L. Even", who did not bat. Cricket historian Benny Green wrote: "No breath of scandal or disgrace ever attached to Gilbert's thirty-eight years of exile, nor was there found to be even one square inch missing from the Land Titles Office when Gilbert finally retired from it." Cricket historians rarely mentioned him, despite his varied career. W. G. Grace, although including Gilbert in an appendix of leading batsmen in his 1891 book Cricket, did not include him in the text at all, despite the book's more than 400 pages; in his Cricketers I Have Met, Grace described 121 cricketers but did not mention his cousin. and in 1935 he was once again restored to amateur status in "Births and Deaths", for reasons which are unclear. It was not until 1984 that the full story was published by historian Robert Brooke. In reviewing what he considered to be the injustice of the case, and reflecting on Gilbert's success in Canada, Green wrote: "No wonder that those responsible for this act of appalling cruelty went to such fatuous lengths to keep its details a secret."