Gilbert Hodgkinson

Gilbert Hodgkinson

Personal information
Full name	Gilbert Frank Hodgkinson
Born	19 February 1913 Derby, England
Died	7 January 1987 (aged 73) Mickleover, England
Batting style	Right-handed batsman
Relations	Derbyshire captain 1946
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1935–1946	Derbyshire
First-class debut	29 May 1935 Derbyshire v South Africans
Last First-class	17 August 1946 Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 19 Runs scored 472 Batting average 14.75 100s/50s Top score 44 Balls bowled Wickets Bowling average 5 wickets in innings 10 wickets in match Best bowling Catches/stumpings 10/–
Source: , 15 February 2010

Gilbert Frank Hodgkinson (19 February 1913 — 7 January 1987) was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1935 and 1946 and captained the team in 1946.

Hodgkinson was born at Derby, the second son in a family of six children, and educated at Derby School. He ran a family grocery business "Austin Hodgkinson", having as a result little time to spare for the sport. He made his debut for Derbyshire in the 1935 season against the touring South Africans in May. In the match, he made 44 runs including nine fours which came mainly from drives and this was the side's top score in the match and his own career best score. He made two more first-team appearances for the Derbyshire team in 1935 and one in the 1937 season. Otherwise, he played mainly in second team games in the pre-war period.

In World War II Hodgkinson was wounded badly in the head and taken prisoner in 1940.^[1] After the war he was captain for the 1946 season at a time when Derbyshire had difficulty finding anyone to commit to the task.^[2] He played regularly in the season and Derbyshire ended the season fifteenth in the table. Hodgkinson ended his career with Derbyshire in 1946 but played one game for North Wales in 1947.

Hodgkinson was a right-handed batsman and played 32 innings in 19 first class matches with an average of 14.75 and a top score of 44.^[3] He was considered to be "never anything more than a good club cricketer".^[4]

Hodgkinson died at The Pastures, Mickleover, Derbyshire, at the age of 73.

References

1. Wisden Obituaries 1987
2. W.T. Taylor History of Derbyshire cricket Wisden 1953
3. Gilbert Hodgkinson at Cricket Archive
4. Adrian Smith, Dilwyn Porter Amateurs and Professionals in Post-war British Sport Frank Cass 2000