George Edward Mansell Heath (20 February 1913 — 6 March 1994) was an English first-class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, who took over 400 wickets for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

in a career spanning from 1937 to 1949, separated by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Life and cricket career

Heath was born at

Victoria Peak Victoria Peak ( zh, t=太平山, j=taai3 ping4 saan1) is a hill on the western half of Hong Kong Island. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak only generally. With an elevation of , it is the tallest hill on Hong Kong Isla ...

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British Empire, British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 ...

in February 1913. He played

club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obse ...

in the

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

area, before joining the staff at

in 1934. Playing for Hampshire Club and Ground against the United Services in 1935, his first wicket on the staff was future Hampshire batsman John Manners. Heath made his first-class debut for Hampshire against

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in the

1937 County Championship The 1937 County Championship was the 44th officially organised running of the County Championship. Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is a professional Cricket club based in Yorkshire, England. The team competes ...

. He made 23 appearances during his debut season, establishing himself in the Hampshire side with 76 wickets at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 22.93 with his right-arm fast-medium bowling, claiming three

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Taking ...

s. He gained his

county cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

during his debut season. He improved his returns the following season, with 97 wickets at an average of 23.77 from 29 matches, taking five wickets in an innings on five occasions. The journalist

John Arlott Leslie Thomas John Arlott, (25 February 1914 – 14 December 1991) was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's '' Test Match Special''. He was also a poet and wine connoisseur. With his poetic phraseology, he becam ...

suggested that his form in 1938 led the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

selectors to seriously consider him for the 1938 Ashes Series, but ultimately he was not selected. In 1939, his bowling form fell away, with 57 wickets at an average of 34.54 from 24 matches. However, midway through the season he was hindered by a strained leg. During the

, he played in exhibition matches across Hampshire. Having lost six playing years to the war, he returned to the Hampshire side following the end of the conflict, though rarely repeated the form of his pre-war cricket. Playing eighteen times in 1946, he took 41 wickets at an average of 29.58. He made 23 appearances the following season and took 76 wickets at an average of 31.11, with six five wicket hauls; it was during the 1947 season that he took his career-best figures of 7 for 49 against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. In 1948, he took 38 wickets at an average of 31.13 from eleven matches, however, with the presence of

Derek Shackleton Derek Shackleton (12 August 1924 – 28 September 2007) was a Hampshire and England bowler. He took over 100 wickets in 20 consecutive seasons of first-class cricket, but only played in seven Tests for England. He has the seventh-highest tally ...

in the Hampshire side, he made just four appearances in 1949 and subsequently retired at the end of that season. In 132 first-class appearances for Hampshire, he took 404 wickets at an average of 28.11; he took five wickets in an innings on 23 occasions and ten-wickets in a match twice. Arlott remarked that "as a shock opening bowler, he was of very high quality indeed". He was known to bowl long spells, bowling unchanged for an hour and 45 minutes against

in 1938. His

benefit season A benefit season is a method of financially rewarding professional cricketers that is used by English county cricket teams to compensate long serving players. The system originated in the 19th century to help out professional cricketers who were ...

was held in 1951, with Heath coaching cricket to schoolboys on the playing fields near the

Hilsea Lines The Hilsea Lines are a line of 18th- and 19th-century fortifications built at Hilsea to protect the northern approach to Portsea Island, an island off the southern coast of England which forms the majority of the city of Portsmouth and its key nav ...

during the early-1950s. He was the landlord of The Cricketer's Tavern in

Leigh Park Leigh Park is a large suburb (population 27,500) of Havant, in Hampshire, England. It currently forms the bulk or whole of four electoral wards: Battins, Bondfields, Barncroft and Warren Park (generally referred to as 'The Warren'). Staunton ...

during the 1950s. He played

for Leigh Park Cricket Club, which was based on the common opposite the tavern, and used his county contacts to arrange matches against teams led by former teammates, such as

Neville Rogers Neville Hamilton Rogers (9 March 1918 – 7 October 2003) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Hampshire. An opening batsman, he made nearly 300 appearances in first-class cricket, scoring over 16,000 runs and making 28 centuries ...

. He gave up his license on The Cricketer's Tavern in September 1959, relocating to

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufac ...

with his wife and two children. Heath died at Fareham in March 1994.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, George 1913 births 1994 deaths People from British Hong Kong English cricketers Hampshire cricketers Publicans 20th-century English sportsmen