Gordon John Ross (1917 – 27 April 1985) was an English sports journalist and author, and a vice-president of

Lancashire CCC Lancashire Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in English cricket. The club has held first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's home is Old Trafford Cricket Ground, although the team also play match ...

. Ross took up sports journalism after serving with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

World War II 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 ...

. He was closely associated with numerous cricket publications. He succeeded

Peter West Peter Anthony West (12 August 1920 – 2 September 2003) was a British presenter and sports commentator best known for his work on the BBC's cricket, tennis and rugby coverage as well as occasionally commentating on hockey. Throughout his televi ...

as editor of the ''

Playfair Cricket Annual ''Playfair Cricket Annual'' is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. It has been published every year since 1948. Its main purposes are to revie ...

'' in 1954, remaining in this role until his death. He edited the ''Cricketer Quarterly Facts and Figures'' and also the ''Playfair Cricket Monthly'' throughout the thirteen years of its existence. Ross was an associate editor of ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' (under

Norman Preston Norman Preston, Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (18 March 1903 – 6 March 1980) was an English cricket journalist. He began his career with the old Pardon's Cricket Reporting Agency in 1933 and served on three overseas tours ...

) between 1978 and 1980, for whom he reviewed books (1979 and 1980) and wrote articles. His brochures covered football of both codes (he edited the ''Playfair Rugby Annual'' for many years) and his books included one on the University Boat Race, as well as a short history of

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 ...

and other histories of

Surrey CCC Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...

, such as ''The Surrey Story'', West Indian cricket and the Gillette Cup. He worked regularly as a sports journalist for the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' and the ''

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegr ...

''. As a consultant to

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

and subsequently

NatWest National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major Retail banking, retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the Corporate merger, merger of National Provincial Bank and We ...

, Ross was directly involved with one-day county cricket from its inception in 1963. Although he was a consultant to Gillette, he refused to use its products. Ross was a well-known and popular figure around English cricket grounds, always dapper and seldom seen without a red carnation in his buttonhole. He died suddenly at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

in April 1985 after watching a day's cricket."Obituaries", ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' 1986, p. 1219. He and his wife Bobby had one son.

References

1917 births 1985 deaths Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Print editors English male journalists Cricket writers English rugby union commentators Place of birth missing {{UK-journalist-stub