Alfred Herbert Harold Gilligan AFC (29 June 1896 – 5 May 1978) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er who played for

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and

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 ...

. Gilligan captained England on their four-

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

tour of New Zealand in 1929–30, which England won 1–0.

Life and career

After attending

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, Gilligan served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and was awarded the Air Force Cross. Maurice Allom, "A. H. H. Gilligan", ''

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county, club and schools cricket. Overview The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cric ...

'', July 1978, p. 23. He played regularly for Sussex from 1919 to 1930. A right-handed batsman of style but limited ability, and an occasional leg-spin bowler, Gilligan set a record in 1923 that is unlikely to be equalled when, in batting 70 times during the season, he scored 1,186 runs at an average of 17.70 runs per innings: the average is the lowest by any cricketer who has made 1,000 runs in a season. He had his most successful season in 1929, scoring 1,161 runs at an average of 23.69, including his only first-class century, 143 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 ...

.''

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 ...

'' 1979, pp. 1076–77. His ''

'' obituary described him as a "beautiful stylist" who typically got out to an impetuous stroke just when a substantial innings looked possible. He toured South Africa with S. B. Joel's XI in 1924–25, virtually an England second team, but was not successful and did not play in any of the five matches against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Gilligan's brother

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

captained England in 1924–25, making them the first, and to date only, brothers to have captained England. Arthur was originally selected to be captain-manager of the tour of New Zealand in 1929–30, but illness prevented him from going, and the selectors asked Harold instead. Maurice Allom, a member of the touring team to New Zealand, wrote in 1978 of Gilligan's captaincy on that tour: "He proved himself not only an astute captain but also a diplomat of considerable ability. His charming and likeable personality was, in large measure, responsible for this tour being remembered to this day with affection by many New Zealanders." The Test tour of New Zealand was played at the same time as an England Test tour to the West Indies, where England were captained by the Honourable Freddie Calthorpe. Harold Gilligan frequently deputised as Sussex captain when Arthur was absent, and in 1930 he captained the team for the whole season. Both brothers attended Dulwich College, as did their brother Frank, who played for

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 ...

.Hodges, S. (1981) ''God's Gift: A Living History of Dulwich College'', Heinemann, London, p. 233. . Harold's daughter, Virginia, married the

Test captain Peter May in 1959; they had four daughters. After the Second World War, Gilligan became active in the administration of the

Surrey County Cricket Club 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 Londo ...

and the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilligan, Harold 1896 births 1978 deaths People from Denmark Hill Cricketers from the London Borough of Southwark People educated at Dulwich College England Test cricketers England Test cricket captains English cricketers English cricket administrators Sussex cricketers Sussex cricket captains Royal Air Force cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 20th-century English sportsmen North v South cricketers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)