Martin Chandler | 8:55am GMT 16 February 2025
The world of cricket, and Gloucestershire cricket particularly is a poorer place after the passing final week of Roger Gibbons on the age of 80. President of the county membership between 2019 and 2022 Roger’s biggest legacy will, I’ve little question, show to be the continued success of the Gloucestershire CCC Heritage Belief.
The belief is a charity devoted to the preservation of the county’s historical past and was established in 2014. There at first, and later when the Museum and Studying Centre had been opened on the county’s Nevil Highway headquarters in Bristol, Roger was one of many Trustees.
It was in that capability that I got here throughout Roger a number of years in the past, and in numerous electronic mail exchanges he saved me updated with the Museum’s occasional publications. Roger himself was the creator of one of the best of them and, whereas there is no such thing as a full size e book in my assortment that bears his identify, his monographs have been among the most welcome additions lately.
It should, I suppose, be doable and even doubtless that Roger had some help with the design and lay out of the booklets, however at their coronary heart was the fascinating content material. In every case the monographs coated examples of diligently researched and lesser identified points of Gloucestershire cricket made all the higher by the truth that along with buying a radical understanding of his topics Roger was additionally a wonderful wordsmith.
He started 2015 with In Memoriam, a tribute to the Gloucestershire cricketers who made the final word sacrifice for his or her nation within the Nice Struggle. That one was reprinted in 2019 along with three extra. The monograph that continues to be my private favorite involved the scarcely credible story of a proposed tour of India by a Gloucestershire facet again in 1936/37, The Tour That By no means Was.
The opposite two 2019 titles had been Delayed in Transit, an account of the formation of and enjoying report of the West of England XI, a facet that performed via the wartime summers of 1944 and 1945, and Dealings With a Lifeless Man. That latter title I’m assured would by no means have seen the sunshine of day had it not been for Roger. It’s the story of his discovery that, for a few years, the sport’s historians, archivists and statistician’s had misidentified a person who made three nameless performances for Gloucestershire in Victorian instances.
And that was that, for 3 years till 2022, when 4 extra titles appeared from Roger’s cottage business. Regarding CB Grace was the primary, a memoir of the legendary WG’s youngest son, Charles Butler Grace, who appeared on 4 events within the First Class recreation. George Pepall: Cricketer and Countryman, was, like Dealings With a Lifeless Man, a take a look at a person who performed sometimes for Gloucestershire across the flip of the 20th century who had an fascinating again story.
The opposite two 2022 titles are fascinating glimpses at social and cricketing historical past. Holidays at Residence: Gloucester Cricket Week 1943 appeared on the vacation time leisure obtainable to Gloucestershire’s populace in wartime, and Bristol Cricket Problem Cup Competitors 1885-1892 reconstructs the historical past of one thing the Victorian membership recreation in the end wasn’t fairly prepared for, a knock out cup.
Within the circumstances I had relatively hoped that, one other three years on, we might have seen one other quartet of publications from Roger however, sadly, his passing would appear to have put an finish to that concept except there are titles in the midst of preparation. If there are I sincerely hope that they’re sufficiently nicely superior to allow his colleagues on the Heritage Belief to complete the tasks and get them into print.
In addition to a historian Roger was additionally a collector however I’m advised that, not like some cricket tragics, he was fascinated about a very good deal greater than cricket. An accountant by occupation he was clearly, from the fulsome tributes which have appeared in the previous couple of days, wonderful firm and a advantageous raconteur. I did meet him as soon as, as lately as final November, at an occasion organised by Stephen Chalke at Lansdowne Cricket Membership. For me it was an enormously satisfying occasion, assembly many individuals who I had solely ever corresponded with by electronic mail. At one level Roger got here as much as me, apologised for interrupting however mentioned he needed to introduce himself and mentioned that likely we might speak later. Sadly we by no means did, and now by no means will, however even in that briefest of conferences he exuded bonhomie, good humour and information. The accompanying {photograph} of him signing a few of his monographs in Boundary Books’ showroom, captures that very nicely.
