Born On This Day: 9th December

Gilbert Dawson was born Bradford in 1916. When Desmond Eagar arrived as captain and secretary after the war, he set about recruiting players to replace members of his ageing side. He looked north for some, where the great success was Derek Shackleton, but he also found two Yorkshiremen, both called Dawson but not related.

Of the two, Gilbert was the more successful, coming into the side age 30 in 1947. He was fairly regular for three seasons, playing 60 first-class matches but then left the club.

His first season brought mostly modest rewards with one half century and 254 runs in his first 11 games, until in the last match of the season at Bournemouth, he opened the batting and scored 124 against his native county. This seemed to give him confidence; there was another century v Derbyshire at Portsmouth in 1948, and 1229 runs at 23.63.

Two not-out centuries followed in 1949, 106* v Sussex at Hove and his best of 158* v Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, as well as four half-centuries as he passed 1,000 runs again and improved his average to 33.29. Approaching his 33rd birthday, however, that was the end of his county career. His final recorded cricket match came in mid-September 1949 in a one day, single-innings match at Bournemouth for Hampshire against a side led by the Duke of Edinburgh. He died in Glasgow in 1969.

Also today: Kenneth Woodroffe (1912-1913)