Somerset Cricketers 1919-1939

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Somerset Cricketers 1919-1939

Somerset Cricketers 1919 – 1939 continues the authors’ compelling odyssey through the early history of cricket in the county.

Having previously introduced readers to the lives of the men who played for Somerset prior to the First World War, Stephen Hill and Barry Phillips now turn their attention to those who made their debut between the wars.

A surprising number of them – 124 in total – were drafted into the side in those twenty-one seasons. Some of them may be familiar. Players such as Arthur Wellard and Harold Gimblett were once idolised by West Country schoolboys. A majority, though, were amateurs, often ill-equipped for the first-class game. Their cricketing exploits may not have been much to write home about but many of them lived extraordinary lives.

Leaving no stone unturned as they researched the exploits of these men, the authors have offered up an enjoyable journey through Somerset’s cricketing past with fascinating detours as they reveal men who fell into the depths of despair or set about changing the world for the better. Businessmen and clergymen, war heroes and scoundrels, innovators and trouble-makers: we meet men from every walk of life and we find how Somerset cricket linked together the fortunes of these disparate characters.

Stephen Hill was born and educated in Somerset but now lives in Nottinghamshire. He has been a Somerset CCC supporter since 1963. He loves to accumulate new information about the club’s history and on the way has built up a small collection of cricket memorabilia.

Barry Phillips was also born and educated in Somerset but now lives in Oxfordshire. He has been a Somerset CCC supporter since 1956. He loves to accumulate Somerset cricket memorabilia and on the way has built up an impressive amount of knowledge.