Talk:Eddie Gilbert (cricketer)

Removed this little gem
Deleted the following from the article. I think it was just a tiny bit biased lol. " To learn more about Eddie Gilbert you should go beyond the Colman/Edwards book which contains errors and seems to impugn Bradman's courage when facing Gilbert as well as unfairly judging 1930's Australia by modern standards."

1931 - 35
' 'he played no cricket between 1931and 1935, ''ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ

Not accurate. See this link. Tintin 02:24, 5 September 2005 (UTC)


 * Yikes! My mistake, I will reword accordingly. -- Ian &equiv; talk 06:30, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

Victim of racism
I colleague of mine reckoned that Bradman was racist and basically the one responsible for Gilbert being "returned" to the aboriginal settlement (supposedly so that Bradman would stop being bowled out by him). While this may be true I can't find any evidence yet. However, I found an interesting resource that indicates Gilbert WAS a victim of racism (suprise, surprise) but the perpetrators were just the general cricketing establishment at the time rather than Bradman specifically.

When I have a chance I'll incorporate information from pages 75-80 of "Obstacle Race: Aborigines in Sport" by Colin Tatz, 1995, published by UNSW Press, Sydney. ISBN 0-86840-349-0

If you'd like to go ahead first feel free. Lisa 04:13, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

Some useful quotes from the book are:


 * [Kenneth] Edwards presents evidence of Bradman both disliking and fearing Gilbert. Following the 'duck' game, Bradman scored a double century against Queensland in Adelaide, where "he took a great delight on a lifeless pitch belting Gilbert round, even though Gilbert had him dropped at one stage". Gilbert dismissed him cheaply again in 1936.


 * Queensland's spinner at the time, Ezra Wyeth, told [Kenneth] Edwards that Bradman didn't want to face Gilbert in the 1931 game. Wyeth described the scene before lunch, when Bradman was due to bat in the order: "As I made my way into the building, I saw Don sitting in the alcove with his pads on. His face was very white. For me it said he was in trouble and he fell down to size for me, He was concerned about Eddie. There had been some trouble for some time because of his criticism of Eddie and he expected Eddie to take care of him." Eddie did


 * Gilbert didn't play in the 1933-34 season. The reason is noteworthy. In 1933 he was 'banned' from playing in the Country Week matches; the Queensland Cricket Association announced that he wouldn't be going to Brisband because of the leprosy 'outbreak' and scare at Cherbourg. [Kenneth] Edwards believes this was but poor camouflage for simply not wanting him in the team: he suggests that because Gilbert attracted white women, some of the officials didn't want him 'around'. Poor excuse it was, because Gilbert and other Cherbourgers were allowed to play in Gympie and elsewhere while the 'ban' was on.

The Kenneth Edwards, Tatz refers to wrote a PhD thesis titled "Black Man in a White Man's World: Cricketer Eddie Gilbert" at the University of Queensland in 1993.

Another interesting thing I gleaned from Tatz's book from the Maryborough Alert, a newspaper at the time: ''And no wonder the spade [Gilbert] was lonely! He hadn't for a whole fortnight kicked a heap of cow manure, or heard a curlew wail, or the cawing of a crow, or the jabbering of a jabberwock, which is all sweet music to the ears of the aboriginal, and he years for it just as the cow-cocky does for the tinkle of Strawberry's bell.'' Just one of many items of evidence pointing to the racism Gilbert experienced at the hands of the 'establishment'. Lisa 04:14, 1 October 2005 (UTC)


 * Lisa, based on the above and other stuff I've read I think that there's little doubt that he was a victim of racism. I'm not excusing it, but remember this was 1930 and overt racism then would be much more the norm than it is today.  Unfortunately his bowling action WAS highly suspect and because of that we need to be a bit careful about being too strong in calling the racism card.  None of the above is really evidence, but rather just points of view.  Nevertheless, for balance I think the article needs to expand this area quite a bit more.  Good luck.  -- Ian &equiv; talk 10:04, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

Reorganization
I've done a major re-organization and broken the page up into scetions. There's lots more that could go in (see above), but as many aspects of his life are controversial they will need careful editing and good referencing.Jockosaurus (talk) 01:39, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

memorial of Gilbert at the "gabba"
does anyone know anything about Gilbert's memorial at the gabba. Pga1965 (talk) 05:55, 18 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Haven't heard about anything at the Gabba, "just" the statue of him at Allan Border Field. --Roisterer (talk) 04:58, 19 December 2022 (UTC)