The Cricket Statistician No 195

54 manner of the genial but authoritative village bobby. There is humour and wisdom, there are curiosities, instruction and entertainment; I was sorry to come to the end of the book and I certainly recommend it to all, especially those interested in the county ground where Nigel spent most of his worthy career. It is a fine tribute to a fine man. John Ward Frank Gillingham By Anthony Bradbury, ACS Publishing, paperback, £15 (this title is now sold out) The first-class cricketing parson is now an extinct breed, since the game turned fully professional and began to play on Sundays. David Sheppard was as far as I know the last to do both at the same time, certainly of any prominence. So Frank Gillingham, who played when he was available for Essex between 1903 and 1928, when he was aged 52, is certainly a figure from another era, and a fascinating one at that. Although the parallel is not made in the book, Gillingham made me think of Dickie Dodds, another aggressive Essex opening batsman with Christian beliefs after the Second World War. Anthony Bradbury has written a fine biography of this player, trying to unravel his sometimes mysterious origins in Japan, and going into great and interesting detail about both his careers. The book does not tell us much about the origins of Gillingham’s personal faith, which presumably means they are not known, or about his specific beliefs under the umbrella that is called Christianity, except that he was an evangelical who epitomized ‘Muscular Christianity.’ Mr Bradbury traces Gillingham’s career at Dulwich College, the London College of Divinity and the University College, Durham, and the development of his cricket at the same time; he was 27 when he made his début for Essex, for whom he qualified through his first curacy in Leyton. Even when he moved elsewhere in the country, he was still somehow deemed eligible to play for Essex, although sometimes he had long journeys to make to play for them, especially when he moved to Birmingham or took up an army chaplaincy near Salisbury Plain. He would take his annual leave in three-day chunks to enable him to play cricket, but this didn’t prevent criticism from some who claimed he could not do an effective church job with this arrangement; however, they always remained a minority. Gillingham himself felt strongly that his cricket enhanced his Christian witness and gave him openings he would not otherwise have. He became a prominent clergyman and public speaker, too, preaching powerful and often outspoken and controversial sermons, and well known for his clerical and public work. When his Essex career finally ended, he continued as a prominent figure, and Mr Bradbury has much detail to give. But obviously, as an ACS publication, there is much to say about his cricket, which is always interesting. The title poses the question: would Gillingham be better described as a clerical cricketer or a cricketing clergyman? After reading the book, I feel the latter is definitely more appropriate. Cricket was always important to him, but never too important; he always knew there were