George Dennett

Who was George Dennett?

George Dennett was a left arm spinner for Gloucestershire between 1903 and 1926, and from his figures could be considered one of the best bowlers never to play Test cricket. In fact, owing to the strength of the competition at the time, Dennett was never able to progress even to lower representative levels. Dennett failed even to be nominated as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year, though he would have been a strong candidate to be chosen in 1913. But the almanack picked John Wisden that year, 29 years after his death, to commemorate the 50th year of its publication.

Born on 27 April 1879, Dennett first played for Gloucestershire in 1903. In his first season, despite exceptionally helpful pitches due to a very wet summer, Dennett fared only moderately, but in 1904, he rose remarkably rapidly to one of the leading bowlers of the day. Cunning and with brilliant ability to flight the ball, Dennett was deadly when the pitch helped him but could be effective even on firm, hard pitches.

Throughout the period from 1904 to 1914, Dennett never failed to take 100 wickets for Gloucestershire. At times, they were as dependent on him as Kent were on Tich Freeman in the early 1930s, and he accomplished some amazing feats, the best of which was his 15 wickets against Worcestershire at Cheltenham in 1906 and his taking of all 10 Essex wickets in a single innings at Bristol in the same year. In 1907, Dennett was the leading wicket-taker in all first-class matches with 201, whilst in 1913, he took 15 wickets against a very strong Surrey batting side including Jack Hobbs.