Gerry Hill

Who was Gerry Hill?

Gerald Hill was an English cricketer who played for Hampshire from 1932 to 1954. A right-handed batsman and right-arm off break bowler, Hill played 371 first class games for Hampshire. Hill was spotted by the cricketer and writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle was playing golf with Hill's father when he spotted the young Hill playing on an adjoining pitch. Doyle then wrote to Colonel J. G. Greig, Hampshire's secretary, to arrange a trial.

In 1935, Hill was hit for 32 in an over by Glamorgan's Cyril Smart, then the most expensive six-ball over in first-class history. In 1937, during a County Championship match played against Sussex at the United Services Recreation Ground, Hill and Donald Walker put on 235 for the 5th wicket, which remains to this day a Hampshire record.

Kent captain Percy Chapman, a family friend of Hill's, presented him with his County Cap in 1935. Hill was accidentally shot in the leg by teammate Len Creese, while bowling in the nets. The bullet stayed in Hill's leg for the remainder of his life. Hill fought in the Second World War in Italy and resumed his first class career with Hampshire after the resumption of the County Championship in 1946.