John Bryant "Sam" Gannon OAM (8 February 1947 – 5 February 2021) was an Australian cricketer who played in three Test matches during the 1977/78 season.[1]

Sam Gannon
OAM
Personal information
Born(1947-02-08)8 February 1947
Died5 February 2021(2021-02-05) (aged 73)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingLeft-arm fast-medium
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 290)16 December 1977 v India
Last Test7 January 1978 v India
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1966/67–1978/79Western Australia
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA
Matches 3 40 10
Runs scored 3 141 4
Batting average 3.00 6.40 4.00
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0
Top score 3* 20 3*
Balls bowled 726 3,565 617
Wickets 11 117 17
Bowling average 32.81 30.47 20.94
5 wickets in innings 0 2 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0
Best bowling 4/77 6/107 4/21
Catches/stumpings 3/– 19/– 5/–
Source: Cricinfo, 25 May 2020

Career

edit

Gannon made his first-class debut for Western Australia in 1966–67, taking three wickets against Victoria[2] and 6/107 against South Australia.[3][4][5]

He played in the Shield-winning WA sides of 1967–68 and took seven wickets against the touring Indian side.[6][7]

In 1970–71 he took 4/41 against the touring English side.[8]

In 1971–72 he took 5/97 against Victoria.[9] WA won the Shield that year.

From November 1972 he did not play for WA for five years.

World Series Cricket and Test Selection

edit

When World Series Cricket happened he was recalled to the West Australian side.[10] and had a strong season. He took four wickets against NSW[11] and 4/70 against India.[12]

He was called into the Australian side for the second Test against India replacing an injured Alan Hurst.[13]

He took 3/84 and 4/77 (including a spell of 4/13), helping Australia win by two wickets.[14] This effort meant Gannon kept his place for the next two Tests.[15]

He took only four wickets over the next two Tests, both of which Australia dropped.[16] Gannon was dropped for the 5th Test against India and subsequent tour of West Indies in favour of Ian Callen. According to one report, "Gannon captured 11 wickets at 32.82 in his three Tests, but most of his victims were tailenders, and the top order Indian batsmen seldom experienced difficulty against him.."[17]

At the beginning of the 1978–79 season, selector Neil Harvey said Gannon was a prospect for Test selection.[18] However he was not picked and the season turned out to be his last.

Post playing career

edit

Following his retirement from cricket, Gannon became a highly successful businessman.[19]

Gannon was elected chairman of the Western Australian Cricket Association in August 2013.[20]

Gannon was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours for service to cricket.[21]

He died three days before his 74th birthday.

References

edit
  1. ^ "CA condoles demise of Sam Gannon". Big News Network. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive".
  3. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive".
  4. ^ "WA shield player in doubt". The Canberra Times. Vol. 41, no. 11, 563. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 December 1966. p. 31. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "SA bowlers humble bats". The Canberra Times. Vol. 41, no. 11, 600. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 31 January 1967. p. 17. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive".
  7. ^ "India faces outright defeat in WA". The Canberra Times. Vol. 42, no. 11, 857. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 28 November 1967. p. 20. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Boycott breaks arm: hopes dashed". The Canberra Times. Vol. 45, no. 12, 730. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 9 February 1971. p. 20. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "WA tops shield table with win". The Canberra Times. Vol. 46, no. 12, 992. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 December 1971. p. 24. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Greig: Packer has signed too many". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 14, 914. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 25 October 1977. p. 24. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Indians defeat SA". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 14, 925. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 November 1977. p. 16. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "WA maintains its record". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 14, 955. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 December 1977. p. 24. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Hurst unfit; to be replaced by Gannon". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 14, 958. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 15 December 1977. p. 28. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "India collapses, hopes high for Australia". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 14, 963. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 December 1977. p. 36. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "Test team retained for the next two". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 14, 965. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 23 December 1977. p. 14. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "INDIA MUST BE FAVOURED NOW". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 14, 983. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 January 1978. p. 23. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "Five dropped for next Test TOURING TEAM". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 14, 990. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 January 1978. p. 1 (SPORTS SECTION). Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "Crunch coming, Harvey says". The Canberra Times. Vol. 53, no. 15, 715. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 October 1978. p. 22. Retrieved 20 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "Wealth managers strike 670m tie up deal". Business News. 16 May 2014.
  20. ^ Hogan, Jesse (16 December 2013). "WACA may never host a Test match again". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  21. ^ "THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY 2017 HONOURS". The Age. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
edit