Will Gidman

Will Gidman
Gidman fielding whilst playing for Kent at Beckenham in 2016
Personal information
Full name
William Robert Simon Gidman
Born (1985-02-14) 14 February 1985 (age 39)
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
NicknameGidders, Giddo
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleAll-rounder
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2002Gloucestershire Cricket Board
2007–2010Durham
2011–2014Gloucestershire (squad no. 23)
2015–2016Nottinghamshire (squad no. 24)
2016→ Kent (on loan)
2017–2018Kent
FC debut8 August 2007 Durham v Sri Lanka A
LA debut29 August 2002
Gloucestershire Cricket Board v 
Surrey Cricket Board
Career statistics
Competition FC LA T20
Matches 83 66 15
Runs scored 3,673 945 186
Batting average 35.31 24.86 23.25
100s/50s 5/21 0/4 0/0
Top score 143 94 40*
Balls bowled 10,609 2,411 156
Wickets 219 61 6
Bowling average 23.54 29.72 38.00
5 wickets in innings 10 0 0
10 wickets in match 1 0 0
Best bowling 6/15 4/20 2/23
Catches/stumpings 38/– 18/– 3/–
Source: CricInfo, 6 May 2018

William Robert Simon Gidman (born 14 February 1985) is an English former professional cricketer who most recently played for Kent County Cricket Club as an all-rounder. He previously played county cricket for Durham, Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire and spent a period on loan at Kent towards the end of the 2016 season before joining the club permanently in October 2016.

Gidman began his career with Gloucestershire before signing for Durham in 2006. He made his first-class cricket debut against Sri Lanka A in 2007, but did not play another first-class match again until 2010, which prompted a move away from the north-east.

After the 2010 season he signed for Gloucestershire, captained by his elder brother Alex. In his first season with the county he achieved a County Championship double of 50 wickets and 1000 runs.[1]

Gidman's career best figures in first-class matches came in the same match for Gloucestershire in September 2013. In the game against Leicestershire at Bristol, he took career best bowling figures of 6/15 on Day 1,[2] and then scored 143 with the bat on Day 2.[3] Gloucestershire went on to win the game be an innings and 138 runs.[4]

In August 2014, Gidman, who would have been out of contract at Gloucestershire at the end of the season and had turned down a new contract with the county, signed a three-year contract with Nottinghamshire.[5][6][7]

At the time of the move, Gidman's bowling and batting averages were outstanding, and indicated that he should make the step to the upper division of the County Championship successfully. However, both his batting and bowling fell away at Nottinghamshire and he had trouble justifying his place in the side. In July 2016, having missed the first half of the English season with an ankle injury, Gidman signed a one-month loan deal with Kent.[8] The loan was later extended to the remainder of the season and, following a successful period at the county, Gidman signed a permanent contract with Kent in October 2016 having been released by Nottinghamshire after playing in eight matches for the county in his two years with them.[7][9][10][11] After a "disappointing" 2017 season in which he appeared in 10 first-class matches but averaged less than 20 runs per innings in the County Championship, Gidman signed a contract extension in November 2017.[12] During the 2018 season Gidman's playing opportunities were increasingly limited and he began to move into a coaching role, working with both the First XI and Second XI. During July he announced his retirement from playing cricket at the end of the 2018 season, deputising for Min Patel as Kent's Second XI coach whilst Patel was working with the England under-19 side. Gidman held an ECB Level 3 coaching qualification at the time.[13]

He briefly re-registered as player for a T20 game while a coach at Durham, following an injury crisis.[14]

  1. ^ "Will Gidman". Cricinfo.com.
  2. ^ "Gloucestershire v Leicestershire: Will Gidman scores ton at Bristol". BBC Sport.
  3. ^ "Gloucestershire v Leicestershire: Will Gidman takes 6-15". BBC Sport.
  4. ^ "Gloucestershire v Leicestershire Scorecard". BBC Sport.
  5. ^ "Will Gidman: Nottinghamshire sign Gloucestershire all-rounder". BBC Sport. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  6. ^ Notts confirm signing of Will Gidman as all-rounder announces Gloucestershire exit, Bristol Post, 2014-08-16. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  7. ^ a b Davies M (2016) Will Gidman to leave Nottinghamshire despite having a year left on his contract, Nottingham Post, 2016-10-22. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  8. ^ Will Gidman: Kent sign Nottinghamshire all-rounder on loan, BBC Sport, 2016-07-23. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
  9. ^ Will Gidman: Kent sign Nottinghamshire all-rounder after loan spell, BBC Sport, 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  10. ^ Davies M (2016) Former Nottinghamshire men Will Gidman and Imran Tahir join Kent and Derbyshire respectively, Nottingham Post, 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  11. ^ Will Gidman signs for Kent following his release by Nottinghamshire, Kent Online, 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  12. ^ Will Gidman: Kent all-rounder extends deal, BBC Sport, 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  13. ^ Fordham J (2018) Kent's Will Gidman to retire from playing and move into coaching, Kent Online, 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  14. ^ Stokes returns after broken finger, BBC Sport. Retrieved 2021-06-19.