John Gibson’s county cricket was confined to two away games in 1837, though he later played in two further First-Class matches, for the North and for the Players of Nottinghamshire.
He earned his place in the County team by his accurate bowling in local cricket during the 1836 season. One match report says his bowling "was delivered with a regularity and precision that would have done credit to a more experienced player...to the no small annoyance of the batsmen".
His first important match was Notttinghamshire v Sussex at Brighton in 1837, quickly followed by an away game v Kent at Town Malling. Gibson appeared for the North v South in 1838. The only other Nottingham matches that could be verified for him was one for the Players of Nottinghamshire v Six Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire and Five Players of England at Trent Bridge in 1842; and Nottingham v Sheffield in the same year when he took 7 wickets (no further analysis available) and scored 4 and 12.
His brother, Robert, was also a good local player and as initials are often missing in scorecards of that era, it is difficult to separate the performances of the two.
John Gibson was christened in Denton, Lincs in July 1817. He moved to Nottingham and worked as a shoemaker.
Gibson died in November 1884 and is buried in the Nottingham Church Cemetery.
April 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 36