James (Jimmy) Buchan: Manager of St. Johnstone from 1920-22 (the second manger of the club – Peter Grant was the first manager 1919-20). Jimmy Buchan was also a director of the club and helped St. Johnstone enter the Scottish Second Division in 1921. As a player, Buchan spent time with St. Johnstone, Manchester City, Arsenal and Hibernian. Whilst manager of St. Johnstone, Jimmy Buchan lived in Needless Road. His son Jack became a journalist with the Perthshire Advertiser and then the Dundee Courier. He is best known as a motorcycle racer with honours in many races including the Manx Grand Prix and the Scottish six-day trials.
Arthur Dewar: A bowler who represented Scotland at cricket for six times, Arthur Dewar was a mainstay of Perthshire Cricket Club for over fifteen years. It was during his time that Perthshire County Cricket Club enjoyed great success. In fact the period between the early 1950s and early 1970s saw Perthshire County Cricket Club win the Scottish Counties Championship nineteen times. As an international Arthur Dewar achieved an impressive 7 wickets for 71 runs against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in the early 1960s. And as a youngster, Arthur Dewar was sports champion at Robert Douglas Memorial School in Scone (1945).
Charlie Gallagher: One of the best badminton players to have represented Scotland, Charlie Gallagher played at junior, youth and international level. He became Scottish champion a dozen times and played for his adopted country in European, Commonwealth and World championships. Originally from Donegal in Ireland, Charlie Gallagher came to Perth at a young age when his parents made the move from Ireland. Being born in Ireland meant that Charlie Gallagher could have played for that country but instead he chose Scotland and was capped in excess of fifty times. A very good golfer, Charlie Gallagher was denied the opportunity to play golf for Scotland by strict rules that necessitated having a parent born in Scotland. He married Jane Ramsay an international curler. He is involved in the dental technician trade and is involved in the running of St. Johnstone.
Adam Craig Gilchrist (Nickname Gilly) and Other Cricket Players : “Perth County Cricket Club were founded in 1826. The Club originally played in the Scottish County Championship from 1902 to 1995. They won the league 29 times, more than twice as many as the next best. Pre Second World War, crowds of close to 10,000 would watch Tayside’s version of the “Roses” match against Forfarshire (extra trains were laid on). The dominating role which Perthshire have played for so long in the Scottish Counties Cricket Championship is clearly demonstrated by their record of nine title wins in eleven seasons. By taking more than 100 wickets throughout the 1963 season Australian professional Alan Preen became the first Perthshire bowler to achieve the feat this century and only the third in the long history of the club. The Club have made some excellent choices when employing professionals over the years. Six have gone on to play test matches for their Countries:- J.T. Brown and Schofield Haigh for England, Bruce Yardley, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist for Australia and Lal Rajput for India. Wilfred Rhodes was professional in 1937 at the age of 59 but he had retired from International cricket.” Sourced from Perth County cricket Club’s website:http://www.perthccc.co.uk/
“Adam Craig Gilchrist was born on the 14th of November 1971 in Bellingen New South Wales, and went to Deniliquin Primary School. He wanted to be the world’s fastest bowler, until he saw a pair of shiney wicketkeeping gloves on the shelf of a Shepparton shop in country Victoria. Stan and June Gilchrist, realising how fascinated the youngest of their four children was with the gloves, later returned and bought them. It was Adam’s Christmas present that year, 1981, and it was the start of his wicketkeeper career, which will have taken him to South Africa, England, New Zealand, India, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the West Indies as his career goes by. Within two years, Adam and his young mates from Deniliquin Primary School had created history, becoming the first country team to win the Taber Shield (a knockout competition for primary schools in New South Wales). Adam was the wicketkeeper, opening batsman, and captain of the team. “He would’ve opened the bowling if he could’ve. He wanted to be in everything.” Stan said of his son. “Adam wanted to be the fastest bowler in the world before he spotted those gloves. Then he wanted to be Rod Marsh – there and then. In 1984, secondary school-teacher Stan was on the move again. This time it was from Deniliquin, in the bottom of New South Wales, to Lismore at the top of the state. Leg-spinner Stan became captain of the local cricket team. Adam 13, cut his teeth in the cricket arena with his siblings, Jacki, Dean, and Glenn, and was promoted to first grade following impressive performances with bat and gloves. “It’s hard to judge on country tracks but I thought he could make a good keeper. He could take me no worries,” Stan said.In 1989, when captaining Kadina High school in Lismore – and dating current wife and classmate Melinda Sharpe – Gilchrist won a scholarship to play with the Richmond club in London. He did his last year by correspondence. “Adam passed, but not as well as he should have,” Stan said. “The studies were secondary to his sport and he was playing cricket six days a week for six months.” When he returned home, the Gordon club in Sydney contracted Gilchrist. Gordon wanted Adam as backup for Phil Emery, who was often away with state duties. And that’s the direction Gilchrist wanted to go. He later moved to Northern Districts, where he took over from present-day Tasmanian keeper Mark Atkinson. Gilchrist and Emery became good mates, with Adam inquiring Phil how long he intended keeping stumps for the state. “Another three seasons,” Emery told Gilchrist. “If you think you can make it elsewhere, you go for it,” Emery added. Before Phil Emery announced his retirement earlier this year, he rang Adam to tell him. By then Gilchrist was ready to take over the gloves in the Australian test side, so impressive had he been since moving west for the 1994-95 season. At that time, the Perth cricket club was coached by Mark O’Neill, a former state cricketer with New South Wales and West Australia, and son of former test cricket Norm O’Neill. Mark played with Adam at Gordon. He knew the person and the player and where he wanted to go. “Get Gilchrist,” was O’Neill’s recommendation to Perth. Adam took over from Tim Zoehrer as the West Australian keeper. The loyal Western Australian crowds hated the decision, and unfortunately, the young Gilchrist copped some heavy flack whenever the Warriors came out on their home turf on the WACA. Nevertheless, Gilchrist was a success. As time went by, he entrenched his spot in the Warriors’ ranks. He made the record for the most dismissals by a keeper for Western Australia in a shield season (54) in the 1995/96 season, won over the crowds through his keeping and commanding batting and impressed those who counted his coolness and astuteness. Thus in 1996, when a vice-captain was needed, it was Gilchrist who was chosen, and when he had to fill the captaincy role, he made a huge impression. In 1996, Adam was called upon to cover for the injured Ian Healy in an One-Day International tri-series tournament on the sub-continent for Australia. He had already played for Australia at Under 19, Young Australia levels, and earlier in 1996 appeared for Australia A. Gilchrist, like others, expressed surprise at his selection for Australia, as there were others with more experience that the selectors overlooked. He was then earmarked as Australia’s next keeper, and when the occasion next came to cover for Healy (this time due to Healy being suspended early in 1997), Gilchrist was again called upon. His career shot upwards from there. Midway through 1997, the Australian selectors restructured the One Day team to model it with versatile all-rounders and big-hitters. Healy, although a fine servant of the One-Day game, was amongst a band of players designated as ‘Test only’ cricketers and dropped from the One-Day side. Gilchrist big hitting was what the Australian selectors were looking for, and he got the nod. The opportunity also served as a taste of the international arena and keep Healy for Test duties (It was apparent that Gilchrist wasn’t yet ready for Test matches). But it meant Gilchrist had to cover old ground, as Healy’s dumping was massively unpopular. Healy was a beloved player and Gilchrist found himself again having to win over crowds, just as he did in Gilchrist first game in Australia was against South Africa in December 1997 for the 1997-98 World Series in Sydney at the SCG. He was booed – it would take time for him to prove his wealth. At first, it looked as if he would need plenty of time, and scores of 4, 29,29*(not out), 11*, 21, 28, 6, and 20, batting down the order at six and seven, indicated the battle would be long. Then Steve Waugh put Adam in to open the batting for the First Final against South Africa. He made a solid 20. Then in the second final, he was given another chance. It was on Australia Day 1998 at the SCG. He made 100 off only 104 balls, this being his first century in One Day Internationals. Since then, he has opened the batting with Mark Waugh, and they have been regarded as one of the most deadliest opening partnerships going around, and are the fifth most successful ever in One-Day International cricket (on average). Then on February 7th, Adam made a record breaking 154 off only 129 balls against Sri Lanka at the MCG. It was the highest score ever by an Australian player and wicketkeeper in One Day Internationals. Then later that year, he was part of the Australian World Cup winning side in England. He was also part of the team that made a record for playing the most number of games unbeaten in One Day International Cricket.”
* Information here courtesy of http://www.angelfire.com/mi/Gilly/
Justin Langer: Justin Langer is perhaps the first Test opener in history to average in the mid-forties yet always be scrabbling for his spot in the side. Or at least that’s the perception: in a land of dashers and crashers Langer is seen as a grafter, a battler, only ever a couple of failures away from oblivion. The reality is somewhat different. Yesteryear’s ugly duckling is now a stroke-playing swan, racking up more Test hundreds than those national treasures Doug Walters, Ian Chappell, Mark Waugh and Bill Lawry, and scoring an eye-popping 1481 runs in 2004. Always an effective cutter and driver, he can now indulge in unseemly crossbat hoicks from the first over. Together with his bludgeoning comrade Matthew Hayden, they have screwed up textbooks and record-books alike, making Greenidge and Haynes look like strokeless stonewallers. It is a miraculous reinvention. Clanged on the helmet by Ian Bishop on debut, Langer fought on to make 54, but played only eight Tests in six years. He returned at No. 3, as the selectors sought to mould him into the next David Boon – and for a while he exceeded even those lofty ambitions. After rescuing the unrescuable Hobart Test of 1999-2000 with Adam Gilchrist, then slaughtering a blistering 122 in Auckland, Steve Waugh called him the world’s best batsman. The feeling was mutual; Langer’s devotion to Waugh saw him nicknamed ‘Mini-Tugga’ alongside `JL’ and `Alfie’. His bond with Hayden is even closer. The pair miss each other when they’re apart, exchange bear hugs in the middle, and give the impression always of two boys living out a dream. Langer may be short of stature but he is tall in enthusiasm (he’s already written two books) and boasts a black belt in taekwondo. His strong-willed performances were a highlight in a batting line-up that failed to fire against England in 2005, and with 394 runs at 43.77 he was Australia’s leading scorer. He also took blows to the helmet and body, which are a common theme of his career. In a season disrupted by a cracked rib and a hamstring problem, Langer’s 100th Test was delayed until the final match against South Africa in Johannesburg, where he turned into a Makhaya Ntini bouncer before scoring a run. Taken to hospital with a head cut and concussion, he spent the rest of the game in the hotel or dressing room and considered quitting altogether before placing the option below regaining the Ashes. He has played only eight one-day internationals, something that bugs him no end, despite a Gilchristian strike rate of 88.88. With Langer, you see, perception is everything.
Information from http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/
Bill MacDonald: Between the year 1970 and 2000 this resident of Perth was a Wimbledon umpire. He often served on the Centre Court and has umpired matches with Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Ilie Nastase, John McEnroe, Virgina Wade, Martina Navratilova, Steffi graf, Sue Barker and many more of the top professional tennis players from the last three decades. Amongst his bag of matches are three Wimbledon finals. As an umpire Bill Macdonald has been involved in tennis in Perth, Wimbledon, the USA, France, Dubai, South Africa and elsewhere. Like many able sports activists Bill MacDonald has two strings to his bow and is also a qualified football referee who one was a linesman at a European Cup quarter final (Real Madrid versus Ajax).
Jimmy Whyte: One of Perthshire’s finest amateur Rugby Players has played for Perthshire Rugby Club for several years, bagging several significant victories with that team. He has represented his country at junior level and is a symbol of all that is good about amateur sports; a highly competitive game played with the highest of honour, motivated not by pay but by community and a respect for the game. Today Jimmy Whyte is a teacher of Information Technology with added responsibility for pupil guidance and support.
Miscellaneous: Amongst the cricket players that have visited Perth over the years are included: Geoff Boycott (“If ever a defence appeared to be impenetrable it was that of Yorkshireman Geoff Boycott when his mind was set on staying in. The features of his forward stroke were the distance he thrust forward behind a big left pad, how low his head was as he searched for signs of movement from the ball, and its balance and compactness. Add a sharp-edged thigh-pad protecting the top of his leg and there wasn’t a chink of daylight to be seen. If he hadn’t made himself unavailable for 30 Tests in his prime – because, it was thought he felt that he, rather than Mike Denness, should have succeeded Ray Illingworth as captain – he would surely have become the first Englishman to make 10,000 Test runs. He returned triumphantly in 1977, scoring a century in his comeback Test and another – his 100th in first-class cricket – in front of his adoring home crowd at Headingley. As opener he saw his first task as scoring heavily enough to protect his teams against defeat, and in Test cricket and the County Championship – the matches that counted in the first-class averages – he was as sparing with the attacking strokes as, in retirement, he is strident in his opinions on the game. How valuable he was to England is shown by the fact that only 20 of his 108 Tests ended in defeat, mainly when he failed. His most productive strokes, off the back foot through the covers (his speciality) and the on-drive, were majestic in their power and placement. But he was not the man to press home an advantage. A loner, and an insatiable net-player, he was short of friends inside the game; indeed there were many who heartily disliked him because of his self-centredness. But he had charm, and responded warmly to those who offered friendship. After his retirement he became a trenchant commentator. “) and Don Bradman (“Sir Donald Bradman of Australia was, beyond any argument, the greatest batsman who ever lived and the greatest cricketer of the 20th century. Only WG Grace, in the formative years of the game, even remotely matched his status as a player. And The Don lived on into the 21st century, more than half-a-century after he retired. In that time, his reputation not merely as a player but as an administrator, selector, sage and cricketing statesman only increased. His contribution transcended sport; his exploits changed Australia’s relationship to what used to be called the “mother country”. Throughout the 1930s and ’40s Bradman was the world’s master cricketer, so far ahead of everyone else that comparisons became pointless. In 1930, he scored 974 runs in the series, 309 of them in one amazing day at Headingley, and in seven Test series against England he remained a figure of utter dominance; Australia lost the Ashes only once, in 1932-33, when England were so spooked by Bradman that they devised a system of bowling, Bodyline, that history has damned as brutal and unfair, simply to thwart him. He still averaged 56 in the series. In all, he went to the crease 80 times in Tests, and scored 29 centuries. He needed just four in his last Test innings, at The Oval in 1948, to ensure an average of 100 - but was out second ball for 0, a rare moment of human failing that only added to his everlasting appeal. Bradman made all those runs at high speed in a manner that bewildered opponents and entranced spectators. Though his batting was not classically beautiful, it was always awesome. As Neville Cardus put it, he was a devastating rarity: “A genius with an eye for business.”)