Peter Gerard Gillespie (born 11 May 1974) is a Northern Irish former cricketer.[1] A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler,[2] he had played for the Ireland cricket team 116 times up to the start of the 2007 World Cup,[3] including twelve first-class matches[4] and 35 List A matches,[5] four of which were One Day International.[6] Only three players have played more times for Ireland.[7]

Peter Gillespie
Personal information
Full name
Peter Gerard Gillespie
Born (1974-05-11) 11 May 1974 (age 50)
Strabane, Northern Ireland
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RelationsMark Gillespie (brother)
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 3)13 June 2006 v England
Last ODI9 April 2007 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no.05
Career statistics
Competition ODI FC LA
Matches 5 13 44
Runs scored 2 322 949
Batting average 0.50 21.46 26.36
100s/50s 0/0 0/2 0/8
Top score 2 53 74
Balls bowled 198 180
Wickets 5 2
Bowling average 30.60 84.50
5 wickets in innings 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0
Best bowling 3/93 2/27
Catches/stumpings 0/– 7/– 5/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 2 April 2017

Playing career

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Early career

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Born 11 May 1974 in Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland,[2] Gillespie made his debut for Ireland on 6 June 1995 against the Duchess of Norfolk's XI at Arundel Castle. He played the following day against the MCC at Lord's.[3] Later in the month, he made his List A debut against Yorkshire in the NatWest Trophy.[5] He then represented Ireland in the Triple Crown Tournament the following month.[8] He played just twice for Ireland in 1996,[3] a Benson & Hedges Cup match against Gloucestershire in May[5] and his first-class debut against Scotland in August.[4]

1997 ICC Trophy

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Gillespie was named in the Ireland squad for the 1997 ICC Trophy and played in nine matches.[9] In the second round match against Hong Kong, he took 3/42,[10] his best bowling figures in all matches for Ireland.[3]

1997 to 1999

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Gillespie played two more games for Ireland in 1997, both Benson & Hedges Cup games, against Middlesex and Glamorgan.[5] In 1998, he began to become a more regular fixture in the Irish side. That year, he played against the MCC, Bangladesh,[3] a NatWest Trophy match against Warwickshire,[5] South Africa (twice) and Australia[4] in addition to the Triple Crown[11] and the European Championship.[12] He also represented Northern Ireland in the cricket tournament at the 1998 Commonwealth Games,[5] the only time to date that cricket has featured in the Commonwealth Games.

The following year, he played first-class matches against the South Africa Academy and Scotland[4] and again played in the Triple Crown.[13]

2000 to 2004

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The 21st century started for Peter Gillespie with a trip to Zimbabwe to play in the ICC Emerging Nations tournament,[14] highlighted by an innings of 74 against Denmark.[3] That year he also played against the MCC, Zimbabwe[3] and in the European Championship.[15]

He was not selected for the Ireland squad for the 2001 ICC Trophy,[9] but came back into the side in August,[3] playing in the Triple Crown[8] and in the C & G Trophy against Wiltshire and the Hampshire Cricket Board.[5] He won the man of the match award for an innings of 66 in the match against Wiltshire.[16]

2002 started with a C & G Trophy match against Nottinghamshire[3][5] and continued with a match against West Indies A in which he scored 88, his highest score for Ireland at that time,[3] again picking up the man of the match award.[17] He then played in the European Championship[18] and against the MCC and Berkshire.[3]

2003 was a busy year, with matches against Zimbabwe, South Africa, the MCC, the Free Foresters and Hertfordshire, amongst others.[3] In 2004, he played in Ireland's famous wins over Surrey in the C & G Trophy, which was only Ireland's second win over a first-class county[19] and the West Indies,[20] Ireland's third win over the West Indies,[21] also playing in the European Championship,[22] two matches against Bangladesh, once against the MCC[3] and ICC Intercontinental Cup games against Scotland and the Netherlands.[4]

2005 ICC Trophy

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Gillespie was named in the Ireland squad for the 2005 ICC Trophy[23] and warmed up with his first century for Ireland, scoring 102 not out against the MCC in June.[3] He played in five matches in the tournament itself,[9] without much success until the semi-final against Canada, where he scored 64 not out to help lead Ireland to the final, winning the man of the match award in the process.[24]

Also in 2005, he played against Loughborough UCCE, Warwickshire and Yorkshire,[3] in addition to playing in Intercontinental Cup games against the Netherlands, Scotland, the UAE and the final against Kenya,[4] which Ireland won.[25]

2006 and onwards

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2006 saw Ireland gain One Day International status, and Gillespie played in the first three of Ireland's such games against England, Scotland and the Netherlands.[6] He did not meet with much success in those games however, being dismissed for a duck in each of them. The first match saw him dismissed on the third ball, the second on the second ball, and the third on the first ball.[26]

That year, he also played in all nine of Ireland's C & G Trophy games,[5] against the MCC,[3] in the European Championship[27] and Intercontinental Cup games against Scotland and Namibia.[4]

He was named in Ireland's squad for Division One of the World Cricket League in January/February 2007,[28] but he only played in the match against Kenya.[6] He then played in an Intercontinental Cup game against the UAE[3] before being named in Ireland's squad for the 2007 World Cup.[29]

He did not play in Ireland's first round matches as they beat Pakistan[30] and tied against Zimbabwe[31] to reach the Super 8 stage, and missed the first two matches in that stage[32] before playing in the third match against New Zealand.[6]

Statistics

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In all matches for Ireland up until the 2007 World Cup, Gillespie scored 2599 runs at an average of 27.65, and took 18 wickets at an average of 37.33.[3]

Relations

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Gillespie comes from a cricketing family, with three other members of his family all playing for Strabane, his club side in Ireland.[26] His brother Mark also represented Ireland internationally.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "All-time Ireland team (2)". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Cricket Archive profile
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r CricketEurope Stats Zone profile
  4. ^ a b c d e f g First-class matches played by Peter Gillespie at Cricket Archive
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i List A matches played by Peter Gillespie at Cricket Archive – 38 in total, 2 for Northern Ireland, 1 during the 2007 World Cup
  6. ^ a b c d One-Day Internationals played by Peter Gillespie at Cricket Archive – Five in total, one of which is during the 2007 World Cup
  7. ^ Most Matches played for Ireland at CricketEurope Stats Zone
  8. ^ a b Other matches played by Peter Gillespie at Cricket Archive
  9. ^ a b c ICC Trophy matches played by Peter Gillespie at Cricket Archive
  10. ^ Scorecard of Ireland v Hong Match in the 1997 ICC Trophy at Cricket Archive
  11. ^ Ireland squad for the 1998 Triple Crown tournament at CricketEurope
  12. ^ Ireland squad for the 1998 European Championship at CricketEurope
  13. ^ Ireland squad for the 1999 Triple Crown at CricketEurope
  14. ^ Ireland squad for the 2000 ICC Emerging Nations tournament at CricketEurope
  15. ^ Ireland squad for the 2000 European Championship at CricketEurope
  16. ^ Scorecard of Wiltshire v Ireland in August 2001 at Cricket Archive
  17. ^ Scorecard of Ireland v West Indies A match in June 2002 at Cricket Archive
  18. ^ Ireland squad for the 2002 European Championship at CricketEurope
  19. ^ Match report on Ireland v Surrey C & G Trophy match in May 2004 at Cricket Archive
  20. ^ Scorecard of Ireland v West Indies match in June 2004 at Cricket Archive
  21. ^ Article about Ireland's win over the West Indies in 2004 at CricketEurope
  22. ^ Squads for the 2004 European Championship at Cricket Europe
  23. ^ Ireland squad for the 2005 ICC Trophy at the tournament's official website
  24. ^ Scorecard of 2005 ICC Trophy Semi Final between Ireland and Scotland at Cricket Archive
  25. ^ Scorecard of 2005 Intercontinental Cup final between Ireland and Kenya at Cricket Archive
  26. ^ a b Cricinfo profile
  27. ^ Squads for the 2006 European Championship at Cricket Europe
  28. ^ Squads for the 2007 World Cricket League Division One at CricketEurope
  29. ^ Ireland squad for the 2007 World Cup at CricketEurope
  30. ^ Scorecard of Ireland v Pakistan match in the 2007 Cricket World Cup at Cricket Archive
  31. ^ Scorecard of Ireland v Zimbabwe match in the 2007 World Cup at Cricket Archive
  32. ^ Scorecards of matches one and two in the 2007 World Cup Super Eight stage for Ireland
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