Philip (Figgy) Gillon - Obituary

Philip (Figgy) Gillon, who died recently in Haifa, aged 90, had the honor of being Israel's first ever (albeit unofficial) national cricket captain. This was during the days before cricket was formally established as a recognized sport in the country and Israel became part of the international cricket playing family, but when new immigrants from South Africa, England and India got together to play informal games, culminating in a "Test" series with visiting Maccabiah teams from England and South Africa in 1955.

Gillon, who used to joke that the real reason for coming to live in Israel was so that he could win his 'national yarmulka', was instrumental in keeping the game going during the late 40's and through the 50's, including arranging the laying down of a special concrete pitch in the Ashkelon park (then his home town).

Although cricket suffered somewhat as tennis and golf gained popularity during the early 1960's, when cricket was permanently revived by his successor savants in the mid 60's he again proved himself an energetic player who excelled as a devilish left-arm spinner; his speciality was the creation of a 'sabra chinaman' out of the back of his hand. He was also a powerful lower-order hitter and an excellent fielder although even he would have admitted that in his later years, before he finally abandoned cricket for his second sporting love - tennis, that when fielding he needed to engage friendly young boys to help him retrieve balls he couldn't reach on the ground because of bending problems.

Figgy was also unrivalled in bonhomie during the after-match drinks celebrations.