A NEW book about a long forgotten cricketer has been published following an appeal from the author.

Back in 2013, The Daily Echo’s sister newspaper, The Hampshire Chronicle ran an appeal on behalf of Michael Stimpson asking for any relatives of the old Hampshire cricketer George Brown to get in touch.

The responses he received were broad and vast, resulting in the development, writing and publishing of the new book George Brown - England's Most Complete All-Round Cricketer.

The story of George Brown includes many interesting tales.

In 1907, as a young lad, he walked down from his home near Oxford to Southampton to attend an interview for a place on Hampshire County Cricket Club’s ground staff. The interview was successful and Brown began playing for Hampshire as a professional in 1909 and went on to have a long career with the county, as well as playing for England in the 1920s.

Brown was a complete all-round cricketer - he was a fast bowler, attacking batsman, Test match wicketkeeper and one of the finest fielders of his generation. He had all the cricketing skills and the writer/commentator John Arlott claimed that he was the most complete all-rounder in the history of the game.

As well as describing his cricketing exploits, Michael Stimpson’s book tells of some of George Brown’s escapades off the field.

For example, in 1931, following a fight in a field with his son-in-law over a dispute about some belongings, Brown gave evidence at a court hearing in Winchester, at which his son-in-law was found guilty of causing him grievous bodily harm and sentenced to four weeks hard labour.

George Brown was in court again in 1935, charged with serving after hours at the pub that he ran in Winchester, the South Western Hotel. He managed to persuade the court that he was only entertaining friends and was found not guilty.

In the 1950s, he worked as a car park attendant in Winchester town centre. The touring Australian cricket team stopped off in the city one day and were amazed to see the car park attendant wearing his England cricket blazer. They were impressed, as Brown had hoped they would be.

But it was for his exploits on the cricket field that George Brown was best known. He scored a match winning 172 against Warwickshire in a famous match in 1922, when Hampshire had been bowled out for just 15 in their first innings. The year before, he had batted bravely for England in Test matches against Australia and his wicketkeeping attracted much praise.

Nowadays, outside of Hampshire, George Brown is hardly known but, potentially, this new book about his cricket career and life will give him the recognition he deserves.