George Goddard (cricketer)
George Ferguson Goddard MBE is a former Scottish cricketer. Goddard was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm off break. He was born in Edinburgh, Midlothian and educated at George Heriot's School.
Goddard made his first-class debut for Scotland against Ireland in 1960. He played 21 further first-class matches for Scotland, the last of which came against Ireland in 1980. He had entered the Scottish team as a batsman, but as his career progressed he became predominantly a bowler. In 22 first-class matches, he took 41 wickets at an average of 26.86 and best figures of 8/34. These figures came against Ireland in 1972. These figures remain to this day the best innings bowling figures for Scotland in first-class cricket. As a lower-order batsman, Goddard scored 371 runs at a batting average of 13.25, with a high score of 39. He captained Scotland from 1974, having replaced James Brown, until 1980 when he was replaced by Richard Swan.
He made his List A debut for Scotland against Leicestershire in the 1980 Benson & Hedges Cup, a match which marked Scotland's debut in that format. He made 14 further List A matches for Scotland, the last of which came against Gloucestershire in the 1983 NatWest Trophy. In his 15 List A matches, he took 9 wickets at an average of 45.44, with best figures of 2/25. With the bat, he scored 58 runs at an average of 6.44, with a high score of 14.
Outside of cricket, he worked as an accountant. In New Year Honours 1982 Goddard was appointed as a Member of The Order of the British Empire services to Scottish cricket. In 2011 he was one of the twelve initial inductees into the Scottish Cricket Hall of Fame.
