A tall right-arm medium-fast seam bowler of great accuracy and consistency, Gladwin formed, with Les Jackson, the most feared new ball attack in the English first-class game for a dozen years after World War II.
After World War II, Gladwin returned to the county in the 1946 season, taking over 100 wickets and leading an attack weakened by the absence of Bill Copson.
With the return of Copson and George Pope the following year, Gladwin formed the only pace attack of even reasonable quality in an era when most counties relied largely on spin.
Gladwin's career total of 1,653 wickets puts him 60th on the all-time list of wicket-takers, and his 1952 match performance of 16 for 84 against Worcestershire is the second best in post-World War II county cricket, being bettered by only one run by Tony Lock four years later.
[2] His batting performance stands out in comparison with fellow Derbyshire pace bowlers Bestwick, Copson, Jackson, Rhodes, Ward and Hendrick – who did not make a single fifty between them in 2,195 first-class innings.