Described by Don Bradman as the fastest bowler he ever faced, Bradman said he was “faster than anything seen from (England fast bowler) Harold Larwood or anyone else.”[1] Gilbert was taken from his home near Woodford at the age of three as part of the Stolen Generations and grew up on farms while living in the Barambah Aboriginal Reserve, now known as Cherbourg, north of Brisbane.

He took up cricket at a young age, initially playing as a slow bowler but quickly developing pace cultivated through a flexible wrist that he said was from years of hard work and practice.

After playing with the State Colts in 1930, Gilbert was selected in the Queensland Sheffield Shield team for 1930/31.

Gilbert was probably only the fifth Aboriginal Australian to play first-class cricket in Australia, after Twopenny in 1870, Johnny Mullagh in 1879, Jack Marsh in 1900, and Albert Henry in 1902.

In his first season with Queensland Gilbert played five of their six Sheffield Shield games, racking up fifteen wickets in the process.

With the team having had better results than the previous season, Queensland saw Gilbert bowl less and take more wickets (21).

[9][10] In his career, Gilbert played in 19 Sheffield Shield matches, taking 73 wickets at an average of 29.75.

This meant that he needed written permission to travel from his Aboriginal settlement each time he played in a first-class match.

It was thought by some people that his health issues stemmed from the racism he suffered: he was not being allowed to room with the team and made to sleep in a tent on the practice pitch.

The third ball was too quick: it screamed past Bradman's bat and thudded into the gloves of Leonard Waterman.

[12] Bradman recalled years later that the five deliveries he faced from Gilbert in that match were the fastest he had experienced in his career.

Of the legality of Gilbert's action, McGilvray commented, "It was hard to tell whether he actually chucked or not, because he let the ball go with such a fling of his right arm you got precious little sight of it.

"[13] In 2007 Queensland Cricket erected a bronze statue of Gilbert in Greg Chappell Street, outside Allan Border Field, Albion.