''He didn't pick up the bat to block. You can't block with an axe.'' With these words Kerry O'Keeffe captured the essence of his friend and former teammate, Gary Gilmour, who has died in Sydney, aged 62.

Gilmour played 15 Tests between 1973 and 1977, and was hugely popular among teammates and opponents alike during his career with NSW and Australia.

Big hitter: Gary Gilmour in action in England in 1980. Credit:Allsport

''It's a very sad day for those who played with him because he wasn't a gregarious bloke, really,'' said O'Keeffe, who visited Gilmour at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where he had been a patient with multiple health complications, in recent weeks. ''He was actually quite retiring, but he was always up for a bit of fun. He never seemed to take his cricket all that seriously, in that country way. Numbers didn't mean much to him. In a lot of respects he had that 'Hookesy' outlook. Why would you get eight not out in 10 overs? He couldn't understand, what's the use of that? His record suggests unfulfilled talent and I guess that's what it was to a certain extent.''

Gilmour had battled health problems for many years, and his friend and former captain Ian Chappell led the fund-raising effort for an urgently needed liver transplant in 2005. He and his wife, Helen, and their family had recently endured a tragedy, the death of their son, Clint, 33, after a long battle with brain cancer.