Geoff Keith

Geoffrey Leyden "Chief" Keith (1937–1975), played first-class cricket for Somerset, Hampshire and Western Province.

For the musician, see Jeff Keith.

Geoffrey Leyden Keith
Personal information
Full nameGeoffrey Leyden Keith
Born(1937-11-19)19 November 1937
Winchester, Hampshire, England
Died26 December 1975(1975-12-26) (aged 38)
Southampton, England
BattingRight-handed batsman
BowlingRight-arm off-break
RoleBatsman, sometimes opener
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1959–61Somerset
1962–67Hampshire
1968/69Western Province
First-class debut13 May 1959 Somerset v Cambridge University
Last First-class30 November 1968 Western Province v Natal B
List A debut22 May 1963 Hampshire v Derbyshire
Last List A29 April 1967 Hampshire v Lincolnshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class List A
Matches 77 5
Runs scored 2108 67
Batting average 19.16 13.40
100s/50s 1/8 -/-
Top score 101* 33
Balls bowled 1050 –
Wickets 13 –
Bowling average 43.00 –
5 wickets in innings – –
10 wickets in match – –
Best bowling 4–49 –
Catches/stumpings 79/- 3/-
Source: CricketArchive, 15 December 2008

Somerset cricketer

born at Winchester, Hampshire on 19 November 1937, Keith made his first-class debut for Somerset against Cambridge University in May 1959, scoring 40 in his first innings.[1] He played only one further first-team match that year, but in 1960 was given a run of 10 matches in the first half of the season. But his highest score was only 48 in the match against Gloucestershire at Bath, and his bowling was not used at all.[2] After three unsuccessful games in the early part of the 1961 season, he left Somerset at the end of the season and joined Hampshire for the 1962 season.

Hampshire career

In his first match for his new county, Keith scored 82 and 12 not out against Oxford University, but though it was a new highest score for him it was also his only first-class match of the 1962 season.[3] He played only three matches in 1963, but the long-standing opening batsman Jimmy Gray was available for only the second half of the 1964 season, and Keith stood in for him for the first two months, opening with Roy Marshall, though he failed to retain his place for long once Gray was available again. In the most prolific season of his career, he scored 653 runs with a highest of 75 and an average of 21.76.

There were more matches but a different batting position in 1965: Barry Reed and Mike Barnard became Marshall's more regular opening partners, while Keith resumed batting in the middle order. His aggregate for the season at 561 runs was lower than in 1964, but his average had improved to 26.75 and the season included the only century of his career, an unbeaten 101 in the match against the South African touring side.[4] His little used off-spin also got its best reward in the 1965 season, with four wickets for 49 runs in Gloucestershire's first innings in the match at Bristol.[5]

In 1966, however, Keith went back to being a bit-part player in the Hampshire side, playing only seven matches and making only 86 runs in them. He had a further good run in the first team in the first months of the 1967 season, and made 53 against Sussex before losing his place.[6] Regaining it with an innings of 85 against Oxford University, he lost it again only two games later, and, with younger players such as David Turner and Keith Wheatley seizing their chances, he was not picked again. He left Hampshire at the end of the season to move to South Africa.

South Africa and after

Keith played twice for Western Province in the B section of the Currie Cup, but made little impact. He returned to Hampshire to become the county's cricket coach in 1971, and played and captained the second eleven from 1971 to 1975. The levels of fitness and the high standard of fielding were cited as among the reasons why an unfancied Hampshire won its second County Championship title in 1973.[7]

Early death

Keith died at Southampton on 26 December 1975 from a heart attack aged 38. His obituary in Wisden states: "His early death was particularly tragic as he was a man who took great pains to keep himself physically fit."[8]

gollark: That's a bizarrely specific list.
gollark: Or, yield, not return.
gollark: Instead of being uncool and returning ONE value, generators return LOTS of values.
gollark: That's mostly quite quiet.
gollark: It never happened to me, somehow.

Geoff Keith at www.cricketarchive.com.[9]

References
  1. "Cambridge University v Somerset". www.cricketarchive.com. 13 May 1959. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  2. "Somerset v Gloucestershire". www.cricketarchive.com. 4 June 1960. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  3. "Oxford University v Hampshire". www.cricketarchive.com. 6 June 1962. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  4. "Hampshire v South Africans". www.cricketarchive.com. 14 August 1965. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  5. "Gloucestershire v Hampshire". www.cricketarchive.com. 26 May 1965. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  6. "Sussex v Hampshire". www.cricketarchive.com. 3 June 1967. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  7. "Hampshire in 1973". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1974 ed.). Wisden. p. 425.
  8. "Obituaries". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1977 ed.). Wisden. p. 1051. Keith's obituary appeared in an "Obituaries before 1976" addendum in the 1977 Wisden.
  9. "Geoff Keith". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
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