Francis Joseph Aloysius O'Keeffe (11 May 1896 – 26 March 1924) was an Australian first-class

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

who played for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and Victoria. He was born in Waverley,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. O'Keeffe played Sydney Grade Cricket for Waverley as a teenager before enlisting in the First Australian Imperial Force and serving for four years in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war he was selected for a few matches for New South Wales, but was unable to establish himself in the team, and moved to Victoria in 1921. He came to fame in the 1921-22 season when he made 87 and 79 for Victoria against New South Wales, 180 against South Australia and 177 and 144 for The Rest against Warwick Armstrong's touring team, newly returned from their Ashes triumph in England. A good off-break bowler in addition to his powerful batting, O'Keeffe was engaged by the

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club in the Lancashire League and planned to qualify for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. He led the League's batting averages in 1923. He fell ill with peritonitis and died in a

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hospital in March 1924. In a mere nine first-class games he scored 926 runs at 71.23 and took 12 wickets at 19.16 with a best of 5 for 45. He was credited in Melbourne for inventing the practice of fielders walking in as the bowler ran in to bowl. Previously run-saving fielders had tended to stay static.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Okeeffe, Frank 1896 births 1924 deaths Australian cricketers Cricketers from Sydney New South Wales cricketers Victoria cricketers Deaths from peritonitis Military personnel from New South Wales Australian military personnel of World War I Australian expatriate cricketers in the United Kingdom

See also

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