Geoffrey Leyden Keith (19 November 1937 – 26 December 1975) was an English

cricket 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 ...

er who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and Western Province.

Somerset cricketer

Born at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, Hampshire, on 19 November 1937, Keith made his first-class debut for Somerset against

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in May 1959, scoring 40 in his first innings. 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 Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

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, and his bowling was not used at all. 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 Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, but though it was a new highest score for him it was his only first-class match of the 1962 season. 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 Roy Edwin Marshall (25 April 1930 – 27 October 1992) was a West Indian cricketer who played in four Tests from 1951 to 1952. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1959. Early career The son of a wealthy plantation owner, Marshall was bo ...

, 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. 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. 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. 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 Keith James Wheatley (born 20 January 1946) is a former English first-class cricketer. Wheatley was born at Guildford in January 1946. He was educated at Lord Wandsworth College, where he played for the college cricket team. Wheatley made his ...

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 The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

, 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 The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

title in 1973.

Death

Keith died at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

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." Keith's obituary appeared in an "Obituaries before 1976" addendum in the 1977 Wisden.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Geoff 1937 births 1975 deaths English cricketers Somerset cricketers Hampshire cricketers Western Province cricketers Cricketers from Winchester