KEEDY MAKES LONG TERM COMMITMENT AT FORMBY

Date: 5th October 2014

A Paul Edwards copyright exclusive for L&DCC Official Website.

Three year deal suits him fine.

Any announcement regarding player movement during this close-season will do well to trump last Thursday’s news from Formby that slow left-armers Gary Keedy and Stephen Parry will be playing a good chunk of their cricket in the Med Imaging Liverpool Competition next season.

Plainly the signings are a shrewd piece of business by Cricket Path officials. Parry is a T20 England international who knows the Comp inside out while Keedy is one of the most respected players on the county circuit. What’s more, perhaps, despite the fact that he will be celebrating his 40th birthday in November, the former Lancashire spinner retains an enthusiasm for the game which should be just one of the qualities likely to rub off on his colleagues next summer.

Keedy has agreed to play at Formby for the next three seasons whenever his commitments at Nottinghamshire permit; Parry’s appearances will be limited by the frequency with which he is selected by Lancashire in 2015. In practice, as my colleague Jamie Bowman reported in Friday’s Liverpool Echo, it is expected that Keedy will play 90% of Formby’s games while Parry will be available for half the club’s matches. It will be interesting to see how opponents cope with the pair when they are operating together.

Keedy, himself, who has played just two games of league cricket since 1996, is enthusiastic about the prospect.

“I know that the Liverpool Competition is a strong league and all I want is to play a high standard of cricket on good wickets,” he said. “I’ve got to know Ian Cockbain at dinners throughout my career and he loves his cricket. He invited me over for dinner at Formby Golf Club, which was very nice, and at a later date I went to the ground.

“I met the people, looked around and thought, yes, I’d like to play here. Pazza’s a great influence and it’ll be good to be bowling in tandem with him again.

“I’m still looking to play first-class cricket and Formby are flexible about that. But one thing I never wanted to be was a mercenary who flitted from league club to league club, so I’ve made a long term commitment to Formby. I like the place, the set-up and the people. I want to bring my family over and spend the day there.”

However, the recruitment of the slow-bowling duo does not bring Formby’s close-season business to an end. The club has already signed the former Amersham cricketer Alex Lines, a 6’ 7” Australian-born England-qualified fast bowler who apparently sends it down at 80mph, and they are expecting a young batsman to come over on a New South Wales scholarship.

Cockbain is also hoping to add another batter to his top order and says that the club “has a couple of irons in the fire”.

All of which may prompt some players to ask where all this recruitment leaves Formby’s younger cricketers as they strive for senior recognition.

“Signing these players will bring the youngsters on,” responded Cockbain. “Being around such players is good for young cricketers and they will get coaching from our New South Wales scholar and from others. We already have coaching programmes at the club run by people like Richard and Matty Dearden, Tom Mills and Andy Grice.”