Paul Keep

To start off the new season of “Blast from the Past” #25 we have the club legend himself, Paul Keep.

Paul played eleven seasons from 1988 to 2005 mostly as 1st grade captain and coach of the club. He was an opening swing bowler who could move the ball both ways. He took 306 wickets over 134 matches at an average of 20.34 taking 5 wickets in an innings 11 times. His best return of 7/47 came against Thornlie in 1992/93 season. He took 6 wickets 5 times. You could never get the ball out of his hands, thus he got the nickname of Crowbar (it would take a crowbar to get the ball out of his hands). His batting was exceptional as a middle order batsman and he could win games on his own in a matter of a few overs. He scored 3503 runs over 141 innings at an average of 25.76 scoring 3 centuries and 18 fifties, his highest score of 130no vs Kenwick in 1988 while batting at No 9, coming in with the score at 8/94 he put on 120 with No 10 and another 66 with No 11. He was also a fantastic slip fieldsman taking 46 catches and to boot, a brilliant captain. The Cricketer of the Year award is named after Paul Keep as he has won the title 9 times in eleven years while playing 1st grade. Paul was made a life member of the Tigers in 2007 and is still a stalwart of the club attending our windups every year.