Roy Kerslake
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Roy Cosmo Kerslake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 December 1942 Paignton, Devon, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm off-spin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | All-rounder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1962–1964 | Cambridge University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1962–1968 | Somerset | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FC debut | 28 April 1962 Cambridge Univ. v Surrey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last FC | 6 August 1976 Minor Counties v West Indians | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 29 June 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Roy Cosmo Kerslake (born 26 December 1942) is a former English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Somerset, and captained Somerset for one season in 1968. More recently he has been prominent as a cricket administrator, serving as president of Somerset County Cricket Club from 2004 to 2015. He was born at Paignton in Devon.
Kerslake was a middle to lower order right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler. Educated at Kingswood School, Bath, where he topped the batting and bowling averages in 1961, he played for Somerset's second eleven in the Minor Counties that season, being part of the team that won the Minor Counties Championship for the first time. He batted in the middle order and took 16 wickets for less than seven runs each.[1]
In 1962, he was at Cambridge, but made little impression in three first-class matches for the university. In August of the same year, he played for Somerset's first team in six matches as a middle-order batsman, but did not bowl.
Regular player
The following season, he played regularly for Cambridge and won his blue. He headed the Cambridge bowling averages with 26 wickets at a cost of only 13.30 each and made 259 runs in the lower order, without reaching 50.[2] In the second half of the season, he played again for Somerset, making only a few runs and failing to take a single wicket as the county relied for off-spin on the established Brian Langford.
The 1964 season was Kerslake's best in first-class cricket. The honorary secretary at Cambridge (and captain in one match in the absence of regular captain Mike Brearley), he finished second in both batting and bowling averages, with 576 runs at 32 runs per innings and 36 wickets. Against the Australians he featured in an eighth wicket stand of 109 in 85 minutes.[3] Against Surrey at The Oval he made 80, which remained the highest score of his career.[4] His career-best bowling performance was also for Cambridge University in this season: six for 77 against Worcestershire in the first first-class match ever played at Halesowen.[5]
In the second half of the 1964 season, Kerslake again appeared regularly for Somerset. His batting was not successful, but he took 39 wickets with his off-spin, including his best county return, six for 83 against Hampshire at Bournemouth. His full season figures were 757 runs and 75 wickets.