Lancashire: Keedy offered new deal (13 Sep 1997)

13 September 1997

Keedy offered new deal

Lancashire Evening Telegraph

LANCASHIRE hero Gary Keedy is considering a new two-year contract offer from the county.

And the 22-year-old's performance over the last two days has shown that they would have been crazy to let him go.

Keedy, in the last year of the contract he signed when David Lloyd brought him over the Pennines from Yorkshire, has been languishing in the second team since early July.

But he claimed four wickets in his comeback game against Essex at Old Trafford last week then grabbed 6-79 in Surrey's second innings at The Oval yesterday to make it 10 for the match, and give Lancashire their fifth championship victory of the season by an innings of 55 runs.

At last Keedy is showing the sort of ability which made him one of the country's most highly rated left arm spinners only a few years ago.

He credited second team captain Peter Sleep, a former Australian Test leg spinner, for the sudden turnaround. "Sleepy has gone on at me that if you bowl well enough for long enough you will get rewards and that's what's happened in this game," he said.

"I didn't bowl well at the start of the season but I took 50 wickets fairly rapidly for the seconds so my confidence was high when I came back."

Lancashire were enjoying a day off in London today before they complete their Sunday League programme at The Oval tomorrow, needing a win to have a chance of second place.

Source :: Lancashire Evening Telegraph (https://www.reednews.co.uk/let/)