Geoffrey Frank Dakin (born 13 August 1935) is a former South African

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and cricket administrator.

Playing career

Dakin was educated at

Grey High School Grey High School is a State school, semi-private English-medium high school (grades 8 to 12) for boys situated in the suburb of Mill Park in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the top sporting schools in the coun ...

in Port Elizabeth. He made his first-class debut for Eastern Province in 1952–53 at the age of 17. In six matches that season he scored 279 runs as an opening batsman at an average of 23.25 with a top score of 47, and was Eastern Province's second-highest scorer. He also took 11 catches, more than any other fieldsman in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

. He was a useful pace bowler in the early part of his career, whose best figures were 4 for 28 against the touring

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in 1953–54, but it was his catching and fielding that stood out. His leadership qualities were also recognised when he was appointed captain of Eastern Province in 1957–58 at the age of 22, a position he held for five seasons. He was selected in a South African XI to play the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

in 1957–58, but was dismissed cheaply twice by Alan Davidson and took only one wicket, that of

Neil Harvey Robert Neil Harvey (born 8 October 1928) is an Australian former cricketer who was a member of the Australian cricket team between 1948 and 1963, playing in 79 Test matches. He was the vice-captain of the team from 1957 until his retirement. A ...

for 173. He scored his first century, 124, in 1958–59, against

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

in a match in which nobody else passed 50. His next century, 143, came against

Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, w ...

in 1959–60, and was once again easily the highest score in the match. In 1960–61 Eastern Province won four of their six matches and finished second in the Currie Cup, their best result to that time. Dakin was the team's highest scorer, with 452 runs at 45.20, including 104 against

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, when the 16-year-old

Graeme Pollock Robert Graeme Pollock (born 27 February 1944) is a former cricketer for South African national cricket team, South Africa, Transvaal cricket team, Transvaal and Eastern Province cricket team, Eastern Province. A member of a famous cricketing fam ...

made his first-class debut for Eastern Province, scoring 54. Dakin's form fell away after 1960–61, apart from one innings in 1962–63 when he made his highest score, 165, against

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

, putting on 312 for the first wicket with Colin Rushmere. He retired after the 1962–63 season.

Administrative career

After he retired from playing, Dakin became a prominent administrator in Eastern Province and in South Africa generally. In 1991, when the United Cricket Board was established, with the amalgamation of the South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board into a non-racial entity, Geoff Dakin was elected as the first President.

Family

His son Grant Dakin and grandson Stephen FenshamStephen Fensham at Cricket Archive
/ref> have also played first-class cricket in South Africa.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dakin, Geoff 1935 births Living people Cricketers from Gqeberha South African cricketers Eastern Province cricketers South African cricket administrators Alumni of Grey High School