In the second of a two-part feature, Academy wicketkeeping prospect, Tom Keast, explains to trentbridge.co.uk how sibling rivalry has aided competitiveness in his family.
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It's hardly surprising Tom Keast grew up loving cricket. The bug has been passed down through the generations of Keasts, with both his dad and two granddads playing.
Now Tom’s love of the game is shared by his twin, James, and younger brother Nick, who are both good enough to have played Academy cricket for Leicestershire.
He says: “I was lucky that my parents drove me all over the place and it wasn’t just cricket, but other sports too. Once I got to 16, they said I had to pick something and I chose cricket.
“I was lucky that my parents drove me all over the place and it wasn’t just cricket, but other sports too.”
“But all those other sports have made me the cricketer I am. Some of the movements you make – like Jos Buttler with his hockey shots and side-steeping in table tennis – help you.
“Playing with my brothers growing up has made me competitive. James now plays at Grantham and Nick is playing at Cuckney with me.
“There’s competition for everything, but it’s all friendly. You might get asked how many runs you got, knowing full well they have got more than you!”
The change in the Academy structure for the 2018 summer means that Keast has been able to play in more matches, much to his pleasure.
With inter-Academy games frequently taking place on a Sunday, he has been able to continue playing in the Notts Premier League but for a local club, rather than against them.
“I really enjoy the Academy stuff and it’s nice to play with a bunch of lads who want to push each other,” he notes. “Everyone is fighting for second team spots.
“Club cricket at Cuckney is really enjoyable too, but you want to show there is a reason you are in the Notts set-up.
“Having said that, sometimes you have to appreciate that the standard of pitches is not always quite up to the level you might play on with Notts.
“That’s not to mention that there are good club cricketers, who are good players for a reason. We have got James Hawley who has got thousands of runs. You have people who have dominated club cricket for five to 10 years, which really tests you.
“I had a trial – I missed a family holiday for it. But it turned out to be well worth it.”
“It’s not people who bowl 90mph, it’s ones who bowl 68 and nip it both ways of the pitch and in the air with the keeper up – it’s a different game.”
Keast grew up at Market Rasen CC and moved to Cleethorpes in the Yorkshire League where he played for two seasons before joining the Notts Academy.
It was while with his first, hometown club that he was first earmarked as a player with Trent Bridge potential.
He explains: “Ian Williams from Market Rasen grew up with Wayne Noon and suggested Notts might be interested. He said I used to keep like Wayne, but I’m not sure Wayne believed that!
“So I had a trial – I missed a family holiday for it. They were away in the south of France and I was here in the nets, but it turned out to be well worth it.
“I got to go eventually for the latter part of the holiday anyway. I just missed a couple of days of warm weather, that was all, as my dad stayed back with me.”
When it comes to his cricketing heroes, Keast does not hesitate in naming his choices.
Not surprisingly, given his career path so far, they are both keepers, with one very close to home and the other quite the opposite.
“Chris Read is someone I look up to because he is the pinnacle of wicketkeeping as far as I’m concerned,” insists Keast. “Internationally, I like Quinton de Kock, who is a different level, particularly with his batting. He plays all formats and can bat anywhere in the order and still perform well.
“Chris Read is someone I look up to because he is the pinnacle of wicketkeeping as far as I’m concerned.”
“Ready is the best keeper I have seen at first hand, taking balls flying down the legside and no matter where they come to him.
“When I was doing sixth form at Worksop, I came down here quite a lot and did hour-and-a-half sessions with him. It’s just catching hundreds and hundreds of balls.
“It was a bit weird for the first session, working with one of your heroes. You really want to impress, but he just said 'settle down and catch the balls' and you start enjoying it from there.”
Whether Keast can have a career touching the heights of Read remains to be seen, but it’s clear it won’t be for want of trying.
Read part one of the feature here.
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