Jack Geloven

Background

He was born in Guiseley, Leeds, Yorkshire, England, where his name was registered as Jack Geloven.

Career

A solid right-handed middle-order batsman and canny medium-paced bowler, van Geloven played 247 first-class matches, scoring 7,522 runs at 19.43, taking 486 wickets at 28.62 with the ball and holding 137 catches. Throughout his time with Leicestershire, the side was among the weakest in the County Championship, and van Geloven"s consistency made him more valuable than his figures might appear. He completed 1,000 runs in a season three times, with a best of 1,324 runs in 1959.

But his best season overall was 1962, when he scored 1,055 runs and took exactly 100 wickets for his first, and only double.

He completed the feat by taking the tenth wicket in the second innings of the last match of the season. After 1962, van Geloven"s batting declined, and he left first-class cricket after the 1965 season.

He then played for Northumberland in Minor Counties cricket until 1973, and, from 1977 to 1983, he served as a first-class umpire. Van Geloven died in August 2003, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Achievements

• He was a regular in the Leicestershire side for ten seasons and won his county cap in 1959. He was the most recent Leicestershire player to achieve this feat.