lastagainst deliveries lastdate debutyear columns catches/stumpings year birth_date bowling debutagainst tenfor country club heightft fivefor batting name fullname debutfor birth_place column debutdate role source type lastyear runs date wickets lastfor s/s matches heightinch article_title
yorkshire yorkshire balls 7771 4052 4 august 2 august 1975 1975 2 47 ; / & ndash ; 15 / & ndash 1975 & ndash ; 1981 2010 5 october 1953 right-arm medium-pace leicestershire derbyshire & ndash ; & ndash ; england somerset 5 1 & ndash ; right-handed batsman keith jennings keith francis jennings somerset somerset wellington , somerset , england first-class list a 18 june 8 june bowler http://www.cricketarchive.com/archive/players/3/3651/3651.html cricketarchive first-class list a 1981 1981 521 233 1953 10 5 yes 96 104 somerset somerset & ; / 1 ndash ; / & ndash ; & ndash 68 88 11 keith jennings -lrb- cricketer -rrb-

keith jennings -lrb- cricketer -rrb-

keith francis jennings , born at wellington , somerset on 5 october 1953 , played first-class and list a cricket for somerset from 1975 to 1981 .
he was a right-handed lower-order batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler .
jennings was a carpenter and joiner by trade who modelled his medium-paced bowling on that of tom cartwright and was one of cartwright 's successors as the defensive bowling heart of somerset 's successful one-day cricket side of the late 1970s .
he made his first-class and list a debuts in 1975 and the following year was a regular member of somerset 's one-day team .
initially , his batting showed promise , and against the west indies in 1976 he made 49 of an 82-run eighth wicket partnership with his captain , brian close , whose own watchful innings of 88 earned him a recall to the england team at the age of 45 .
later that year , his 51 not out took somerset from a parlous 116 for seven to a three-wicket victory with three balls to spare against nottinghamshire at nottingham .
but his batting declined markedly and in 1979 , when he played in 19 of somerset 's first-class matches , he made only 19 runs all season .
but jennings ' principal role was as a tidy , dependable bowler , mainly in one-day cricket .
his figures scarcely show many highlights , but his record of being consistently selected alongside stars such as ian botham , joel garner and viv richards indicates a value not measured in wickets .
in 1978 , he took 40 first-class wickets , the most he achieved in a season , and was awarded his county cap .
the bowling included a return of five for 18 in 23.5 overs in the match against sussex at hove .
that was his only five-wicket haul in major cricket .
yet with all the stars available he was picked for both the crucial matches at the end of the season when it seemed that somerset might at last win a trophy : in the event , the county lost both the gillette cup final to sussex and the final john player league match to essex and missed out on both trophies .
the following season , 1979 , jennings was again a regular and he also played in most of somerset 's first-class matches , though he took only 20 first-class wickets in the season .
at the end of the season , somerset arrived at exactly the same position as in the previous year -- finalists in the gillette cup and with a chance of winning the sunday 40-over competition .
this time , both titles were won , though jennings appeared in only the gillette cup final , where he bowled his 12 overs for just 29 runs , the most economical of the somerset bowlers .
in 1980 , somerset lost the services of garner -lrb- and richards -rrb- to the west indies tour , and new players were introduced to cover the gaps .
with a changing side , jennings lost his regular place in mid-season and did not regain it .
apart from a couple of first-team appearances , he played in 1981 largely for the second eleven and with his contract due for renewal at the end of the season , he chose not to have it renewed , and left county cricket .
