Keith Wall – The Tradesman
Parramatta District Cricket Club | December 29, 2025
Keith Wall was one of the ‘oldest surviving Cumbos’ at the time of his death in May 2009. It could be said that he was a Parramatta man to his bootstraps, at an advanced age, despite declining health and confinement to a wheelchair he still held his interest in the club. Accompanied by his son Dennis (who also played for the club) he made the effort to attend the annual fund-raising luncheons and regularly appeared as a spectator at Old Kings Oval 1st Grade matches. In fact, he was present at the final match of the season, against Gordon in March 2009, and only a few weeks later passed away.
In his playing he was of a robust build and was a strong, powerful cricketer who plied his trade with an earnest commitment to the job at hand.
His career with the Club spanned the years from 1940/41 to 1956/57 (interrupted by an Army stint in World War II, during which he served in New Guinea).
As a player Keith was regarded as a ‘tough cricketer’, in the old sense of the word – competitive and fully committed on the field, but with a strong ethic for fair play. He loved a post-match beer with his teammates and opposition players – a custom not often undertaken in the modern NSW Premier Cricket era.
A skilled all-rounder, he was a determined, aggressive lower-order batsman and talented big turning right-arm off-spin bowler. His all-round proficiency was well illustrated by his career statistics with Central Cumberland:
· Batting: 2,681 runs @ 21.45.
· Bowling: 308 wickets @ 23.20 in all grades.
Keith made many appearances in 1st grade between 1940/41 and 1956/57, and his bowling statistics were very presentable - 55 wickets @ 22.49 (B.B. – 7/115 v. St. George [1954/55], 5/89 v. Sydney University [1948/49], 4/7 v. NDs [1955/56]).and 237 runs @ 9.87). But found it difficult to secure a permanent berth in that grade, because during his playing era the Parramatta club was blessed with spinners and all-rounders of the calibre of Richie Benaud, Ron James, Jack Treanor, Lou Benaud and Wally Cornock. However, he played the full 1955/56 season in the 1sts, being mentioned in the Annual Report as a bowling mainstay and had a most successful season claiming 27 wickets @ 15.81 – not a bad performance in a team also containing State spinners Benaud and Treanor. In 1st grade his batting opportunities were very limited as evidenced by 237 runs @ 9.37 (H.S. – 36).
The bulk of Keith’s career was spent in 2nd grade – 2,041 runs @ 22.67 and 207 wickets @ 20.74, where his batting came to the fore, and this combined with his bowling exploits made him an excellent cricketer at that level. His standout 2nd grade season was 1946/47 where he topped the batting with 500 runs @ 41.46 (best - 86) and backed this with 24 wickets @ 15.67 (best- 5/96). In 1949/50 he scored 101 against Wests – his solitary century for the club, although he made 96 v. Mosman in the 3rds in 1950/51, his best individual bowling effort in 2nds was 6/33 v. Randwick in 1950/51.
He played intermittently in 3rd grade with some outstanding successes, he particularly seemed to relish playing against Mosman, as shown below:
· 1950/51 – he had a wonderful allrounder’s match – striking 96 runs with the bat and claimed 6/97 and 5/98 with the ball.
· 195/52 –he snared a sensational bowling performance – 9/88.
As an ‘Old Cumbo’ Keith was a strong link with the past, a link in the long chain that has kept the Club going since its 1843 inception.
Keith Wall and Richie Benaud at a Parramatta District Cricket Club Luncheon
(By Tom Wood – Parramatta District Cricket Club – Historian)
