Geoff Tribe

Geoff Tribe who served Grayshott Cricket Club so well both on and off the field recently passed away at the age of 80. Geoff started to play for Grayshott in the late 50s, but National service and several house moves with his work in banking interrupted his playing career at Grayshott. He led Grayshott to win the I’Anson Cup in 1969, the first time in 40 years.

The Shotts lost just one game in the 1969 season when they were also the first club to win the Stevens Cup. Geoff was an influential figure in winning both trophies as a captain and a player. Geoff would regularly open the bowling but he featured strongly with both bat and ball.

He was arguably the best bowler in the leaguetaking hundreds of wickets and was regularly selected for the I’Anson Representative XI. In 1964 Geoff took 9-11 against Wrecclesham, including four wickets in as many deliveries and went onto make it six wickets in just eight balls! In 1969 one of his best performanceswith the ball was against a full Hampshire XI when he took two of the first three wickets and reduced them to 17 for 3 in his opening spell, including the wicket of Gordon Greenidge, not a bad wicket to get. In the 60s Grayshott also had a full Sunday fixture list against some verystrong sides and Geoff often opened the batting and the bowling in those games.

The team would travel by coach to these matchesand were great fun for the players as after the game everyone had enjoyed a drink or two! Geoff was also a capable batsmen scoring many runs for Grayshott and was the first name to appear on the Hunter’s Moon 1stXI Batting Cup in 1966. When Geoff’s career took him away from Grayshott he enjoyed his cricket with Claverham Cricket Club, near Bristoland with St Ouen Cricket Clubin Jersey where Geoff also represented Jersey over 50s playing in Barbados and South Africa.Geoff also introduced his son Mark to St Ouen Cricket Club and went onto play many years for the club.

Geoff’s leadership skills were ideal for a captain remaining level headed and calm and it was no surprise that in 1997 Geoff became President of Grayshott Cricket Club up until 2015, overseeing quite a transformation at the club, especially with the growth in cricket played at Grayshott.At the club’s Annual Dinner Dance, Geoff’s speeches were always one of the highlights reflecting his dry sense of humour. In recent years Geoff was a regular at the Sportsfield on a Summer Saturday afternoon following the fortune of his beloved club. His wit and wisdom was sharedwith everyone particularly in the bar after a game.He was so well respected by his peers and the younger generations who never got the opportunity to see him play.

Geoff is featured in the photo, front centre as captain of the 1969 I’Anson Cup Winning side