Keath gives cricket the nod over AFL
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 1:21 amCricket has scored a rare victory over Australian rules football with the multi-talented teenager Alex Keath choosing bat and ball over a potentially lucrative AFL career. Keath, 18, has signed a several-year contract with Cricket Victoria despite the probability that he would play senior AFL football next year.
An allrounder who has been compared to his fellow Victorian Andrew McDonald, Keath was part of the Australia team that won the Under-19 World Cup. He scored 216 runs at 43.20 to be the eighth leading scorer in the tournament, and also collected six wickets at 16.33 with his medium-pace bowling.
However, his football prospects appeared just as promising when he was named as one of the dozen 17-year-olds chosen by the newly-formed Gold Coast club, which will make its first appearance in the AFL in 2011. The Victoria coach Greg Shipperd said Keath could be ready to make his state debut next summer, although 2011-12 was more realistic.
An allrounder who has been compared to his fellow Victorian Andrew McDonald, Keath was part of the Australia team that won the Under-19 World Cup. He scored 216 runs at 43.20 to be the eighth leading scorer in the tournament, and also collected six wickets at 16.33 with his medium-pace bowling.
However, his football prospects appeared just as promising when he was named as one of the dozen 17-year-olds chosen by the newly-formed Gold Coast club, which will make its first appearance in the AFL in 2011. The Victoria coach Greg Shipperd said Keath could be ready to make his state debut next summer, although 2011-12 was more realistic.
