Albert Geary

Albert Charles Taylor Geary (11 September 1900 – 23 January 1989) was an English cricketer. Geary was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium-fast. He was born in East Croydon, London.

Having played for the Surrey Second XI since 1921 in the Minor Counties Championship,[1] he made his first-class debut for Surrey against Somerset in the 1922 County Championship. It wouldn't be until the 1925 season that he became more of a regular starter in the Surrey XI. By the time he played his final first-class match against Lancashire in the 1931 County Championship, he had made 90 first-class appearances.[2] Geary's role within the team was as a bowler, in his 90 first-class matches he took 198 wickets at an average of 30.64, with best figures of 6/50.[3] These figures, one of six five wicket hauls he took in his career, came against Hampshire in the 1927 County Championship, a season in which he took 79 wickets at an average of 25.15, which was his most successful season of his career.[4] A lower-order batsman, Geary scored 670 runs at a batting average of 10.63, with a high score of 40.[5] His time at Surrey was characterised by him making nearly as many appearances for the Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship as he did for the First XI.[1] With pitches the batsman friendly pitches at The Oval not helping his bowling, with him being all too often overlooked by the Surrey selectors,[6] he left the county at the end of the 1931 season. While playing for Surrey, he stood as an umpire in a first-class match between the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.[7]

He soon after moved to Jersey, playing a single match for the Jersey cricket team against the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1934.[8] The match was a success for Geary, with him taking a total of 8 wickets in it, as well as scoring a century in Jersey's first-innings. The match though was not rated as first-class.[9] Geary would go on to take 437 wickets against touring teams in eight seasons for the island.[6] He lived out the remainder of his life on Jersey, with him dying in Saint Peter on 21 January 1989.