Francis Neate

Francis Webb Neate (born 13 May 1940) is a former English cricketer. Neate was a right-handed batsman. He was born at Newbury, Berkshire.

Neate made his first-class debut for Oxford University against the Free Foresters in 1960. From 1960 to 1962, he represented the University in 17 first-class matches, and won a Blue by playing in the University Match against Cambridge University in both 1961 and 1962.^[1] A fairly successful batsman for the University, Neate scored 914 runs at a batting average of 38.08, with 6 half centuries and a single century high score of 112.^[2]

Two years prior to playing for Oxford University, Neate made his Minor Counties Championship debut for Berkshire in 1958 against Cornwall. From 1958 to 1979, he represented the county in 135 Minor Counties Championship matches, the last of which came in the 1979 Championship when Berkshire played Devon.^[3] Neate was the Berkshire captain from 1971 to 1975.

Additionally, he also played List-A matches for Berkshire. His List-A debut for the county came against Somerset in the 1965 Gillette Cup. From 1965 to 1979, he represented the county in 4 List-A matches, with his final List-A match coming in the 1979 Gillette Cup when Berkshire played Durham at Green Lane Cricket Ground in Durham.^[4] In his 4 matches, he scored 57 runs at an average of 14.25, with a high score of 38.^[5]

In 1962, he played Second XI cricket for the Surrey in the Second XI Championship.^[6]

Neate is the current President of Berkshire County Cricket Club.

Family

His brother Patrick Neate played a single first-class match for Oxford University in 1966, as well as Minor Counties cricket for Berkshire and his father, also called Francis, played Minor Counties cricket for Berkshire in 1932 and 1933.

References

External links

• Francis Neate at Cricinfo
• Francis Neate at CricketArchive