15 Facts about Keaton Jennings: Durham's new found run machine

Not many knew about Keaton Jennings until he was named in the England squad for the Test series in India. Jennings has been a prolific run-getter for his county side Durham. He has a sound grip over all the formats of the game and is a man of all seasons for the teams that he has represented. No wonder, he has been on the fringes of his English debut for quite some time now.

Keaton Jennings is a tall left-handed batsman who is known to play marathon innings in First Class cricket. He bowls medium pace bowling as well, that gives his skipper an advantage while playing him in the side. He has tasted enough success with both bat and the ball to rightly earn the national call up.

Here are some facts about Keaton Jennings:

1. South African roots

Keaton Jennings was born on 19 June 1992 at Johannesburg in South Africa. He started playing in his homeland. His father has South African roots and his mother hails from Sunderland in England.

2. The big cricket connection

Jennings hails from the family of cricketers. His father Ray Jennings played First Class cricket for Transvaal. Later, he was appointed the coach of the South African national side in 2004. Keaton’s uncle, Kenneth Jennings, has also represented the Northerns in the South African domestic circuit. His elder brother, Dylan Jennings, has played domestic cricket too!

3. Time at the academy and First Class debut

Keaton Jennings spent a season with Durham at the age of 19. He represented the academy and the Second XI. He plundered 1319 runs in the season. He soon made his First Class debut for Gauteng against the Free State in December 2011 at the bare age of 19. Jennings scored 39 on his debut.

4. Leading the U19 team

Jennings was named the captain of the South Africa U19 team back in 2011. He was a prolific player in that age group. Having played 16 matches at the U19 level, he amassed 571 runs at an average of 40.78 and scalped 12 wickets too.

5. Playing against England

When the South Africa U19 toured England in 2011, Keaton Jennings was in the lineup. He largely failed in the tour. In 7 matches, he managed to score just 74 against the England U19 at a poor average of 12.33.

6. The big switch

Jennings decided to move to Chester-le-Street at the age of early 20. It was his Durham coach Geoff Cook, who convinced Ray Jennings to send his son to England. Both Cook and Ray had played domestic cricket in South Africa together for Eastern province and Transvaal respectively.

7. The long wait

In order to play his trade for England, Keaton Jennings had to wait for qualification period of 4 years before being eligible to be picked in the national side for England.

8. Tormenting the Irish side

He was soon drafted to Durham Second XI in 2012. Playing against Ireland A, he scored a magnificent 201 that earned him a county call at Durham. He made his First-Class debut for Durham in August 2012 against Surrey.

9. Recommendation from the South African

It was South African all-rounder Albie Morkel, who helped Keaton get a signing from Durham county team. He recommended Keaton to the county side.

10. The dream 2016 season

The First Class season of 2016 proved to be the dream season for the South Africa-born English cricketer. He aggregated 1548 runs at an average of 64.5 with 7 hundreds to his name. He even hit a double ton against Yorkshire. He emerged as the leading run scorer at the County Championship.

11. The Choice of the Cricket Writers’ Club

Keaton was named as the County Championship player of the year by the Cricket Writers’ Club recently owing to his stellar show in 2016 season.

12. Making a mark in the shorter format

Although Durham lost the Natwest T20 finals in 2016, Keaton Jennings was the man of the finals with a brilliant 88. It was the highest score in the tournament finals. The knock had almost got him drafted in the national side for the tour to Bangladesh but had to wait till the India series.

13. Sticking to the loyalties

Despite the Durham team being relegated due to a financial bail out by the English board, Keaton Jennings chose to stay with the team for at least one more season.

14. Getting the national call

It was the finger injury to young Haseeb Hameed that served as an opening door for Jennings. He was drafted in as a replacement for Hameed for the final two Tests in India. Playing in the Mumbai Test, he scored a magnificent ton on debut. He became the 19th Englishman to score a Test ton on debut. He scored 112 in the first innings of the match.

15. Major teams across two nations

Jennings has represented various teams in his short illustrious career thus far. The major teams that he has represented in South Africa and in England are: Durham, Durham 2nd XI, Gauteng, Gauteng Under-19s, South Africa Under-19s.