Ben Geddes speaks about his aim for this season, the thrill of winning the LV=Insurance County Championship, the privilege of batting with and learning from Hasim Amla and much more, in an interview with Richard Spiller.
Finishing with a winners’ medal capped a memorable summer for Ben Geddes last year.
His maiden first-class century came in May, hitting 104 against Sri Lanka Development XI at Guildford, followed five weeks later by making 124 against Kent at the Kia Oval, his first ton in the LV County Championship.
“It was a real highlight for me to achieve both landmarks,” says Geddes, underlining the latter was more special for him given it came in a stand of 213 for the third wicket with Hashim Amla, part of a run glut of 673-7dec.
South African veteran Amla, who retired at the end of last season, has been a major source of inspiration to Geddes: “Batting with him that day is something I will always remember. He has taught me so much. To sit next to him in the dressing room, getting tips from him and knowing he’s always happy to help has been very important. The biggest thing for me was how late he played the ball and it’s something I’ve tried to bring to my game.
“He’s also very good on the mental side of the game and the importance of patience. I’ll miss his presence but we’ve got experienced international cricketers who fill the gap he left about as well as can be.”
Geddes had to watch from the sidelines in the final stages of the title run-in last year but had no complaints: “You can’t get too upset when you’re winning the Championship! In terms of gaining more experience and personal growth it was a pretty good summer.”
So what about this year?
“The aim is to win a place in the side and keep it for as long as possible. I want to contribute to winning more trophies.”
Geddes spent a substantial chunk of the winter in Perth, playing for the University of Western Australia in grade cricket, where conditions were less of a contrast to home than might be expected: “You think the pitches will be fast and bouncy but some of them were quite slow, which had something to do with the weather they’d had in the spring. They became more pacey as the season went on and the University was nice and fast.”
Making allowances for the weather is nothing new for English players, of course, and Geddes’s hopes of match practice were dented when the opening round of the AJ Sports Surrey Championship was wiped out by rain. How often he appears for his club, Ashtead, depends on Surrey commitments but the Geddes family are a major presence at Woodfield Lane. Ben’s three younger brothers all feature and he adds: “My dad has played with all of us in the fourth team, which is quite a record.”
Perhaps it’s no wonder then that Ben is seen as a leader of the pack and has been the regular captain of the Club’s Second XI. Last season, the opener made the step up to first-team captaincy as well, spearheading Surrey in the Royal London Cup 50-over competition: “It was a real eye-opener. I’d done quite a bit of captaincy at the age group level and as a young pro, it’s great to get as much under your belt as possible. I’m grateful to have been given the experience.
“Our squad was decimated by players being away in the Hundred – we had a very inexperienced side who were up against more senior players. But everyone was brilliant and it was fascinating to see how the older players we were up against went about it.”
Left-arm spinner Yousef Majid, pulled into the squad barely weeks after finishing school, impressed him greatly: “He came straight from the academy and showed great promise, it’s very exciting to see what he can achieve.”
And all-rounder Tom Lawes went from rookie to being a senior figure: “He made serious strides, as much with his batting as his bowling. He had extra responsibility and some of the shots he played showed what a talent he is.”
Led by Geddes – who has made a bright start to his season, scoring 275 runs at a healthy average of 45.8 in the Second XI Championship, which includes a match-winning knock of 121 off 230 against Warwickshire at Guildford and a blistering 82 off 122 versus Gloucestershire at Bristol – Surrey’s millennial generation is hungry for opportunities.
