Surrey’s longest living player, Harry Kelleher, has died aged 96. Richard Spiller looks back on short and eventful career amid a long life
Few players have matched the impact Harry Kelleher made on his first-class debut for Surrey in 1955.
The right-arm seamer, who was born in Bermondsey, had first appeared for the second team three years earlier but got his maiden outing against Worcestershire in the final week of June.
Opening the bowling with acting captain Alec Bedser, he claimed 5-23 from 14 overs as the visitors were bowled out for 77. And after Surrey declared at 148-5, Kelleher was at it again, this time 5-50 from 23 overs giving match figures of 10-73 as Worcestershire were bowled out again for 153. Surrey romped to victory by 10 wickets in two days on the way to winning a fourth successive County Championship title.
Kelleher played two more matches that season but, like others, found opportunities severely limited at Surrey given he was in competition with Bedser, Loader and skipper Stuart Surridge for places.
So he followed the path of Raman Subba Row 12 months earlier in moving to Northamptonshire, by special registration, his debut against Nottinghamshire bringing another five-wicket haul as he opened the bowling with the fearsome Frank Tyson.
Kelleher was a member of the side which finished runners-up to Surrey in 1957 but despite being awarded his county cap the following season, agreed that it would be his last. He finished with 112 first-class wickets at 27 from 55 matches.
With relatively small playing resources, Northants have always needed to recruit shrewdly and they had a major advantage in that era, the engineering company British Timken – based nearby – being run by John Pascoe, a leading supporter of the club. It meant they could offer employment in the winters – cricketers only had contracts for six months of the year at that time – and when careers ended.
Kelleher would spend 36 years with the firm, also continuing to play club and league cricket. Swimming and exercising until into his 90s, Kelleher – who became Surrey’s longest-lived player ever on May 20 – had moved to Ohio some years ago, which is where he died this week after a short illness. His wife Eileen, who he married in 1950, died in 2019.
