{{Short description|South African cricketer (1935–2026)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Geoff Dakin <!-- Commented out: | image = Geoff Dakin in 1985.png --> | caption = Dakin in 1985 | country = South Africa | fullname = Geoffrey Frank Dakin | birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|8|13|df=yes}} | birth_place = Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa | death_date = {{Death date and age|2026|5|4|1935|8|13|df=yes}} | death_place = | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right-arm fast-medium | role = | family = | club1 = Eastern Province | year1 = 1952–53 to 1962–63 | columns = 1 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 59 | runs1 = 2741 | bat avg1 = 26.10 | 100s/50s1 = 4/8 | top score1 = 165 | deliveries1 = 2677 | wickets1 = 27 | bowl avg1 = 42.77 | fivefor1 = 0 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = 4/28 | catches/stumpings1 = 51/– | date = 13 August | year = 2014 | source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/25/25287/25287.html Cricket Archive }}
'''Geoffrey Frank Dakin''' (13 August 1935 – 4 May 2026) was a South African cricketer and cricket administrator. In 1991, he was elected as the first president of the United Cricket Board, South African cricket's first non-racial governing body.<ref name="death">{{cite news |title=Tributes pour in for 'visionary leader' Geoff Dakin |url=https://www.theherald.co.za/sport/2026-05-07-tributes-pour-in-for-visionary-leader-geoff-dakin/ |access-date=8 May 2026 |work=The Herald |date=7 May 2026}}</ref>
==Playing career== Dakin was educated at Grey High School in Port Elizabeth.<ref>[http://greyhighschool.com/index.php/sports-offered/cricket Grey High School cricket]</ref> He made his first-class debut for Eastern Province in 1952–53, at the age of 17. In six matches that season he scored 279 runs as an opening batsman at an average of 23.25 with a top score of 47, and was Eastern Province's second-highest scorer.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/3/Currie_Cup_1952-53/Eastern_Province_Batting.html Eastern Province Currie Cup batting 1952–53]</ref> He also took 11 catches, more than any other fieldsman in the Currie Cup.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/3/Currie_Cup_1952-53/Fielding_by_Dismissals.html Currie Cup fielding 1952–53]</ref>
He was a useful pace bowler in the early part of his career, whose best figures were 4 for 28 against the touring New Zealanders in 1953–54, but it was his catching and fielding that stood out.<ref>R.T. Brittenden, ''Silver Fern on the Veld'', Howard B. Timmins, Cape Town, 1954, p. 47.</ref> His leadership qualities were also recognised when he was appointed captain of Eastern Province in 1957–58 at the age of 22, a position he held for five seasons.
Dakin was selected in a South African XI to play the touring Australians in 1957–58, but was dismissed cheaply twice by Alan Davidson and took only one wicket, that of Neil Harvey for 173.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22730.html South African XI v Australians 1957–58]</ref> He scored his first century, 124, in 1958–59, against Orange Free State in a match in which nobody else passed 50.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/23/23339.html Orange Free State v Eastern Province 1958–59]</ref> His next century, 143, came against Griqualand West in 1959–60, and was once again easily the highest score in the match.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/23/23853.html Eastern Province v Griqualand West 1959–60]</ref>
In 1960–61 Eastern Province won four of their six matches and finished second in the Currie Cup, their best result to that time. Dakin was the team's highest scorer, with 452 runs at 45.20,<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/3/Currie_Cup_1960-61/Eastern_Province_Batting.html Eastern Province Currie Cup batting 1960–61]</ref> including 104 against Border, when the 16-year-old Graeme Pollock made his first-class debut for Eastern Province, scoring 54.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/24/24538.html Border v Eastern Province 1960–61]</ref> Dakin's form fell away after 1960–61, apart from one innings in 1962–63 when he made his highest score, 165, against Western Province, putting on 312 for the first wicket with Colin Rushmere.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/25/25904.html Western Province v Eastern Province 1962–63]</ref> He retired after the 1962–63 season.
==Administrative career== After he retired from playing, Dakin became a prominent administrator in Eastern Province and in South Africa generally. In 1991, when the United Cricket Board was established, with the amalgamation of the South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board into a non-racial entity, Geoff Dakin was elected as the first President.<ref>[http://www.cricket.co.za/csa_articles.aspx?id=1 About Cricket South Africa] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121174446/http://cricket.co.za/csa_articles.aspx?id=1 |date=2010-11-21 }}</ref>
==Personal life and death== Dakin died on 4 May 2026, at the age of 90.<ref name="death"/>
His son Grant Dakin<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/25/25286/25286.html Grant Dakin at Cricket Archive]</ref> and grandson Stephen Fensham<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/91/91667/91667.html Stephen Fensham at Cricket Archive]</ref> have also played first-class cricket in South Africa.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/25/25287/25287.html Geoff Dakin at CricketArchive] * {{Cricinfo|id=44853}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dakin, Geoff}} Category:1935 births Category:2026 deaths Category:Cricketers from Gqeberha Category:South African cricketers Category:Eastern Province cricketers Category:South African cricket administrators Category:Alumni of Grey High School