Match at Newclose for Isle of Wight cricket legend Keith

The match, between a Newport Cricket Club XI and a Keith Mitchell XI, will be a 20/20 format game.

The Newport team will be captained by Gareth Bricknell, with the Keith Mitchell side skippered by Tom Dye, which will include Keith's two sons Ben and Sam, as well as grandson Jack.

The Keith Mitchell team will be stacked full of talented cricketers from across the Island, who Keith admired and respected. 

Keith Mitchell, left, with former England and Gloucestershire wicketkeeper turned artist, Jack Russell, pointing him out as a spectator in one of his paintings at a match in Sussex. (Image: Isle of Wight County Press)

Keith, who died in 2021, was a ‘run machine’ who skippered the Island and a highly successful Newport Cricket Club team, and who also coached cricket at the club.

He was a highly respected umpire too, in a life devoted to the sport on the Island, which spanned more than five decades.

Nicknamed 'Mitch', Keith was part of a Newport team which became unbeatable — winning the first-ever Whitbread Knock-Out Cup, against Ryde, in 1966, where he scored 107 not out.

The late John Hannam, in a feature he wrote after interviewing Keith during the pandemic, described Keith as the most complete home-grown batsman he have ever seen on the Island.

The match starts at 6pm, followed by drinks and a barbecue.