Tributes flowing in following death of Devon chairman Geoff Evans

FRIENDS and former club-mates of Devon CCC chairman Geoff Evans have been paying tribute to him following his death aged 77.

Geoff, who died on Tuesday of a suspected heart attack, was involved in the game from the age of 13 as player – he was a wicketkeeper - captain and administrator.

Not only was Evans secretary and chairman of Devon CCC, he served on the Minor Counties Cricket Association executive from 1990, holding the post of secretary from 2001 up to his death.

The first tribute to arrive came from Devon’s record-breaking batsman Nick Folland, who played against Geoff as a teenager in the 1970s for Exmouth and worked with him as county captain later in his career.

“My first memory of Geoff was of him keeping wicket for Exeter against us and seeing what good hands he had,” said Folland, who scored more than 10,000 runs for the county.

“ Later when he was Devon secretary I got to realise what a special man he was.

“He did so much for cricket – locally and further afield – and with him the game was the important thing.

“Geoff was also a naturally funny man with a sharp wit.”

Geoff started playing for Exeter in 1953, graduated to the first team in 1959 and, apart from a spell with Exmouth in the late 1970s, carried on keeping until 1983, when he retired.

Bob Staddon, now the president of Exeter Chiefs and then a double county player at cricket and rugby, was a team-mate of Geoff’s in the summer.

Staddon also remembers Geoff’s wit and repartee – and his dedication to the game.

“You can see that in the massive legacy he has left, not just in Devon but in Minor Counties cricket too,” said Staddon.

“I played with him a lot in the 1960s and remember him as a totally fearless wicket-keeper, standing up to the stumps against the fastest bowlers.

“There was one occasion in 1981 when I put together a side to play Somerset under floodlights at the rugby County Ground in St Thomas as a benefit match for Peter Denning.

“We rolled out a mat in the middle of the rugby pitch, out came the stars – Botham, Richards and Garner – and there was Geoff standing up behind the stumps.

“I don’t know how it happened, but he took a direct hit from the ball, right between the eyes.

“To be honest, Geoff didn’t look too good. But he picked himself up and got on with the game. He was very competitive, but in the right way and always in the spirit of the game.”

Another team-mate over the decades was Exeter spin bowler Jeff Stanyer, who played football with his namesake for Alphington when the cricket season was over.

Geoff Evans was born with a congenital condition that gave him a curved spine which, as he got older, could be painful.

Stanyer said Evans was a wholehearted sportsman who, off the field was ahead of his time.

“Although Geoff had this problem with his back it was in no way a disability to him as it never stopped him on the sports field,” said Stanyer, who played on the wing outside Evans, who was an inside-left.

“He was a good footballer who scored quite a lot of headed goals, even though he was by no means tall, by getting himself in the right position.

“When he wasn’t keeping wicket for Exeter he used to field close to the boundary because he was fast and had a fine throw.

“Geoff was also very good at getting in sponsors, which was something new in those days to most of us.”

Neil Gamble took over the Devon secretaryship in 2010 from Geoff and saw him at work close up, both for the county and the MCCA, of which he was still secretary.

“Geoff was determined to do the MCCA job even more efficiently and with attention to detail, than his predecessor, who was also most thorough, and was well known for getting minutes out to county secretaries within a few days of meetings,” said Gamble.

“He took responsibility for writing papers on behalf of MCCA in negotiations with the likes of ECB and all were expertly crafted and very well argued.

“Geoff once admitted to me he would have liked to have been a sports journalist rather than an executive in the drinks trade.

“He always wrote excellent annual reports on Devon cricket, superb obituaries and outstanding support essays for individuals chosen to be life members.

“When I took over as secretary and Geoff became chairman, he shared his enormous knowledge of the workings of Minor Counties cricket with me and I was able to learn quickly.”

Gamble said for six years the two of them worked closely and harmoniously.

Summing up, Gamble said: “Geoff had a very dry sense of humour and much of it was not politically correct.

“He was an honourable man - you always knew where you were with him - and he possessed great generosity of spirit.”