Lives in Cricket No 28 - Keith Carmody

123 * * * * * * * Keith returned to Sydney in the mid-1960s perhaps already as much in thrall to alcohol as his father, brothers and other family members had long since been. If drink was both cause and effect of depression, his mood can only have darkened in August 1968 when he mingled with former Test and first-class players among 400 mourners at the funeral of his inspirational boyhood batting partner, Stan McCabe, who had died at the age of 58 after falling from a cliff adjoining the back yard of his Mosman home. But Keith’s reputation as a coach was still intact. He had quickly resumed the role with Mosman he’d relinquished on moving to Perth. In 1969 he became New South Wales state coach, an appointment controversial only because it was one that hadn’t existed for many years and its designated six months’ duration seemed inadequate to achieve useful results. The position was sponsored by Rothmans, giving rise to Jill’s belief that he had been employed by the British-owned tobacco firm over a longer period, as many cricketers of the era were. He applied for renewal for the 1970/71 season but was beaten by Brian Taber, the current New South Wales and Australia wicketkeeper. Thereafter the Carmody name largely disappeared from the sports pages, although he continued to be involved with the Mosman club. While it’s probable that even in the early years of his return to Sydney – when he’d only just turned 50 – some had misgivings about his health, both physical and psychological, the speed of his decline is difficult to assess among the widely contradictory views of contemporaries. In 1969 England Test allrounder Barry Knight, firmly settled in Australia, joined the Mosman club he would soon lead for several seasons and was immediately impressed by the veteran coach’s enthusiasm. In 2011 he recalled his respect for Keith’s early-morning training and practice sessions – no small praise from a man whose own coaching school would eventually claim more than 20 Test players among its graduates, including one of Mosman’s favourite sons, Allan Border. Perhaps Knight’s contact with Keith was too slight for him to be aware of a drinking problem. When Russell and Jill spent some seven months living in Sydney in the 1970s, Russell joined Keith for drinks most evenings, but never saw him drink heavily. Well aware of the underlying problem, in 2011 Jill still clung to the belief that her father had been leading an enjoyable life with respectable friends on the fringe of the cricket community. He used to go on picnics with From Kalamunda to Sydney