Patrick John Keen CMG MBE (30 June 1911 – 8 March 1983) was an English first-class cricketer and an officer in the Indian Political Service, having previously served in both the British Army and the British Indian Army.

Patrick Keen
Personal information
Full name
Patrick John Keen
Born30 June 1911
Kohat, North-West Frontier Province, British India
Died8 March 1983(1983-03-08) (aged 71)
Hampshire, England
BattingUnknown
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1939/40Europeans
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 1
Runs scored 1
Batting average 0.50
100s/50s –/–
Top score 1
Catches/stumpings –/–
Source: Cricinfo, 16 December 2023

Life and military career

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The son of the Brigadier P. H. Keen,[1] he was born in British India at Kohat in March 1983.[citation needed] He came from a family of colonial administrators in India, with his grandfather and uncle both holding positions in the Indian Political Department.[2] Keen was educated in England at Haileybury, before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. From there, he graduated into the Hampshire Regiment as a second lieutenant in January 1931,[3] with promotion to lieutenant following in January 1934.[4] He was appointed to the British Indian Army as an aide-de-camp to Sir Ralph Griffith, Governors of the North-West Frontier Province.[5][6] He was promoted to lieutenant in the British Indian Army October 1936,[7] with promotion to captain following in January 1939.[8] In India, Keen made a single appearance in first-class cricket for the Europeans cricket team against the Indians at Madras in the 1939–40 Madras Presidency Match.[9] Batting twice in the match, he was dismissed for a single run in the Europeans first innings by A. G. Ram Singh, while in their second innings he was dismissed without scoring by C. K. Nayudu.[10]

Keen was a member of the Indian Political Service during the Second World War, being assistant-director of the Intelligence Bureau at Quetta. In May 1943, he was appointed to be His Majesty's vice-consul at Bushehr.[11] He was made an MBE in the 1944 New Year Honours.[12] After the end of the war, he was promoted to major in December 1949,[13] having retired from the British Indian Army following Indian Independence. He was later made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1968 New Year Honours for his post-war work with the Foreign Office.[14] Keen later retired to Hampshire, where he died in March 1983. He was married to Anna Cunitia Gordon-Smith of Stansted Park, with the couple marrying at St James' Church in Emsworth in January 1958.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Married at Emsworth". Hampshire Telegraph. Portsmouth. 31 January 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 16 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ Drephal, Maximilian (2019). Afghanistan and the Coloniality of Diplomacy: The British Legation in Kabul, 1922–1948. London: Springer International. pp. 136–7. ISBN 9783030239602.
  3. ^ "No. 33685". The London Gazette. 30 January 1931. p. 676.
  4. ^ "No. 34019". The London Gazette. 30 January 1934. p. 680.
  5. ^ "No. 34228". The London Gazette. 6 December 1935. p. 7756.
  6. ^ "No. 34217". The London Gazette. 8 November 1935. p. 7048.
  7. ^ "No. 34373". The London Gazette. 19 February 1937. p. 1177.
  8. ^ "No. 34610". The London Gazette. 24 March 1939. p. 2013.
  9. ^ "First-Class Matches played by Patrick Keen". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Europeans v Indians, Madras Presidency Match 1939/40". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  11. ^ "No. 36407". The London Gazette. 3 March 1944. p. 1065.
  12. ^ "No. 36309". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1943. p. 24.
  13. ^ "No. 38784". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 December 1949. p. 5951.
  14. ^ "No. 44484". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1967. p. 4.
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