Albert Victor Ernest Manley Keast (2 July 1895 – 20 April 1969) was a New Zealand sportsman and journalist. He played four first-class cricket matches for Otago between the 1917–18 and 1922–23 seasons as well as playing Hawke Cup cricket for Southland.
Born at Dunedin in 1895, Albie Keast was the son of Albert E. A. Keast and his wife Laura Ann. He had two sisters.Deaths, Otago Daily Times, issue 23476, 14 April 1938, p. 10. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 31 May 2023.) He played club cricket for Grange and Albion Cricket Clubs,Cricket, Otago Daily Times, issue 18145, 17 January 1921, p. 7. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 31 May 2023.)Cricket, Evening Star, issue 19387, 22 October 1926, p. 13. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 31 May 2023.)Albion Cricket Club, Otago Daily Times, issue 17120, 27 September 1917, p. 8. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 31 May 2023.) and was described as "well known in local cricket circles" in 1924Personal, Evening Star, issue 18750, 27 September 1924, p. 10. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 31 May 2023.) and "an important personage in Southland cricket" in 1926.Cricket: Bright prospects for season, Evening Star, issue 19387, 22 October 1926, p. 13. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 31 May 2023.)
Keast made his first-class debut for Otago in a December 1917 match against Canterbury at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. He recorded a pair on debut but was retained in the side for the next representative match, the annual fixture against Southland, a match that had first-class status at the time. He played once the following season, again against Southland, and was recalled to the side for a final time in January 1923, playing in Otago's Plunket Shield side. In total he scored only 23 runs with a highest first-class score of seven.Albert Keast, CricketArchive. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
Professionally Keast worked initially in the commercial department of the Otago Daily Times.Personal, Otago Daily Times, issue 19288, 27 September 1924, p. 10. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 31 May 2023.) He moved to Christchurch in 1924 to work for Whitcombe and Tombs in the city, before moving to Invercargill in 1926, taking up a position as a journalist with the Southland Times.Obituary: Mr AVEM Keast, The Press, volume CIX, issue 31968, 21 April 1969, p. 14. Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 31 May 2023.) He retained an involvement in cricket as a player and administrator, and played for Southland against the touring Australians in February 1928 and in the team's Hawke Cup side against Manawatu in February 1930.
As a journalist, Keast enjoyed a "national reputation" with an "encyclopaedic knowledge" of sport. He was the sports diarist and rugby union correspondent at the Southland Times writing under the pen name "Onlooker". He played lawn bowls to a high level, representing Southland, and was involved is sports administration, including acting as the manager of a New Zealand bowls side visiting Adelaide in 1951.
Keast died after a long illness at Christchurch in 1969. He was aged 73.McCarron, Tony (2010). New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 75. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
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