Keith Bradshaw was born in Hobart, Tasmania on 2 October 1963. He is an Australian cricketer, accountant and administrator.
He was a right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm medium bowler who played in 25 first-class and 9 List A limited-over matches for Tasmania between 1984/85 and 1987/88. In his fifth match he scored 121 (his top score) against Queensland. He scored over 1,000 first-class runs at an average of almost 30. He also deputised for the State captain, David Boon, while he was absent on international duty.
In his early 20s he came to England to play professional cricket. In 1985 he played for Greenmount Cricket Club in Lancashire and in 1986 he received an Esso scholarship to play for Sussex C.C.C. He played there at Second X1 and Under-25 level. While with Sussex he also played for Sidley Cricket Club
He returned to the University of Tasmania to complete his studies in 1988, graduating in Commerce, and he then forged a successful business career with Price Waterhouse and Deloitte, rising to being a partner.
He was appointed as the Secretary & Chief Executive by the M.C.C. on 30 January 2006 succeeding the retiring Roger Knight (who spoke to C.C.S. in both 1994/95 and 2004/05) in October 2006. On his appointment he said “I am delighted and extremely honoured to have been selected as the new Secretary & Chief Executive. I have long regarded M.C.C. as the finest, most active and most respected cricket club in the world. I am determined to play my part in maintaining its values, upholding its traditions and continuing to improve Lord’s – which is not only M.C.C.s home but the spiritual home of world cricket”. He is credited with modernising the M.C.C. during his time at Lord’s.
As Chief Executive of the M.C.C. he had a place on the administrative board of the E.C.B. It has been suggested that he was influential in the removal from office of England coach Duncan Fletcher in April 2007. Recently, he stood down from the ECB, citing a conflict of interests – “I do feel I have a conflict of interests given the M.C.C’s role in the world game and its need to be an independent voice”.
Sadly, in October 2008 he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of cancer in the bones. Shortly afterwards he underwent a programme of tablet-based chemotherapy for four months, followed by a stem-cell transplant. He didn’t want to be, in his words, “a lame duck chief executive” so he chose to work until the Friday before he went to hospital. He said “The cancer is not curable, but they can treat it. I’m told that it could come back in 2 months or 20 years, but they have done blood tests and all the indications suggest that it is in remission”.
Geoff Boycott, as a fellow cancer survivor, was a well-wisher and recommended that Bradshaw change his diet – removing all the sugar and dairy products – and call in a feng shui expert to re-organise his house. Bradshaw says that “I’m just grateful that I can get back to work, and even start to think about playing sport again. I have a new bat in the garage, and I can’t wait to start using it”.