Former Australian Test spin bowler Steve O'Keefe will finish his career at Hawkesbury in the NSW Premier Cricket competition.
O'Keefe, who celebrates his 39th birthday during the upcoming summer, played nine Tests between 2014 and 2017 for Australia, to go with 7 T20 internationals between 2010 and 2011.
The long-time New South Wales and Sydney Sixers representative played 88 first class games, 53 List A games and 120 T20s during his career, with the majoirty of those in the shortest format coming for the Sydney Sixers, who he continues to play with.
Since his 2020 Sheffield Shield retirement, O'Keefe has been a regular for the Manly Cricket Club in the Premier Cricket competition, with the Waratahs becoming the competition's strongest side.
Manly took out the club championship by an unprecedented margin, and while the Northern Beaches based side fell short in the finals series, O'Keefe's impact on the club - who hosted finals in all five grades with top three finishes - was not lost in a club statement.
"Stephen O'Keefe has informed the club that he will return to his junior club Hawkesbury for the upcoming 2023/24 season," the club wrote.
"The man known as ‘SOK' has been an extremely valuable member of our club since his arrival in 2009/10. His influence on our senior playing group has been immense, especially over the last few seasons.
"He has helped game day warm up of our lower grade teams at Grahams Reserve when injured, contributed to training and coaching, and always been a willing helper.
"He will be sorely missed."
The club revealed they backed the move to Hawkesbury, and that it was made for the right reasons - O'Keefe has not claimed a cent off Manly during his time with the club.
The Hawks, who have also signed former Australian under-19 captain Greg Hunt as their coach for 2023-24, have been through difficult situations in the last two years with floods impacting their home grounds at Bensons Lane on more than one occasion.
"As a cricket loving club, we applaud the move," Manly wrote in their statement on O'Keefe.
"There's no denying that the Hawks have had their on and off field challenges over the last few years. Their entire playing grounds and facilities being metres under water, not once but twice, was upsetting to see.
"Now SOK wants to return to his junior club and help.
"While we don't know all the details, what we can tell you is that SOK has always put himself last. In-fact he has taken no money over the years from us, preferring to give anything on offer to others.
"So we are confident that this move is one of love. In what will probably be his last year of playing some cricket, a local junior done good returns to his roots. There's nothing but respect there.
"Across 88 matches, SOK took 155 wickets for the Waratahs at an average of 17.35. He took a career best of 9/54 against Campbelltown in 2016/17.
"He hit 1,332 runs at 28.95 with a top score of 158 in 2009/10. He hit 2 centures and 6 half centuries."
The 2023-24 premier cricket season is set to get underway on September 23.
