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Born in Johannesburg and son of former South Africa coach, Ray Jennings, Keaton has made a mark playing for England, with whom he holds British citizenship, on account of his mother. Long marked as one for the future, Jennings decided against pursuing his career in South Africa, despite having led the Under-19 team on an England tour in 2011. With his roots in Sunderland, Keaton played his last first-class match for Gauteng province in 2012, before stepping on to the flight to Durham. Keaton served the mandatory four-year period before becoming eligible to represent England at the international level on April 5th, 2016. In the midst, he continued to rack up impressive scores for Durham - the best being in 2016, when he scored 1,548 runs at an average of 64.5, the highest run-maker in the first division. His solid performance earned him a spot in England Lions squad for their tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Over in India, England found things going tough in 2016 and needed immediate replacements from their Lions squad - which also meant a Test debut for Keaton, one of those called-up. Making his debut at the famed Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, Keaton produced a stunning 112, becoming the 101st batsman to score a century on debut. His knock was also the highest by any Test opener against India in their debut innings. Jennings' first tour with the national team finished with yet another half century in Chennai. But then only 127 runs from 8 innings against the touring South Africans in 2017 meant Keaton was given the axe from the Test team. He also scored a couple of ducks to make the case worse for himself. Keaton was the 11th opener to have batted alongside Cook at the opener's slot and now he had lost his place to Mark Stoneman.
