A tribute to greatness

A newspaper cutting on John Cole helping Cresselly win the Bowl

It reads like a who’s who of local cricketers with some of the finest players to grace our grounds having their names emblazoned on it.
They say their is no I in team, but no matter who wins this year’s Harrison-Allen, all 22 players on the pitch will be hoping they are the star of the show; they will be wanting to lift the John Cole trophy.
They will want to be named Man of the Match.
Brilliant batting and brilliant bowling together with the odd brilliant catch all helps in being named as the trophy’s custodian for the next 12 months but who was the man who had a trophy named after him and why was a trophy named in his honour in the first place?

John Cole was a Cresselly legend.

Born and bred in the hamlet of Pisgah just a stone’s throw away from the Cresselly cricket ground it was inevitable he would gravitate towards the summer game.
A butcher by trade, he was born in the same room that his son Glyn was born in too. Glyn still lives there and sleeps in the very same room to this day.
There’s a nostalgic feel when you drive through Pisgah on the way down to Cresswell Quay, it feels like a step back in time with no new developments overshadowing the traditional Pembrokeshire cottages that line the country road.


John Cole pictured with the Bowl
That’s not to say the people that live there live in the past. John Cole didn’t anyway, he had a vision for his beloved Cresselly Cricket Club and he was responsible for getting it done.
“When we were kids,” said Glyn, “We’d spend every day up the field playing cricket. There’d be me, Selwyn (Cole, Glyn’s cousin) the Chiffy’s and a few others but there was no running water there for us and there certainly wasn’t a clubhouse and the pitch wasn’t as flat as it is now.
“My father was captain of the club for 26 consecutive years and was responsible for raising funds to have the field levelled. That was in 1963 and he raised £400, which is how much it cost to have the work done.
“He was also instrumental in getting the clubhouse built too.
“He was Chairman, captain, groundsman, he was the Mr Cresselly of the time and a great character too.
“He lived and breathed the game of cricket. If you speak to any of the older people they’d be able to tell you more no doubt. He was Mr Cricket.”
Unlike Glyn and grandson Simon, John was a right handed batsman who would bat in glasses, not that wearing specs held him back.
He once scored 99 for Pembrokeshire in a county game having gone into tea unbeaten ready to raise his bat on resuming his innings, yet he was promptly dismissed on his return to the crease one short of a memorable milestone!
Sometimes, when it rained, he’d take his glasses off and ask mid-on to give them  a wipe. They did too given the respect they had for him as he’d always fraternise with the opposition as well as his own team.
He was captain when Cresselly first won the Harrison-Allen in 1960 and given there was no clubhouse at the ground they all went down the Quay to celebrate.

When the pub shut tap, they all went back to his house in Pisgah to carry on the party and that included the opposition!
“They were there till about five in the morning,” added Glyn. “It ended up being a regular thing if we were in the final.
“My mother would spend the day making sandwiches to feed them.
“I was seven when they first won the bowl, and I remember them all drinking out of it. I may have had a sip or two as well!
John played in five finals, being captain in four and given the lack of storage for the trophies they won, they all found their way back to the Cole household for safe keeping.
“The only place to put them was on our piano. It was full of trophies!”
John passed away in 1980 and a decision was made to remember him by donating a man of the match trophy in his honour and Glyn admits it’s an emotional moment when the trophy is handed over.
“It is emotional but it’s a proud moment too. I’m not sure who made the decision to name a trophy after him but I’m glad we did. It’s a trophy players want to win.”
Glyn should know, he won it once as did Simon a generation later, the only father and son duo to do so and as anyone who has played in a final can attest, winning it is no easy matter.
It takes character to shine on the biggest stage in order to win a trophy named after a great character of our game.
Whose name will be on it this year?

A  great trophy to win. Simon Cole after being named man of the match.



Team of the week


  1. Daniel Sutton (Johnston) 111 v Whitland
  2. Jonathan Williams (Hundleton) 106 not out and 3-29 v Narberth 2nds
  3. Will Spreadbury (Whitland) 105 not out v Johnston
  4. Geraint Rees (Neyland 2nds) 104 not out and 2-2 v Johnston 2nds
  5. Paul Fox (Hundleton) 92 v Narberth 2nds
  6. Jack Bowen (Whitland 2nds) 89 v Stackpole
  7. Daniel Cherry (Cresselly) 84 v Neyland
  8. Matthew Kiff (LLangwm) 6-47
  9. Chris Parker (Saundersfoot 2nds) 6-3 v Kilgetty 2nds
  10. Steve Jones (Burton 2nds) 6-8 v Pembroke 2nds 
  11. Jordan Howell (Narberth) 5-6 v Llangwm
Notable mentions
Steve Lewis (Lawrenny) 5-2 v Pembroke
Brennan Martin (Hook) 5-13 v Pembroke Dock
County Team named
The County side to face MCC @ Whitland CC on Wednesday August 2nd with a 11.30am start 50 over match is:
Sean Hannon(C),Patrick Bellerby, Henry Durant -  Neyland
Simon Holiday - Haverfordwest
Daniel Sutton - Johnston
Iwan Izzard, Dan James - Cresselly
Ceri Brace, Tom Davies - Carew
Brad McDermott-Jenkins - Lawrenny
Iestyn Scourfield - Whitland
Umpires: Dai Morris and Arthur Brady


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