The Beamer

The scorer took great delight in colouring this in as it was none other than Murray's wife, Nicola. ‘No wise man ever wished to be younger’, said the Author of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift. It’s not for me to dispute a literary giant such as Swift but he’d have reason to dispute his own views had he seen the team Lamphey put out at the weekend against Pembroke Dock. A couple of players apart, the majority of the team resembled the cast of Dad’s Army and nowhere was this highlighted more than when the once mighty Stags took the field against their youthful opponents. There are a couple of wise men at Lamphey and on Saturday, we all wished we could go back in time. As any ageing player will tell you, it’s not your ability that goes first, it’s your reaction times and agility and when trying to defend a total on the motorway that Pembroke Dock has become, a team with the dexterity and manoeuvrability of a rhinoceros will always struggle and struggle we did as Lu...

Matthew Lewis: One wicket and he was away Pic: www.pembrokeshiresport.co.uk You need a bit of luck to get on in the world. Hard work certainly pays but ask any successful person how they reached the top and you’re pretty much guaranteed that luck has played its part. Consider Matthew Lewis then. On a day that saw the all-rounders of the county come to the fore, this unassuming left arm swing bowler from Cresselly seconds was finding life pretty difficult at Whitland seconds with his first few overs going no-where.  He was due to come off after four overs to be replaced by Lyn Richards, an all-rounder of veteran status these days but no less effective as players younger than him. Richards began to warm up eager to come on the over after next to try and snare a few of the Borderers’ batsmen when all of a sudden, Lewis took a wicket with the final ball of what was going to be his last over and was given another over as a reward. He didn’t look back as the wickets soon...

Virender Sehwag - a bit like Steve Mills Jnr! Of the ten centuries that were scored on the opening weekend of the cricket season, two stood out for me scored by players at the opposite ends of their playing careers. Nic Scourfield has been churning out the runs for Carew in his unflustered style for close on three decades now but his enthusiasm and class still manages to shine through as his unbeaten 100 not out against Whitland proves. Never one to seem overawed by bowling no matter how savage it may be, Scourfield keeps his wicket intact as though it was his most treasured possession and picks off the singles amid the odd flurry of boundaries. He is an expert at building an innings. At the other end of the spectrum stands Johnston’s Steve Mills Jnr, half Scourfield’s age and poles apart in terms of his attitude to batting. While Scourfield could be classed as a product of the 1980’s coaching philosophy of risk aversion, Mills is definitely a modern day apprentice...

So the season is upon us 116 days or 2784 hours after the fireworks went off to see the new year in. In typical fashion, the weather is turning miserable again after a period of being spoilt. A bit of rain is forecast to come from the west before a plume of cold artic air blasts its way down from the north rendering us all freezing cold out in the field wondering why we’re all bothering to put ourselves through such misery. As normal the usual merry-go-round of rumours has circulated around the shire. It’s one of the beauties of living in a place like Pembrokeshire. Despite the advances in social media and other communication platforms, talk of player movement in cricket spreads faster than any type of electronic messaging service and none more so can these rumours be heard than at the Quay, or The Cresselly Arms, to use its proper title. You can guarantee that should you need a cricket fix in the winter you can always find it in the Shire’s most picturesque pub and if the f...

It adorns the wall at Haverfordwest Cricket Club framed for posterity enabling generations to come to marvel at its brilliance. For those at the game it was a blink and you’ll miss it affair all over in a trice as a future test player was caught by a keeper at the height of his game proving, if any were needed of how good he is. Debate will always range as to whether it is the finest catch ever seen in a Harrison-Allen final but one thing is for sure, it’s the best photograph taken at the event and most probably the best ever taken at a local cricket ground. Even now, 17 years later and it still manages to beguile. The man behind the lens was Martin Cavaney . “I’d always arrive at the final for the second innings so I could take some action shots and then take pictures at the presentation ceremony and this was no exception. “I’d stand in one spot with my back to then sun as this stops reflections and offers better light. You can see a spectator shading his eyes...

Dave Lovell - The best of the best? He arrived in Birmingham the other day, not so much fresh faced but flustered after a dramatic flight involving a sick child, lost baggage and serious delays. It would have been bearable had the flight been a short one from Spain but after travelling all the way from Perth, Western Australia, you could be forgiven for arriving on British soil slightly annoyed before making your way down to Lamphey to prepare for the forthcoming cricket season. He may well be in his forties now but Dave Lovell is still good enough to dominate every attack in division one let alone division three as he seeks to help the Stags out from what seems like a terminal decline. If you’re a bowler in Pembrokeshire beware, the prodigal son is back. Lovell first arrived in the county back in 1996 although I’d inadvertently stumbled across him some four years earlier when I was called to field as 12 th man for Glamorgan seconds in a match between the Wels...

Artists impression of approach to new facility - credit: Acanthus This year’s County AGM was timid affair compared to years gone by. There was little to stir the emotions in terms of changes to the league rule, very few rumours of player movements to set tongues wagging and no interesting bits and bobs popping up under the any other business section at the end, until it was revealed that Neyland have asked the Pembroke County Cricket Club for £35,000. This request came to light when County Chairman Tony Scourfield stood up to gauge members’ opinion of an ambitious plan for the White Fern club to build a state of the art indoor facility on the grounds of the Athletic Club as it undergoes a major facelift. Since the closure of the Blackbridge indoor facility over ten years ago, Pembrokeshire’s indoor practice facilities for the sport are poor. Officially there is the Haverfordwest indoor tennis and cricket centre on the site of Tasker Milward school but just because the ...