page revision date: 28th August 2008

Nigel makes it happen for Fishguard cricket

Nigel Morgan is the current captain of Fishguard and Goodwick Cricket Club and has played there since 2003, having previously been a stalwart at neighbouring Dinas Cricket Club for over 20 years before it became defunct.
He not only leads Fishguard on the pitch but has been heavily involved in coaching before he took over the reins of looking after the pitch when Gareth Evans sadly had to step down through ill health. It was a similar story previously at Dinas and Nigel is one of those players who had the ability to try his luck at a higher level with a bigger club but decided to keep playing for his local clubs.

Born and bred in Fishguard, Nigel played a bit of cricket in school but then didn’t pick up a bat again until he was 20, and then only purely by chance when he was playing pool with friends in the Glen Hotel, Dinas, where the local cricketers happened to be having their annual dinner. He mentioned that he enjoyed the game, was roped in for the next season – and finished up as their top scorer and took his share of the wickets too!

Debut at Dinas

He played his first game at the same time as Gareth Evans started and was lucky to be involved in Dinas with some great characters like Gareth’s sons Huw and Alun, plus Wayne Harries and his sons Andrew and Adrian Harries, Wyn Jones and Alun Page, plus Bernie Davies as a great club man off the pitch. Nigel scored 600 runs in that eventful first campaign and has been playing well in the area ever since. He was part of the Dinas team which moved through the divisions of Pembrokeshire Cricket but their charge gradually ran out of steam as the Evans and Harries boys left and towards the end he was not only captaining Dinas but doing a lot of the work on the pitch as well.

Runs galore
Nigel is a left handed batsmen who has scored two centuries in his career, along with a number of 80s and 90s when he has either run out of partners or overs. His top score was 142 against Pembroke Dock at Dinas where he was stumped off a wide – probably because by then he was too tired to get back into his crease as he ventured another big hit!
He also reached three figures against Stackpole but his batting wasn’t always as successful because he skippered Dinas at the time when Vasbert Drakes, who went on to play as a fast bowler for the West Indies, had just started out with Lamphey in the lower divisions and was making a name for himself. In his pre-match talk to his team Nigel spoke about being positive and not getting frazzled and went out to show them how to do it, only to receive a beauty of a Yorker for his first delivery which smashed into his ankle and he was soon off to hospital because he was unable to walk with the pain! The injury put him out of action for a few weeks and the only consolation was the fact that during his stay in casualty he was able to watch the FA Cup Final on television!

Pacy bowler

He joined Fishguard when Nigel Delaney was captain and since then he has become more and more involved, leading the team and claiming his best bowling figures last season with his left arm pace bowling as he grabbed 6 for 29 against Stackpole. He also just missed out on a first-ever hat-trick against Hook as he took three wickets in four balls, all adjudged lbw as he swung the ball really well – and having another lbw appeal turned down from the third ball he bowled in a hectic over.

Junior coach

Nigel has assisted Russell Jones and Gary Strawbridge in coaching at the club during his time as captain and was delighted last season when the club’s under 15s won their age category in local cricket with talented young players like son Matthew, Sam Kurtz and Rhys Dalling, with Jonathan Strawbridge as another talented young player making a name for himself.
To see them come through gives Nigel a great deal of satisfaction because he hopes they will continue to keep Fishguard’s flag proudly flying in Pembrokeshire. He also hopes that they have as much pleasure out of the game as he has had and will continue to play for as long as he can do so and perform well.

Now in his mid-40s, he is still rightly regarded as one of the better all-rounders in Division Two cricket and held in high esteem for his competitive, but always friendly approach. The name of Nigel Morgan is synonymous with that sort of approach and long may he continue to serve Fishguard Cricket so well!