page revision date :
Luke loves his cricket
at Burton
Every cricket club needs its talented young players and at Burton one of their promising teenagers is 16 year old Luke Hayman, who is just 16 years of age but has already joined his father, Richard Hayman, in the first team at Oatfield Park.
Luke is an all-rounder who bats well, bowls a good line and fields really well, having been coached in the county set-up for a number of years and clearly benefitting from that process.
He demonstrated his bowling ability in a recent county match against a very strong West Glamorgan outfit at Cresselly when he claimed a hat-trick that included three very strong batsmen.
Family connection
But he started out by hitting and throwing a ball with Richard in the back garden of their farm near Rosemarket, with younger brother Toby (now 12 and also in the county team for his age group) and mum Jo, who has good ball skills gained when she played hockey for Milford Haven Ladies as a forward. The family is completed by grandparents John and Sheila Hayman, two other staunch supporters of Burton Cricket Club.
Luke was recently in the Burton team when dad scored 117 runs against Haverfordwest 2nds but didn’t get a chance to bat himself, although he has clocked up a few runs and has a best bowling performance this season of 3 for 25 against Cresselly 2nds to show his genuine potential.
Early start and regular practice
He started out with Burton as an eight year old in the under 10s team and was soon in the county team coached by Caryl Brace (Carew) and then with the under 14s upwards under the watchful eye of Nigel Arthur (Hundleton) and Mike Davies (Johnston). His best score last season was attained on the county tour of Coventry where he scored 47 runs, and also grabbed 4 for 25 for Pembrokeshire against Carmarthenshire. At club level his best bowling performance was a 5 for 10 haul with the under 15s team.
One of the nice things to report is the fact that Luke is ever-ready to practice and as well as clocking up an average of three games a week for the club’s senior and junior teams, plus county, he uses the converted shed on the farm which has a neatly erected net facility where he is often joined by Joseph Kiff (Llangwm) and Ashley Sutton (Neyland). They used to use a bowling machine loaned by Steve Jones but this season have had to rely on their own bowling prowess as well as batting skills!
Progress through 3rd and 2nd XIs
He played in the second team skippered by Steve Jones last season and prior to that played as one of a number of juniors in the third XI which was run by Brian Griffiths, old enough to be their grandfather but still playing with the enthusiasm of a player half his age.
“I learned a lot from Brian and Steve,” says young Luke, “and dad has been brilliant in helping me practice as well.”
In his third team days he helped Brian Griff and Co gain promotion from divisions six and five in successive seasons and last campaign played for the seconds where he achieved a highest score of 37 and claimed 4 for 17 in an Alec Colley Cup match.
Sporting all-rounder
Like a number of good all-rounders in cricket, Luke also enjoys other sports and plays rugby throughout the winter as a scrum half at Tasker Milward School and at Llangwm under 16s, where the team is coached by Alan Williams. The school side did well to reach the last four of the Pembrokeshire Schools’ competition for their age group and Luke scored two tries, whilst Llangwm juniors won five or six games as proof of the strides they have made, despite the obvious difficulties of fielding a strong squad from such a small village.
He also plays golf at Rosemarket when he can fit a game in around cricket, but tries to play once a week so that he can reduce his handicap, which has already dropped by ten shots to 26. Dad also plays off a lower handicap but Luke is convinced that he would still be the winner if they played against each other!
Future ambitions
Ask Luke about ambitions and he would be quick to answer:
“I just want to carry on playing for Burton and doing well for them, as well as keeping playing for Pembrokeshire because I like meeting up with the lads from other clubs and playing against good players from other parts of Wales. I’d love to play in an Ormond Youth Cup Final with the club and a Harrison-Allen Final when I’m older.”
Luke Hayman is a very modest young fellow who is a credit to his family and Burton Cricket Club – and long may he continue to progress, and hopefully achieve his aims – and we at pembrokeshiresport.co.uk will watch his development with interest!
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