Joseph joins the Llangwm first team in style

The youngest member of the Llangwm Cricket Club first XI this season has undoubtedly been Joseph Kiff, who has followed his father Simon into playing at Pill Parks and is already making a name for himself as a very stylish opening bat who has all the strokes and now needs to build on his experience to make an even bigger impact. 
Joseph started playing cricket at Llangwm Cricket Club from an early age and then made the under 10’s team at county level. That year he was put forward to Welsh trials and got to the final stage, but didn’t make the cut in to the final team. He was successful the following season, however and made the cut as he broke into the Welsh Team at Under 11’s, but didn’t get the chance to really show them what he could do as they didn’t play him often under the coaching duo of Jeremy Cartwright and also John Steele.

Representative honours

Before there was a regional team in Pembrokeshire, Joseph played his representative cricket for West Wales, along with Ashley Sutton, Luke Hayman, Andrew Salter and Ceri Brace He went on several tours down to Taunton and used to open the bowling, which he says won’t happen these days! The Dyfed team was coached by John Prickett, whom Joseph felt was an excellent coach.
He has also played for Pembrokeshire all the way from Under 10’s to Under 16’s, and his highest score for the county was 51 not out against Cardiff and the Vale in Cowbridge.
He has had many coaches for the county along the way, like Caryl Brace (Carew) and also Nigel Arthur (Hundleton), Mike Davies (Johnston), all of whom did a good job for Joseph and Co.

Senior cricket

He first played in the Llangwm 3rds team when he was just 13, when Jeremy Brock picked him to play on the old rugby field in Llangwm, and made my way to the second team that next year after beginning to catch the eye with his batting performances as a classy left handed bat.
This year he started in the 2nds team and scored 34 in the first game against Haverfordwest 3rds in Division Four before moving up for his first-ever game in the first team and the First Division. His debut was against Neyland and he scored 21 before top-scoring for the firsts with 35 against Narberth. Will Beresford has helped him a great deal in opening in the first division, with some good partnerships early in the season. Joseph also scored 38 in the local derby against Hook and a repeat score of 21 against Neyland in the second half of the season, as well as 41 in the Ormond Youth Cup where they still lost away to Llechryd.

Rugby half back

Joseph also plays rugby, for Llangwm of course, and started playing for the Wasps as a nipper after attending training sessions when he was almost too young to play. He played for Pembrokeshire at  under 12 and 13 levels, and is currently playing at scrum half  in the Llangwm youth team which is coached by his uncle, Jeremy Brock, whom he gets along with brilliantly and the whole team has good fun despite being a lot younger than some opposing sides and not winning as many as they lose – but only at the moment because they are great triers!
He also plays first team rugby for Tasker Milward School, playing at fly half, and went to the Rosslyn Park 7’s, winning one game out of four games in the group stages but had tremendous fun on the tour, with Andrew Barlow. They played some really top sides and certainly learned a great deal from some of their defeats.

 

Johnston Footballer

Joseph has also played football for two years with the Johnston Tigers, with Richard Scriven helping along the way to improve his skills, which he laughingly says aren’t that brilliant! But he still managed to start every game that he played in and made it to the cup final for them where he also scored a goal in the final against Tenby, who then went on to beat them 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out.

Milford Golfer

He goes golfing most weeks with Luke Hayman, who plays cricket for Burton, and recently played in the Llangwm Golf Day at Milford Haven golf course and it tipped down all day when they were on the course. He doesn’t yet have a handicap yet, but he has a membership at Milford Haven Golf Club and will try and get out on the course more, once his exams are over and he has a little more time! 

Family matters

That he is a good all-round sportsman should come as no surprise because he hails from a sporting family where mum Liz provides lots of support, brother Matthew plays rugby for Llangwm, as did dad Simon and uncle Jonathan, and late grandfather Tony, rightly regarded as one of the best rugby players in the county when he was playing for Llangwm and the county. Tony and Simon were also excellent cricketers who captained the club so it is very much a case of following in the family footsteps for young Joseph.

Back on the cricket front

Back on the cricket front, one of his best memories so far in cricket is playing for Llangwm in the Ormond Youth Cup Final, against a strong and experienced Whitland team, which they lost, but he scored a 30, which was more than satisfying against some very good bowling.
His best score for Llangwm so far is 76 for the seconds and his best bowling figures, when he bowled, was for county against Mid-Glamorgan, taking four wickets. Ask Joseph about ambitions in cricket and he would quickly say it is to play at the highest level of which he is capable, and simply to enjoy it at the same time.

There is no doubt that it requires a level head on young shoulders to play as an opening bat in first division cricket in your mid-teens and Joseph has just that attribute in his make-up, as well as a dry sense of humour and determination to do well. He has what it takes to become a very good cricketer and PembrokeshireSport.co.uk is confident that we will hear a great deal more about Joseph Kiff’s batting in the years to come!