Sam scores runs for Hook and Wales

Sam Rossiter is a Welsh international ladies’ cricketer for the past six years and is a key player with Hook Ladies’ team – but she is also one of the few female players who regularly turns out for a men’s team as she bats high up for Hook Seconds in Division Four of the Antur Insurance Pembrokeshire League.
She joined her partner Nigel Badham in one unbroken stand of 100 this season as they won by nine wickets, with Sam scoring 38 not out alongside Nigel’s 60 not out against Pembroke 2nds. The team is captained by David Petrie and they gained promotion from divisions six and five over the past two seasons before finding it a little harder this campaign – but Sam enjoys the competitive edge that a higher division brings to her play.

Ladies’ Cup Final Star

She also starred in this season’s Ladies Cup Final, held at Carew and watched by a large following from both Hook and Neyland before Hook Ladies squeezed through to the silverware as Sam was awarded the Woman of the Match trophy because she not only scored 31 and 68 not out but also took 4 for 19 in Neyland’s second innings. It was a match-winning performance all right but it is typical of Sam that she wanted to focus on the team result, rather than her individual contribution, when we spoke to her after the match.

Representative debut

Sam first started out in representative cricket when Pembrokeshire Ladies played their first-ever match against a Carmarthenshire team at Pontarddulais Cricket Club where Nicky Evans was team manager, Stan Richards and Bill Carne accompanied the team as county club president and chairman respectively, with Bill umpiring that first game. Kath Huxley, Jackie Williams, Jo Kerrison and Julie Garlick were players for Pembrokeshire whilst Carmarthenshire were led by Ann Ellis, who had played at a higher level for many years in England.
The full Welsh team was established in 2003 and Sam has been a regular ever since, with plenty of fixtures now since Wales play in Division Four of the English Counties’ set-up and play the likes of Hertfordshire, Durham, Northamptonshire, Norfolk and Cornwall. It means a huge commitment because there is inevitably a great deal of travel but Sam still enjoys playing and has been part of the team which lost narrowly to Durham but beat Norfolk and Hertfordshire.

Close to Welsh ‘ton’

Wales also play an annual fixture against the MCC in Cardiff and last year Sam top-scored with a boundary-strewn 97 not out where she was only prevented from reaching the coveted three figures for her country by the fact that Wales reached their target for victory and she was left stranded just three runs away from a century!
She has also managed 91 on another occasion against Devon at Instowe but belted a tempting full toss straight to square leg when it should have flow over the boundary. But she has scored a 100 for Hook Ladies against old rivals Neyland a few seasons ago, which was good going because it was a 20-overs a side cup match so she had to engage in some big hitting late on.

Silverware success

Hook Ladies have been involved since the formation of a Ladies League some 17 years ago, with Myfanwy Fraser as their best player alongside Mandy Rees. They didn’t do brilliantly to start but over more recent years have been joined by quality Welsh players like Kath Huxley (Stackpole), Jo Kerrison (Carew) and Angharad James (Whitland). Sam has captained Hook for the last 13 seasons and they won the Cup Final two seasons ago against Neyland – and last year was by far the best as they celebrated the double of league and cup, beating Neyland in the final as a double bonus.

Early start

It all seems a long way from the start of Sam’s cricketing career at Haverfordwest Cricket Club, where her father George had been captain as long ago as 1963 and used to take Sam up to watch The Town play on The Racecourse after he had retired from the game. Sam ended up playing with other nippers there and took to it like a duck to water despite all the others looking to bat or bowl being boys. She was only eight years old then and later began to play for Haverfordwest’s junior teams throughout the age ranges, as well as in school alongside quality players like Ross Martin (now at Hook) , George Thomas (who used to play at Llangwm) and Iain Williams (formerly with Haverfordwest).

Cricket her main sporting love

Sam also played hockey and netball in school but cricket was her first sporting love and she started out in senior cricket by playing for Haverfordwest’s fourth team under the captaincy of Trevor Tucker, and with Keith Thompson also involved. But there was no ladies’ cricket at Haverfordwest in those days and when Sam saw that Hook were about to form a women’s team she phoned up to ask about getting involved, was asked to come down for a game – and she has been there ever since.
Sam is now 34 years of age but says that she enjoys playing every bit as much as when she started out, and in some ways even more. She is understandably proud of her Welsh shirt and sweater and hopes to have a couple of years yet in the national set-up. She clearly enjoys playing for both Hook Ladies and the men’s team at the club - and plays a strong role with both so that the name of Sam Rossiter is synonymous with cricket in the village of Hook!