page revision date : 30th November 2009
Nick has cricket kit and will travel anywhere
Nick Evans might well lay claim to being the oldest cricketer in Pembrokeshire since he is a sprightly 68 years of age but it is very much a case of ‘Have cricket kit will travel’ for Nick because he not only plays for Narberth Seconds but is also a regular with the Welsh Over 60s’ team and travels all over the world playing a game he still loves after over 50 years of participation.
Much travelled man
In his time in the game he has visited, and played cricket in, West Indies, South Africa, Australia, Malta, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Singapore, Hong Kong, Grenada, St Vincent, Seattle (USA) and Canada, to name just some of them. He has made several of these trips with veteran English County teams, like when he recently toured to Sri Lanka with Shropshire Over 50s and they won four out of five matches despite the intense heat. He has also been to South Africa with Worcestershire and played seven games in superb settings whilst also having time to see something of a beautiful country. Whilst there he met a player from Suffolk and so he also went on tour with them on another occasion!
At the time of writing, Nick was organising another trip to the West Indies as team manager with the Welsh Overs and his team will play five matches and a 20/20 game under lights, which is the only one that Nick will take part because it will be a new cricketing experience for him. He recently had to visit the West Indian High Commission in London to deal with arrangements and was chatting to a cricketer from Yorkshire who was on a similar mission – and watched somewhat in amazement as Nick spoke to Sir Garfield Sobers, plus others from Suffolk, Worcestershire and Shropshire. Who knows? He might even have a call to tour with Yorkshire Veterans next!
Cracking over 60s win against England
The Welsh Over 60s recently took on their counterparts from England in Worcestershire and won, with England scoring 217 for 9 and Wales responding with 218 for 6 as they won from the penultimate ball of the match. Peter Hall, another Pembrokeshire character in the side, scored 18 and Nick claimed two wickets which might have ended up as five but for dropped catches. Next year the Over 60s intend entering the National Competition where games are played on a zoned basis and then semis and a final. He is still secretary, after 14 years, of the Welsh Over 50s, for whom he played a long time but says that he now prefers the more ‘relaxed’ atmosphere of the senior side, where there are characters galore and still an eagerness to participate.
Success in Narberth and a county involvement
Much nearer to home, it’s been another good season for Nick because despite saying he would only play for Narberth Seconds when they were desperate he finished up as top wicket-taker with 27 scalps. He was also delighted the previous campaign because he finished up, despite being the resident No 11, with the best batting average because he had a string of not outs!
Ask Nick about future playing plans and he says he will carry on for as long as he enjoys being involved, and he still runs between four and five miles three times a week in Narberth to keep up his fitness levels. He is also on the executive committee of the Pembroke County Cricket Club, where he has been involved for 20 years, and is a founder member of the Pembrokeshire Association of Cricket Coaches. He is vice chairman of the Pembrokeshire Association of Cricket Coaches and chairman of the regional coaching set-up, and still does specialist slow bowling sessions with up and coming spin bowlers.
Medals galore for his off spinners
He started his own off-spin bowling as a nipper at Narberth where he played alongside older brother John, a gentleman of sport if ever there was one, and then from 1978 to 1993 played at Cresselly and appeared in ten Harrison-Allen Bowl finals, eight of them in successive years, winning several Duggie Morris Finals and the league a couple of times as well. He also has an Alec Colley Cup Final medal because he joined Ceri Davies, John Arthur and Terry Harvey in being unavailable when Cresselly suffered a shock exit in the Bowl and all four helped Cresselly win the Alec Colley Cup!
When Adrian Griffiths invited Nick to play at Kilgetty he decided it was time for a change and enjoyed the company of great characters there, like Terry George, Bill Evans, Graham Jenkins and Wallace Poole, sadly for just a short time in Wallace’s case. During his time at Kilgetty the team won three more Bowl winners’ medals – and when he rejoined Narberth in 1997 they won the Division One title at Neyland, taking the silverware for the only time in its history.
County representation and good service
Nick represented Pembrokeshire at senior level for 34 years after making his debut against Glamorgan 2nds at Pontarddulais in 1961 and playing his final match in 1994 against the South Wales League in Ammanford. In his first game the Glamorgan side included Alan Durban, who went on to play and manage Derby County AFC, Kenny Lang and a youthful Eifion Jones behind the stumps for the first time. Nicky inevitably played for the county with some real characters like Ray Holly, Marcus Soar, Maurice Cole, Dai Morris, Peter Hall and Russell James, and he followed his late brother John when he received his county cap in 1978.
His cricketing involvement continues because Nick also runs ‘The Cricket Shop, which supplies cricket equipment and where his clients know him so well that he has been known to open up at 9pm on a Friday evening so a youngster can have a new bat for the Saturday after breaking his previous one. It is very much a case of good advice being thrown in as part of the sale!
Footballing prowess
Outside of his cricket, Nick was also a useful footballer and in his younger days he played for Narberth, Haverfordwest County and Kilgetty, playing in the Welsh League alongside nice characters like Winston Griffiths, Tal Harries and Don Evans, plus Mel Charles on one occasion. He appeared as a full back in three Senior Cup Finals, two for Narberth and one for Haverfordwest County – and lost in all three of them.
Charity fund-raiser
He is also heavily involved in raising funds for worthwhile causes and walked 60 of the 4,000 or so miles along the Great Wall of China, which he says might not sound far but the terrain was really difficult. Nick managed to raise £5,100 for the Breast Cancer Campaign and with the 21 other walkers helped raise a staggering £82,000 for a variety of charities. He plans another challenge for the British Heart Foundation soon and two of the options are to go on an elephant trek in Thailand (he likes elephants!) or a bike ride in Rajasthan, India, where he can take in visits to the Pink Temple at Amritsar and the Taj Mahal.
But in the meanwhile he will carry on playing cricket whenever and wherever he has the chance as a great lover of the game. Nick Evans could write a book about his experiences in the game, some lovely locations like playing with the Andes as a lovely back drop, or some great characters he has met in well over 50 years in the game. He has recently been invited to speak to local organisations about his Chinese Adventure but they ought to ask him back to talk about his cricket – now that would be even more interesting for the ultimate cricketing traveller that is Nick Evans of Narberth!
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