page revision date : 30th June 2010
Nathan carries on family tradition at Herbie
When the football season ends in the village of Herbrandston, teenaged all-rounder Nathan Banner simply packs away his football boots and dons his whites as he gets ready for a new season of cricket in the top echelon of Pembrokeshire Cricket, after he played a key role in helping Herbie gain promotion in 2009.
Following in family footsteps
That Nathan should be so involved in sport, especially cricket, is perhaps only natural because he hails from a very sporting family. His granddad, Glyn Banner, who sadly passed away last year, was rightly regarded as one of the best cricketers of his era and a popular gentleman with team-mates and opponents alike as he played for Herbrandston, Hook and St Ishmaels, where he once hit a six with such ferocity that the ball didn’t rise more than six feet off the ground before smashing into the window of one of his opponent’s cars parked well away from the boundary! Nathan’s father Nigel, who also played at Herbrandston, Hook and St Ishmaels, was a left-handed stroke player who accumulated heaps of runs and now Nathan is the third generation of the family scoring runs, as he did the first match of this new season when he top-scored with 38 at Carew.
Early start at Herbie – runs
and wickets galore
Nathan began his cricket at eight years of age when the family moved to Herbrandston and he began playing with the under 11 team run by Jackie Williams as a bowler before representing the county as a batsman. He went on a county under 11 tour to Jersey where he scored 59 runs and has since played at every level for Pembrokeshire.
He started playing for Herbie 2nds at 11 but was mainly confined to fielding duties until he started to move up the batting order and when he was 15 he scored his maiden century for the seconds as he reached 106 not out against Narberth 3rds at Llanddewi Velfrey. Nathan has since found himself in the 80s a couple of times for the first team but is still looking for his first century, which he hopes will come in the first team this campaign. He was certainly a key player last season as Herbie gained promotion because he had six half centuries and scored 548 runs at an average of almost 35, as well as claiming 20 wickets at an average of only eight runs as he joined Paul Hood and Kristan Bennett as the main wicket-takers. One his best knocks was his innings of 55 in the last game at Saundersfoot, where he made sure that Herbie edged through to the silverware against their main opponents.
Football matters
Moving to the football field in the village, Nathan has established himself as a centre half or midfield player in the first team run by Steve Batty, having first played there at under 10 level alongside Phil Cockburn and Elliott Hardy before moving to Milford United for under 14s and under 16s, where the young Robins enjoyed winning league and cup silverware at different times.
Then it was back to Herbie for senior football and he made his first team debut as sub against Solva when they trailed 0-2 but earned a draw at 2-all – and he has been in the side ever since, making his full debut against Hakin United at The Obs when Herbie won 3-1 and the Vikings had three players sent off!
Ask him about footballing ambitions and he would admit that a Senior Cup Final would be great but that could be some time in the future when the young team at Herbrandston reaches its prime!
Cricket ambitions
Ask Nathan the same question with regard to cricket and he would immediately pick playing in the Harrison-Allen Bowl Final as a main aim, especially since granddad Glyn played in one and dad Nigel just missed out on a couple of occasions. One of the highlights so far came when he played under 15 cricket for the county against a very strong North Wales team in the Welsh Regions Cup Final under floodlights at Sophia Gardens. Steve Inward scored a memorable century as the county just lost – and Nathan supported with 16 until he was unluckily run out when a straight drive from Steve was diverted onto the stumps by the bowler with Nathan just out of his ground!
And finally . . .
At 18 years old, Nathan has a great deal of cricket still to play and he will also be involved with football in the winter at Herbrandston. He is a Herbie boy through and through, saying that he is involved with a great bunch of lads – but he also plays a key role, especially in cricket, and there is no doubt in PembrokeshireSport.co.uk that as he gains in experience he could become regarded as one of the better cricketing all-rounders in our county!
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