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Roger Stanford – Still going strong at 60!
When the Harrison-Allen Bowl Final was being played on 31st July, it also marked a special day for a well-known cricket character because Saundersfoot Cricket Club’s Roger Stanford was celebrating his 60th birthday.
Roger plays as a wicket-keeper/batsman for Saundersfoot and doubles up as popular steward at the Sports Club, where he has been behind the bar for 24 years, with the assistance of his wife Barbara, who is ‘ a Whitland girl’ and has encouraged Roger to play cricket.
There at the start
He has been involved in Saundersfoot’s cricket team since the club was formed in 1979 and joined the Pembrokeshire League a year later. The late Steve Williams, a fine player, got Roger involved from the outset and he took over the gloves when Newman Vincent stepped down, having played for the MCC (that’s the Melbourne Cricket Club in Cambridgeshire and not the slightly better known club at Lord’s!)
They set out in the fifth division and quickly climbed the league set-up, with Steve Williams joined by a class all-rounder in Huw Thomas and pace man Chris Parker (50 wickets in a season then!) as key players. After a spell in the second division they reached the top echelon in 1988 and at the end of that campaign they tied with St Ishmaels at the foot of the table. It meant a play-off for survival at Carew, with Tish shot out for 56 and Saundersfoot looking certs to win as Roger and Huw Thomas took them to 35 for 0. But then there was a huge collapse until Martin Williams hit a six for victory with the last pair at the crease!
Going down but bouncing back
They were relegated in 1989 but are now back in the first division and no-one is more delighted than Roger because they have experience aplenty in Paul Mansbridge, Ian Poole and Dicky Parcell, good all-rounders like James and Danny Caine, plus talented young players like Nick Cope, Sam Butler, Simon Stanford and Yannick Parker.
Roger was a regular in the first team until he was 53 but still enjoys playing for the seconds, which were formed to encourage young players and has really paid off. He had a few games alongside Simon as his son moved up, with a couple of matches together again this season. They both bowled against Herbrandston and Roger was delighted that he claimed three wickets to Simon’s two! On the wicket-keeping front, Roger’s best performances have been four catches against Whitland and three stumpings in another match. He’s been no slouch with the bat, either, because he has a top score of 71 not out at Dinas – and a few other 50s, too!
Other sports
Ask Roger about his younger days, which were spent in Cambridge, and he would tell you that rugby was his main sport, having set out as a prop at Cambridge High School, playing there for four years because he initially thought that being a forward was like being a forward in football! It was only when he showed his athletic prowess by being selected for Cambridgeshire Schools in the 100/200 metres that he was switched to play on the wing!
He also played for old Cantabrians, the old boys’ team from school, as well as very competitive Sunday league football, until he was 26. During his time with the old Cantabs he once played on the wing in a charity game, with England scrum-half Dickie Jeeps making a guest appearance – and setting up two tries for a delighted Mr Stanford, where all he had to do was fall over the line!
Move to Pembrokeshire – and still going strong!
He moved down to Saundersfoot to run the ‘Old Chemist’s Inn’ on ‘The Strand’ and remained there for six years. He has been involved at Saundersfoot ever since and says that he has encountered some very good players, like current veterans Paul Mansbridge and Ian Poole alongside Steve Williams and Huw Thomas, plus Steve Goodwin, who holidayed in Saundersfoot most summers and was a terrific stroke player.
Ask him about how long he will carry on and Roger chuckles and says his wicket-keeping mentor in Cambridgeshire retired at 74! He helps out with coaching the juniors on Tuesday evenings and still enjoys turning out on a Saturday, although sore ankles make Sundays a little painful!
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