Unsung Heroes

Larter’s lasted 50 years at Lawrenny

Owen ‘Larter’ Williams has played cricket for his home village of Lawrenny for exactly 50 years and although he says he now only plays when the teams are short of players he still gives 100% for the only club he has ever played for.

He recently joined old pal Dai ‘Ossie’ Jones in completing a combined total of exactly 100 years with Lawrenny and their colleagues recognised such loyalty when they organised a special match between Lawrenny and an Invitational XI comprising of players whom they had enjoyed playing against. It was a richly-deserved tribute and enjoyed by both stalwarts, but typical of their modesty was the fact that both played down their contribution.

Had to work hard for a game

“I enjoyed playing from the time I was a kid who lived 200 yards from the ground. We used to play our own test matches there or practised against a big wooden gate set in the village church wall. I was always bowling and we eventually made it into the club’s only team. Mind you, we had to work for it because before that we had to bowl in practice for the regular players, put up the scores in games, clean out the old changing rooms or even go down to the farm to collect the milk for tea!”

20 overs a week – even in stockinged feet

When Owen started off bowling alongside Dennis Richards and then Arthur Prosser it was commonplace to have two bowlers sharing the 40 overs allotted for league cricket.

            “When they changed the league rule so that a bowler could only bowl a maximum of 12 overs I was against it because they didn’t restrict batsmen in any way but at last it allows more bowlers to be involved. But it shows how keen I was to bowl because at one time I invested in a new pair of boots before a game at Llanrhian – and when they were rubbing very badly after just one over I took them off and bowled my other 19 overs in stockinged feet – and we won the game, too!”

Nickname established and recognition from kids

He gained his nickname of ‘Larter’ after a match against Hundleton where he ran in and bowled with such effort that he slipped and fell to the ground. England were playing a test match round the same time and their lanky fast bowler, David Larter, did exactly the same thing. Jeffrey Hughes dubbed Owen as ‘Larter’ – and he is still tagged with the nickname 40+ years later!

In the intervening years Larter has taken far more than his fair share of wickets and on three occasions grabbed nine wickets against the likes of Whitland and Hook. In the week after the Hook performance Lawrenny were playing at Pembroke and as he walked down to the boundary he heard two of the young sons of a Carew player saying, “You be Alan Border and I’ll bowl like Larter,’ so he knew he had really arrived then!

Wickets galore – and a few runs

He also achieved the rare feat of claiming six wickets in seven balls, again at Llanrhian, but since it was done over two different overs he didn’t really realise what he had done until the next week’s Western Telegraph, where the headline on the back page proclaimed the fact!

It is a fact that over the years Larter has been the resident No 11 at Lawrenny in batting terms but he used to bat higher when he was in junior cricket. In his first senior match he was chosen at No 11 against Pembroke and joined Howard Jenkins with 22 left to win – and he was 18 not out at the end of a good victory.

In his earlier days Larter played for the Welsh Post Office team in Worcester and then for the Pembrokeshire Over 40s, but says that his shoulders get a bit sore these days. Outside of his cricket he enjoys watching Lawrenny and Haverfordwest County play football (he played for Carew in his youth) but it is cricket that is still his first sporting love.

High praise from colleagues

Owen has always been held in high esteem by his team-mates and again Chris Williams was delighted to tell us,

            “We have been very lucky over the years to have players showing tremendous loyalty and at the top of that list would be the likes of ‘Larter’, who has bowled his heart out for Lawrenny for 50 years. It is a remarkable achievement to have him and Dai Jones sharing a hundred years between them and I don’t know if it can be matched in any other clubs.

They have always given 100% and we know that if we are stuck any Saturday then we only have to give them a shout and they’ll be there straight away.”

PembrokeshireSport.co.uk can only endorse that praise and say well done to Owen Williams on his wonderful achievement as a cricketer at Lawrenny!