Around the Boundary Feature:

 
When the tiny village of Marloes had its own cricket club no-one was more committed than Gary Davies as he followed his father Brian into the teams as he played for over two decades - but when a lack of a suitable pitch caused their demise he joined the nearby Herbrandston Club and as well as playing for Herbie for 25 years is now just as busy in an administration capacity - and has also taken on the role of first team scorer.
 
“It’s not the most popular job,” admitted Gary, “but it’s nice for the players to focus on just playing and at least I don’t have to umpire because we are back in the first division now!”
 

Great characters at Marloes

 
Going back into his Marloes days, Gary would say about the characters who played there included talented players like  Martin Davies, Paul ‘Bomber’ John, Karl Rhead, Kristan, Andrew and Steve Bennett alongside great characters like John Howells, Bernie Stephens and Robbie Thomas.
 
“It was real village club where the cows were feeding at the bottom of the field; there were no changing rooms and we had tea out on the grass - and opponents often believed that the tasty egg sandwiches came from gulls’ eggs laid on Skomer Island!
 

Persuaded by Reg – and never regretted the decision

 
“It was a body blow but I joined Herbie by chance when I bumped into Reg Owens, who with wife Josie has been a major force in the club, and since my wife Diane and I had built a house in Herbrandston his ‘persuasion’ worked and we decided that I should play there - and all that time later I have never regretted that decision.
 
“I have seen huge strides in the club’s development since then, including a splendid clubhouse which includes changing rooms, a tea room and kitchen, toilets and a large room upstairs, with a scorers’ balcony, that will eventually be used as a meeting hall.




 

Moving forward all the time

 
“The pitch and outfield have been developed beyond recognition by Andrew Williams, who spends so many hours at the ground doing anything that is needed - and our playing strength has been improved because we not only have the talents of Kristan and Jonny Bennett; Paul, Harry and Jack Nicholas, Robbie Hood and Dean John but our junior section is also thriving and producing young players of the calibre of Charlie Malloy and Charlie Welch.
 
“We have Johnny Lewis as a committed cricket manager and his wife Clarissa does fantastic work with the scoring and cricket information, Steve Bennett is another stalwart who doubles up the umpiring duties, Josie and Reg are still involved.
 
“I’ve been club secretary for about 15 years after I took over from Reg and although the first team still has to adjust to life in the first division I’m confident that they will soon start winning matches.”





 
Other  Sports 1 . . .
 
Outside of his cricket Gary also played football as a goalkeeper with a number of clubs in Pembrokeshire after starting out at Milford United under 15s under the late, great Brian Burgoyne and in senior football played for the now-defunct Milford Haven Petroleum Club, where there were excellent facilities and he learned from genuine characters like Paul Bowen, Jimmy Curtis, Dai Scoble, Nipper Picton and Andrew Barton.
 
“Then I played for a very good Johnston team that had Steve James in goal and his brother Richard in midfield but Steve was out injured for quite a while. John and William Codd also played alongside Glyn Ruloff, Glen and Scott Murray, Dave Dickerson and Gary Stephens.
 

Other Sports 2 . . .

 
“I also had a spell with St Ishmaels because a number of the Marloes boys were there and then Alan Buckingham persuaded me to help out with the second team at Milford Athletic and eventually I stayed there for ten years.”
 
In his school days Gary also played rugby for Milford Grammar School as Mr Martin Charles was in charge and you had no choice but to play, although football remained his first choice - and he did dabble with golf with Modesto Galdo, Tony Daley and PJ Thomas but it was only on a social basis like the foursomes at the Herbrandston Open, played at Milford Haven Golf Club.
“I suppose I did enjoy it,” admitted Gary, “but I lost more than my share of balls because although I could hit the ball quite well it was rarely in the right direction for a lot of the time!”
 

Family matters . . .

 
Ask Gary for major influences on his sport and he would be quick to nominate his family, because as well as dad Brian his wife Diane has always provided total support, as well as being a very good hockey and cricket player.
 
“She had hockey trials for Wales and represented West Wales in Barbados - and played ladies cricket for Herbie with players of the calibre of Caroline Cooper and Jackie Williams.
 
“Our daughter Charlotte played cricket for Wales at under 16 level and at Bath University and has done really well over the years at hockey with Milford Haven Ladies and West Wales - and Diane still coaches the juniors at the club.
 
“Then there’s our son Ryan who played football for Herbie and rugby for Milford Haven Youth at outside half, wing or full back - and is still playing cricket for Herbrandston now after playing county junior cricket with the late Brian Griffiths as his excellent coach.”
 

Highlights and a tragedy

 
Talk to Gary about highlights with Herbrandston Cricket and he would nominate their winning of the Alan Brown Cup Final at Whitland against Johnston, where they also lost in other finals against Kilgetty and Llechryd.

“We also played in another final against Crymych, which took place on my birthday but Peter John, one of the nicest men I ever played alongside, collapsed on the pitch when we were fielding and died.
 
“It was awful and the game was rightly abandoned - and it will remain with me as the worst sporting moment of my life.”
 

Starting to enjoy scoring

 
Gary would readily admit that scoring is not his favourite part of cricket but does it because there is no-one else at the moment.

“It has its positive side though, because I have had great help from all the ladies who do a great job in the score-box and from fellers like Malcolm Thomas and John Laugharne - and recently I scored alongside Adge John (Saundersfoot.
 
“Adge was also a goalkeeper in his younger days and we had a great time chatting about players we had played with and opponents who had kicked us in the rough and tumble of the old days.
The time flew by and I just hope we didn’t make too many mistakes in our scorebooks!”
 
And that just about sums up all that is good with Gary Davies and it is the same whenever we bump into him around the boundary because as we stroll we talk about games at Marloes where I was ‘encouraged’ by Mrs Davies, whose children Martin and April played, gently teased by John Howells, who loved a rolled-up fag between overs on the boundary, or disagreed with Gary because we were both sometimes too committed for our own good - but enjoyed a drink together afterwards!