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Umpires:

Simon Richards                     Aged 52                      Retired
 

Simon Richards is delighted to be officiating at his first-ever Harrison-Allen Bowl Final.

Simon was born and bred in Llangwm and only returned full-time to the county about four years ago after working on massive civil engineering projects as an earth mover on some of Europe's biggest-ever sites!

"I had taken the umpires exam before I left in 2001 but decided to resit it as a refresher course before donning my white coat in 2016," he told us, "and I'm delighted I decided to return to the middle again because it is undoubtedly the next best thing to playing."

In his younger days he started out at Pill Parks when Peter Rees was captain before a stint down the road at Hook and when he moved with work to North Wales he played for a while with Wrexham in the North Wales League.

He had his first taste of officiating at a cup final when he took charge of the 2016 Ladies Cup Final at Hook and since then he has also been in the middle for the Allen Brown Cup Final (2017) and The DR Morris Cup Final last season.

On both these occasions he was partnered with Dave Bonner, who is also umpiring alongside him in this campaign's Harrison-Allen Bowl Final - and Simon will show the quiet, calm control in all four innings that has seen him chosen to be a match official on Pembrokeshire Cricket's big day out!
 

Dave Bonner                          69                                Retired      
 

Dave Bonner is in his fourth season as an umpire in Pembrokeshire Cricket after many years' experience as a club professional in the Lancashire League and then officiating in the Ribblesdale League.

In his playing days he set out as an eager 11 year old at Darwen Cricket Club and went on to play senior cricket with them in the Lancashire League.

Then he enjoyed three seasons as club pro at Edgeworth in the Bolton  Cricket Association and then a further stint as professional with Cherry Tree Cricket Club in the Ribblesdale League.

Dave bowled and batted at all his clubs and eventually returned to base at Darwen until he retired at 59.
"It was a great time to be involved in Lancashire League Cricket," Dave told us, because at different times there were world-famous cricketers like Brian Lara, Richie Richardson, Malcolm Marshall and David Boon involved."

Dave then umpired in the Ribblesdale League for several years but then decided to move to Pembrokeshire for retirement.

"I have been made really welcome by other umpires and players in the county. Whilst up north I umpired the 20/20 league final and the second division final. In the last two campaigns here I've been in the middle with Simon (Richards) for the Allan Brown and Duggie Morris Cup Finals so it will be nice to celebrate our finals hat-trick together."

Like Simon, Dave Bonner has gained a reputation in the county as a good umpire and we wish him well on his big day in Pembrokeshire Cricket!




 

Scorers:

 

Haverfordwest CC:

Jayne Cole                             Aged 55                      Retired Nurse

Jayne holds a record that is unlikely to ever be beaten because amazingly this is her SEVENTEENTH time as scorer with Haverfordwest Cricket Club in a Harrison-Allen Bowl Final!

She first took up scoring because of the family commitment whereby her father and two brothers were playing and in the intervening years has not only rarely missed any match but has also helped encourage a number of others to take up scoring.

She not only provides details for a number of pundits but throughout each match provides live coverage, almost ball by ball, of The Town’s games, using her Ipad on the ‘Play Cricket’ web site that covers the whole of Wales and England!

Another huge measure of her commitment comes from the fact that she makes a round trip of almost 200 miles from her home in Briton Ferry to score for Haverfordwest and she will be hopeful that when she drives to Cresselly for this year’s final she will collect her tenth winner’s medal in the process!

Jayne is rightly held in high esteem by other scorers and indeed players from around the county!

 

Lawrenny CC:
 
Malcolm Thomas                  Aged 67                      Retired

Malcolm's name has become synonymous with cricket in Lawrenny after an involvement spanning over 50 years, following in the footsteps of his late parents Evelyn and Elliott as players, with dad also becoming a respected umpire with the club for a long time.

He played some second-team cricket but it is in role as a scorer that he has been most involved, doing the job on all three previous occasions when Lawrenny reached the final and really looking forward to this fourth trip just up the road to Cresselly to take on Haverfordwest.

In that role he looks after pundits seeking scores at awkward moments and deals with them with the quiet assurance that is very much part of his make-up.

Not content with all that commitment, however, he does an immense amount of work on the ground alongside Chris Williams and taking the responsibility of preparing each wicket, which means that he spends some time there almost every day of the week.

Malcolm is also an active member of the club’s committee in his role as club treasurer, looking after the finances with typical care!

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