At 16 years of age Owen Phelps loves his involvement in cricket as he bats high up for the first team at Hook Cricket and bowls his off-spin when required in a team renowned for giving every chance to its younger players.
 
It is small wonder that he is so involved because he hails from a family where dad Jamie is still more than capable of scoring runs or taking wickets after over 30 years at the club and was a key member of the only Hook team ever to reach the final of the Harrison-Allen Bowl, whilst mum Claire has always provided total support for her four boys (and she includes Jamie in that)!
 

Early start in a cricket-mad family

 
Older brother Aled is 20 now and is an established all-rounder in the first team, with a string of terrific performances to his name, whilst younger brother Rhys is only 14 but already doing well in the junior set-up and recently starred in an Alec Colley Cup win at Narberth where he was playing against a lot of good senior players but managed to claim an amazing 5 for 40 haul to go with an earlier-round 5 for 31 against Llangwm Seconds!
 
Small wonder then that almost as soon as he could walk he was trying to join in the family back-garden games and was soon wielding the plastic bat and hitting the plastic ball as well as any youngster of his age – and was eagerly trying to join in the under nine practice sessions when he was only five!
 
From there he made it into the squad coached by Andrew Miller at seven years of age and at nine years of age he had to get accustomed to the much harder red ball as he played alongside the likes of Lewis Miller, Seth Willington and Jacob Owen – and they won the local age-group leagues a few times.
 

Ormond Cup success . . .

 
At 13 years old he played in his first Ormond Youth Cup Final in 2018 and was part of the Hook/Llangwm team that beat the combined opposition of previous holders Carew/Saundersfoot.
 
“It was a great day out and Aled won the man of the match award but to be honest I was a bit overawed and the game flew by – but it was fantastic to pick up my medal afterwards.
 
“We got knocked out the next season but won the plate competition by beating Neyland – and I remember that Harry Makepeace won the man of the match.
 
“Then last season we reached the main final against a very strong Cresselly combined side and lost as George Smith, who was with Stackpole then, was man of the match.”
 
 

. . . And a senior debut at 13!

 
It was at 13 that Owen made his second team debut under Phil Griffiths and gradually began to get more game time as he gained in experience – and after achieving a regular place there started to play the odd game for the first team.
 
“Now this year I have had a regular place alongside Aled, and sometimes my father, which has been great – and I’m pleased with my batting because I had decent knocks against Pembroke Dock (26), Lamphey (30 alongside 2-28), Burton (44) and Kilgetty (21).
 
But I’ve also had a couple of short innings and my aim now is to make sure that once I get a good start I take it on to build a big score. I have scored three 50s in junior cricket but then had to retire, and with my off-spin I have best bowling figures of 7 for 14 against Carew 2nds so I have to keep getting bowling practice whenever I can.
 

Other sports . . .

 
Outside of his cricket Owen has also enjoyed rugby and football in the winter months, playing in the centre for Haverfordwest High School throughout the age groups with Mr Michael Jones and now Mr Rumbelow as coaches – and with Joseph Kiff and Jeff Asson doing the same good job at Llangwm RFC.
 
“I also played football as a goalkeeper with Prendergast Villa for a while and was chosen to train with Swansea City but it meant going to the BP Llandarcy Ground four times a week and I couldn’t play with my pals locally when there was no game.
 
I played for them against Southampton at Llandarcy and enjoyed it but eventually I decided it was too much alongside other sport and school work.
 

And finally . . .

 
Ask Owen about ambitions and he is eager to go to university eventually, to study engineering, after just receiving excellent results in his GCSE subjects.
 
“I’m hoping to study Maths, Chemistry and Business Studies at A Level and then want to go on to take a degree in Engineering.
 
“But in the meanwhile I’m really looking forward to this full season of cricket because I really enjoy playing alongside some real characters at Hook, not least my dad Jamie, who is still as competitive as ever and all three of us brothers like to do the best as well!”
 
It is easy to see how close the Phelps family are and Owen really does enjoy the camaraderie that exists between them – and Hook are lucky to have them all involved. Owen is one of the young characters in the club – and we at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk are confident that we will hear a lot more about his cricketing and rugby prowess in the years to come!