Around the Boundary Feature:

 
 
After a decade living in Cardiff and playing cricket there Luke Butler returned to his home town of Pembroke and has made a real impact at Treleet, not only as a wicketkeeper/batsman and vice-captain of the first team but with his efforts off the pitch, where he has done so much work obtaining grants for improving their facility like the superb new nets and developing the scoring balcony above the changing rooms.
 
And 2023 has had a wonderful outcome for the club because the first team has won the division three silverware with a game to spare and the seconds won division five comfortably to complete an uplifting double after the disappointment of the previous campaign.
 
Luke is very modest about all he’s been involved in but since we first met him on the boundary we have been highly impressed by his work alongside skipper Jack Harries in leading the team and developing a camaraderie across all aspects of playing from the seniors right through the ladies and the junior section, which has gone from strength to strength in recent years.
 
As Jack Harries told us,
“Luke is an excellent vice-captain and very good player but also takes a massive part in the smooth running of the club, not only on match days but whenever anything else is going on because he is the first port of call for everyone as a great club man - and boy are we glad he returned to us from Cardiff!”
 

Captained the seconds and then was off to Cardiff

 
Luke started out with Pembroke in junior cricket and eventually went in to the second team, where he was captain for a few seasons as well as playing occasional games for the firsts that were led by Sean Powell, until he went to Cardiff and studied at the University of Glamorgan before joining Barclays Bank in Cardiff, whom he still works for now.
 
“I used to play for Lisvane, strangely at a pitch in St Mellons, some way from the village, and I played in the third division of the South East Wales Cricket League (SEWCL) as well as playing for Cardiff Ferrets in the Cardiff Midweek League, where matches normally took place at a number of pitches alongside each other at Pontcanna Playing Fields or Blackweir. I had a top score of 80 for Lisvane and a few other half centuries as well.
 
 “Joining me in the Ferrets were other former Pembroke players in Sean Powell and Rob Weston and they now also have a Saturday team called the Cardiff Kits (the name for the baby rodents!)



 

Back to Pembroke before Covid – and still there

 
“I came back to Pembroke at the start of 2020, just before Covid, and have since been working from home and able to rejoin Pembroke, where I soon joined the management committee and am now membership secretary as well as joining the likes of Eleri Williams in trying to improve the club’s facilities.
 
“One of the biggest changes has been to develop our junior teams under the excellent guidance of Rob Smythe so that it is great to see Tralee packed with youngsters on junior nights - or to watch them play so well in the junior league set-ups.
 
“Paul White had also settled in to the role of chairman as well as being a very good first team player, and we have started what we call a ‘Treleet XI’, mainly for our 15 year olds so that they can gain experience before playing senior cricket. It was ‘Chalkie’s’ idea and we have had a lot of friendlies which have seen them come on in leaps and bounds.”
 

A few disappointments en route

 
Ask Luke about disappointments and he would be quick to say that the first team being relegated last season was a real minus because the squad is a strong one but had players missing and others not playing as well as they might.
 
“Surprisingly, we reached the DR Morris Cup Final against Neyland at Burton but there was to be no giant-killing act and we ended up getting beaten quite easily.
 
“But our league position was the real blow and I felt sorry most for Jack Harries, who is still only 26 but in his sixth campaign as skipper, and gave his all. But so far this season we have played really well and after beating Hook in a top of the table clash we are very much aiming to go back into division two because we have a much-strengthened team with the arrival of Gareth Long from Upper Rhondda, plus Alan Webster, Phil Jones, Billy Woods and Ceri Brace from other local clubs.”




 

Other Sports . . .

 
Outside of his cricket, Luke enjoys most sports and played football as a junior alongside Joe Kidney, Matthew Whitfield and Sam Harts for a short while, as well  as in the senior game there as an out and out stopper at centre half with Carew with good players like Gareth Lewis and Sam Goodwin.
 
“I also played rugby at junior and youth levels with Pembroke as a full back in a team that also included Rob Weston as something of a star, Sean Powell, Josh Davies and Sam Phillips, with Ross Taylor as our coach - but I never followed that into the senior games because I was involved in football.



 

Family Matters . . .

 
Luke would also say that he has been very lucky to receive great support from his family in his sporting activities, with his mum Karen Evans and girl-friend Rebecca also playing cricket for Pembroke in the ladies’ team. Then there’s Fran and Mick Butler, his grandparents, who play short mat bowls for Lamphey - and the family is nicely rounded up by Luke’s sister Ceri Evans, who played netball for Wales right through junior levels and also at under 21 (and Luke says she would kill him if we forgot to give her a bit of a write-up!)
 
Back on the cricket front with Luke, one of his main areas of progress has been his wicket-keeping because he took over the clubs at Treleet when regular encumber Phil Hay had to stop playing alongside his brother Andrew and he stepped in to give it his best shot.

“I know I was only a stopper at first but I have worked hard in practice, especially with regard to standing up to the wicket when the occasion demands - and the rest of the team has been very patient and seem happy with my keeping now,” he says with a typical chuckle!
 

Silverware - Indoor and out . . .

 
The other new area for Luke and his team mates was their decision to join the Pembrokeshire Indoor Cricket League alongside the ladies’ team and both supported each other in Neyland Hub.
“Our squad was mainly Jack, Jonathan Rogers, Sam Davies, Andrew Price and Charlie Perkins alongside Luke and we played some excellent cricket in division two, once we got to understand the tactics.
 
“In the final play offside against Burton and Hook we played really well to beat them both to win the silverware and medals and are already looking to competing in division one on the next campaign.
 
“We have also gained more silverware recently after we reached the final of the Alan Brown Cup at Whitland against our neighbours Hundleton and we had fantastic batting from Jack and Gareth Long amongst others to give us an easy win - and nice to take some more silverware back to the clubhouse.”
 

High praise from ‘Jenks’

 
Watching Luke & Co play against Hundleton was club president Kevin Jenkins, who has served the club for over half a decade as player, long-term captain, groundsman and official. He told us,
“Luke’s been a great asset since he came home, not only on the pitch but off it as well - because he is a ‘doer’ and not just a ‘talker’. His effort behind the stumps is an example because he has worked so hard to improve his playing, especially when standing up to the wicket - and his batting has also improved. It is great see you talking to him because he is modest about all he does at Pembroke Cricket Club and it needs highlighting!”
 
We could pay Luke Butler no higher compliment and we can only add it was brilliant to hear this week that he has been shortlisted in the ‘Unsung Hero’ category in the Cricket Wales awards in September – and  that it is a pleasure to know this modest young man and we wish him every success with Pembroke Cricket Club for many years to come!