Mark Rees would be the first to admit that in his long playing career in cricket at Llanrhian he wasn’t the best player; indeed, he is more than honest when he says he was a good 12th man - but he has certainly found the right sport since then after he took up short-mat bowls and plays for Letterston, and also in the Pembrokeshire Team that has won the inter-counties championships for the last 12 years in succession.
 

Short mat bowls explained

 
For those who don’t understand the complexities of short-mat bowls it sprang up because it meets a real need since it can be played in village halls as well as sports centres, with Letterston able to play four games at a time, with three mats in the village hall and a fourth in the annex.
 
They have a special rolling machine to make sure the mats are kept in pristine condition and in the course of an evening each team needs ideally ten players because they play games with singles, pairs, triples and foursomes, known as rinks.
 
There is a wooden bar across the whole mat, set at a distance from the bowling area to prevent players just smashing into the ‘jack’ and so judgment of pace and angle, using the wood’s bias, is important.
 

World champs have hailed from our county

 
Although the number of clubs have decreased in recent years there are very strong teams like Hook, Tavernspite and The Meads, the standards have rocketed to such an extent that players of the calibre of Andrew and Alan Evans, Paul and Andrew Hudson, Jon Gladstone and others have become world champions.
 
Letterston join Penally, East Williamston and Merlins Bridge as other teams heavily involved - and Mark Would be quick to say that although there is great rivalry there is also a terrific camaraderie amongst the players.
 

Rodney introduced Mark to short-mat bowls

 
 Mark started out after what he laughingly describes as his inauspicious time in cricket, having tried the outdoor game - and although he enjoyed it  he didn’t follow it through - and it was only when he moved to Letterston that another great character in Rodney Kendrick persuaded him to try the short-mat game.
 
“I was made really welcome and enjoyed it from the outset,” Mark told us, “and found it was a large family, just like cricket at Llanrhian.
 
“I have worked really hard to improve my game, particularly the tactical side of playing rinks at No 1 or 2, which are my best positions because I am fairly accurate.”
 

County recognition a thrill – and he’s always looking to get better

 
It must have paid off because Mark made his county debut in 2018, when Pembrokeshire again won the Welsh title and then came third to West Midlands in Norfolk.
 
Pembrokeshire continue to rule the roost in the principality and he played twice in Newry, in Ireland, Solihull and twice at Heatherton, which does a fantastic job of hosting the British competition when it is Wales’ turn.
 
This year the British Championships are in Dublin and Mark will again be there, giving 100% as he always does.
 
It must be said that he has again tried to put something back into his sport because in 2024 he took the umpires’ course in Carmarthen and after rigorous sessions and active testing he qualified and actually officiated at the British Isles Championships - and one day he would love to go the World Bowls Championships as an official.
 

He loved the banter at Llandigige Fawr

 
Mark loved the banter at Llandigige Fawr and I first knew Mark when I played for Pembroke and he was a keen cricketer at Llanrhian, his having been brought up at the nearby big house known as Trevacoon.
“I played for more than 20 years,” Mark said, “until I moved, but really enjoyed helping out in any way I could, although I was very much an enthusiastic number 11 batsman and didn’t bowl much.
 
“We used to have a club newsletter and a column in the ‘County Echo, where I was regularly mentioned as the worst catcher of a ball in the club, and perhaps the county.
 
“But it was a ‘laugh with’ and not ‘laugh at’ situation so I didn’t mind, especially since great characters in Alun Davies and Rob Morris, who used to write the article, were probably right.”
 

Fraser sums Mark up perfectly

 
When we spoke to our reporting friend Fraser Watson and told him that we had bumped into Mark this is what he had to say:
 
“Mark was a proper club man. The type who would never let you down and would volunteer to umpire every week.
 
” If I’m being polite, he was an ‘entertaining’ fielder, and definitely not a batsman. But he was a character and we loved having him. Rob Morris once said every club needs a Mark Rees and he was right.”
 
We quote Fraser verbatim and we could pay Mark Rees no higher compliment because that comes straight from a sporting team-mate and is really heart felt. We wish my old pal every success in his short-mat bowling and we have no doubt we will bump into him again at Letterston in the near future, when we can pop in to see him play a game I once stupidly called ‘marbles’ before I knew how involved Mark and Co are!