PHOTOS:
Peter Kingdom in batting action for Pembroke Dock
Peter Kingdom

 
Every club needs its unsung heroes and there is no doubt that at Pembroke Dock Cricket Club one of their hardy band of players/workers is Peter Kingdom.
 
Peter plays for the club’s first team as a useful all-rounder who has been at the club for over a decade but is also co-captain with his friend Luke Murray and doubles up as the club’s hon secretary.
 
But ask Peter about his role and he is quick to say that he is just one cog in a wheel that turns smoothly because of other workers, like Maurice Leyland as a former player for over 40 years and almost a half century as treasurer and groundsman.
 

Inspirational helpers

 
“Over the past couple of years Maurice’s hard work on the pitch has earned us two Harrison-Allen Bowl semi-finals,” said Peter, and he spends all his time tending to our Imble Lane Ground.
 
“Then there’s John Davies, an inspirational player and behind the scenes worker whose return to the club from abroad marked a real upsurge in the club’s fortunes, allied to the arrival of Andrew Scott-Davies as chairman. He sorted out our accreditation superbly and is now on the executive of the Pembroke County Cricket Club and looking after their finances well.
 
“Throw in the likes of Peter Jones, Neil Bulley and Steve Laugharne, who have done so much work alongside current grafters like Steve Alford, Malcolm Morris, Nick Daley and Luke Murray – and what I do for the club is a pleasure!”
 

Not an early starter

 
Yet Peter wasn’t the typical early starter to the summer sport because he was almost 17 before he went with a friend to watch The Dock play and enjoyed it.
 
“I bumped into John Davies and he took me over the nets to try batting. Until then I had only played football but I really enjoyed batting and after a couple more spells in the nets with John Davies and Neil Hallett I found myself making my debut at Saundersfoot.
 
“I went in at No 7 and shared a stand of 80 with Neil Bulley where my princely contribution was six not out. I could hardly hit the ball off the square but I enjoyed every moment and was well and truly hooked!”
 

Involved ever since

 
And Peter’s been involved ever since, even travelling home for as many matches as he could when he was in college in Bristol. He was captain by the time he was 19 and took the club into second place and promotion from division four but Nick Daley took over the following season because of his travel difficulties.
 
As soon as he qualified as a teacher he was back in action as club secretary for two years and has now been on the committee for 11 years, the last two back in action as Hon Sec, as well as doing a huge amount of amateur dramatics, both inside and outside school.
 
“I enjoy being involved and although we aren’t in the most successful clubs in the county we really enjoy our games.
 

A real treat

 
“A real treat for us was making it to the Alan Brown Cup Final in 2011 because that is the big day for teams playing in division three or below and we had a bus taking the team and a lot of supporters going to Whitland, who do a great job of hosting the final.
 
“I scored about 15 in both innings and since I was playing as wicketkeeper I also had a few catches and some run outs! It was a very special day for us!”
 

Other sports

 
Outside of his cricket, Peter plays darts for the Navy Club’s team which is line for promotion to division one, and pool for the Star Club in the top echelon of the local league – but football is his other favourite sport and he admits he is an avid Spurs fan.
 
Peter also played rugby for the county schools’ team and the Quins’ youth as scrum half but admits that as something of a nipper he had too many injuries which affected his football!
 

Football focus

 
“I started playing football at Pembroke Borough when I was 14 and, apart from a short spell with Pennar Robins, I have been there ever since.
 
“I had good coaching from the late Frankie Donovan and Bobby Bell - and as a junior achieved the distinction of scoring 23 goals in one season from full back. I played alongside quality players like Lee Pitman and Neil Armstrong as we were coached by Steve Walters and came second in the under 14s league.
 
Peter is still at London Road today and is first team captain.
“We should be favourites for promotion but lost a few games on the trot so it’s in other club’s hands now.
“Like the cricket, the club has great servants like manager Jason Beynon and Simon Matthews, whose parents Helen and Will are secretary and groundsman respectively – and Helen was team manager for many years!
 

Back on the cricket front

 
Back on the cricket front, there has been humour aplenty at Pembroke Dock, not least when Maurice Leyland requested that he be put on the boundary at Llanrhian because he regarded himself as the best thrower – but pulled a muscle in his leg in the first over and refused to move as he sat stubbornly on the nearby grass bank!
 
On another occasion early on his cricket, he went on a minibus to Dinas alongside John Sheppard, Malcolm Powell, old John Davies, Alan Bateman and John Scott in a team whose average age was over 50 – and when he saw a field rutted by tractor tyre marks wondered what he was doing there!
 

Now coaching youngsters

 
It is good that Peter has qualified as a level one coach and with Luke Murray coaches the club’s under 15 team and recently had their first success when they reached the plate final of the Ormond Youth Plate competition and although they lost to an experienced Cresselly outfit it was step in the right direction.
 
“Luke and I have also been to special courses on bowling, with Barry Lloyd and Steve Watkin in Tenby, and on captaincy with John Derrick at Llandarcy, which have been a great help.”
 

And finally . . .

 
On a personal front he once claimed 5 for 40 against Whitland 2nds with his occasional off-spin and as well as scoring quite a few half centuries has a top score of 97 not out against Pembroke 2nds at Imble Lane.
 
“I didn’t have a clue I was so tantalisingly close to three figures,” Peter told us, “and apparently I was on 91 with nine overs left and lost the strike to Andrew Wood, and only faced eight balls.
 
“I don’t know if I will ever reach three figures now but it’s another target to aim for,” he said with a chuckle, but I seem to be moving down, not up the batting order!”
 
But that doesn’t matter to Peter because all he wants to do is enjoy his involvement – and we are confident that Pembroke Dock Cricket Club is in safe hands with players/administrators of the calibre of Peter Kingdom at the helm!