Malcolm Thomas is Lawrenny through and through!

 

Ask any regular at Lawrenny Club who is their unsung hero and it is a fair bet that most of them would say it was scorer, former treasurer and odd-job man Malcolm Thomas – and that is why we were delighted to present out old pal with one of the first of our brand new ‘Sporting Stars’ badges we had commissioned by two of our fantastic sponsors, Jane and Bernie Wheeler
 
Malcolm’s long-service with Lawrenny CC is amazing because he was club treasurer for 50 years. Not content with that commitment, he has even in the past  joined his old pal Chris Williams in painting the clubhouse and changing rooms - and many other jobs besides. Small wonder that both have eventually been recognised with life membership!
 

No job too small for Mr T

 
Malcolm has always lived down the road in the village and has been involved with Lawrenny since he was a nipper and watched his dad Elliott umpire for the village team. He recently retired as Hon Treasurer after that lengthy period, handing over to Sharon Buckle as a very capable replacement, and he has been the groundsman for well over three decades after the position arose and he had already helped out a little, so stepped in.
 
He played a bit of cricket as a youngster when the club only had one team but has scored for almost as long as he can remember. when someone was needed and he stepped in – and he still refuses to change from his simple one-colour, suits all, approach because his score-book is always an absolute picture, despite different approach favoured by most of the current crop of scorers.
 
It is fair to say that he is not a great fan of the computer approach to scoring these days which is called ‘Play Cricket’ and we can say light-heartedly that to Malcolm that sounds like a computer programme where children waste away their hours instead of getting out on a pitch, as he did as a nipper!
 

Always a calm approach from Malcolm

 
Malcolm is also known for his calm approach to scoring, and is the club’s unofficial press officer, as he calmly deals with queries from nuisance sports journalists, even as the games go on! We at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk can vouch for that fact, because when we needed details of a Bowl semi-final but we were unable to attend he answered the phone when the teams were in the final over and Malcolm didn’t say to phone back because it was so tense – he simply answered our query and returned to his scorebook, which we bet didn’t have a blemish on it as a result of our disturbing him!
 
He has scored in four previous Harrison-Allen Bowl Finals and four DR Morris Cup Finals and is rightly held in high regard by players, officials other scorers around the county because he does such a great job.
 
Fellow Lawrenny CC long-serving player Chris Williams, a great player in his time and stalwart of the club since he made his debut 62 years ago. told PembrokeshireSport.co.uk,
“Malcom is a great example of total dedication to our club and is held in huge respect by all the players, committee and supporters for all his work in the background, no job is too big or too small for him – he just gets on with it.”
 
We could pay Malcolm Thomas no greater tribute because Chris is one of the most highly-regarded ex-players in the county, who would have been snapped up by any other club in the county but stayed loyal to Lawrenny.
 
That respect is fully deserved because Malcolm typifies everything that is good at Lawrenny Cricket Club and long may he continue to do such a great job for his only club – and hopefully wear his new badge with pride!