Star of the Month – August 2018 - Richard Merriman

 


We are delighted to feature our second ‘Star of the Month’ award-winner for August to another cricketing stalwart who gives such yeoman service to the game in our county!
 
He is ultra-busy already but the 2020 cricket season is sure to be an even more special one for Richard Merriman because he will become chairman of the Pembroke County Cricket Club at the same time as taking on the same role with the Pembrokeshire Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers.
 
It means lots of work and a total commitment to both roles and there can have been few, if any, cricket administrators who have done both before at the same time, and as part of his CV in the game he can add the fact that he has been chairman of Whitland Cricket Club for 11 seasons and a county selector of the senior team for a lengthy period too.
 

Enjoys rugby too

 
Throw in a six-year stint as vice-chairman of Whitland Rugby Club and his involvement as acting president of the Pembrokeshire Junior Rugby Union and it is easy to see why we have chosen Mr Merriman as our 'Star of the Month' for August 2018 in recognition of all his work, even before he assumes the lead role in both cricketing committees.
 
At the moment he is vice-chairman to Paul Webb on the executive committee of the Pembroke County Cricket Club and is in the same role with the umpires led by Dave Brandon as chairman; and singles both fellers as hard acts to follow.
 

Started out as a young scorer . . .

 
He first got involved in the summer sport as an 11 year old who scored for the Whitland first team captained by the late Hilliard Davies, whom he regarded with awe even then, but moved away from the game until his elder son Robert became involved and he resumed as scorer for the club's first XI.
 
After a while he was asked by Trefor Evans, hugely involved as one of the best umpires in the county, to take up umpiring and after passing his exams with the help of Trefor Evans and Dave Brandon, started out standing in the middle for league and cup games.
 

. . . And soon settled in as a scorer

 
Richard quickly earned the respect of players around the county with his ability to correctly make key decisions and has a good rapport with players - and in the intervening years has officiated at three Harrison-Allen Bowl Finals, plus at least once in every other competition in the county.
 
Ask him about the toughest job to gain selection for and he would say the Ormond Youth Cup Final because his own club was involved almost every season as a result of the coaching the young players received from Colin John!
 

Officiated at the Welsh Cricket Cup Final

 
Outside of the county, Richard was understandably honoured to umpire the Welsh Cricket Cup Final, officiating alongside Tony Scourfield in 2010, and hopes that other local umpires get the chance because they are certainly good enough and it is a great day out for any official!
 
Richard was elected to the county committee in 2013 and is now in his second season as vice-chairman, having already experienced the fact that some decisions made are inevitably difficult but have to be made for the good of the game - and praises the efforts of those who take on the work as volunteers.
 

And finally . . .

 
But the plus side for him is the fact that so many talented youngsters are making their mark and are playing for the county senior side under a good captain in Sean Hannon and have won their first two games of this season, both against the South Wales Cricket Association, which he attended with his wife Linda, who is a great support in his love for the game.
 
So what of the future? Richard readily admits that he will continue to work as hard as he possibly can for the good of cricket in our county and hopes that players and clubs will strive to eliminate any behaviour that brings the game into disrepute.
 
He is a friendly individual who enjoys the social side of the game but will continue to support the county club in its quest for remaining as the game looked up to by others for sportsmanship - and in presenting him with our second  'Star of the Month' for August we do so wishing Richard Merriman every success as an administrator in his chosen sport for many years to come!