Around The Boundary:

 
 
Chat to knowledgeable cricket lovers around the county about characters who typify all that is good about the game at Burton and it is almost a certainty that two of the names that immediately spring to mind are Steve Jones and Chris Campbell; not only for their cricketing ability but also because of the way they played the game – hard but usually with big smiles.
 
We say ‘usually’ because both were very competitive in their outlook and might not always agree with umpiring decisions, but were full of good humour and loved to meet up with opponents for a post-match pint at the ‘Jolly Sailor’ a short distance down the road.
 
Indeed, Chris loved spending time there so much that he eventually bought the place and is the popular ‘mine host’ and gives a warm welcome, not only to Burton but to other clubs as they pass on their way home from matches.
 

Still good pals at Oatfield Park

 
Steve has now retired from his company where he specialised in double glazing and building properties but at 65 he would still like to play as often as his ‘dodgy knees’ would allow to show off his silken batting skills and his deceptive bowling which Chris would describe as ‘a very varied mixture of swing and slow spin’ but which we can vouch for the fact that it always had opponents guessing!
 
Chris was best-known as a hard-hitting batsman with Burton but in his younger days at Johnston he also bowled and even kept wicket when needed as he played there from age 11 to 16.
 
I can vouch for Chris’s power-hitting because when Burton had a series of celebration matches to open Oatfield Park we opened the batting for the guests and both scored half centuries before retiring – but he had me scrambling to get out of the way of one of his strong straight drives!
 
At 56 now, he actually stopped playing about eight years ago but in his time has also been involved as a coach with his club and Pembrokeshire, which he really enjoyed because he saw a number of very good players develop, who are still playing today.
 

Romance on a cricket tour to the West Indies

 
Steve played for Pembrokeshire for many years and captained the county team for three years – and it was on a county tour to the West Indies that he met his wife Jean, which he still says was the best thing he has ever done.
 
He scored more runs than he can remember and was a wicket-taker who admits that he learned a lot just by watching the late Dai Griffiths, another Burton character if ever there was one.
 
Both Steve and Chris have had boys who play well for the club in the respective figures of Richard and Gavin – and the two old-timers are usually joined by Richard Hayman, another great supporter of the club and very good batsman, as they perambulate around the Oatfield Park boundary, putting sport and the world in general to rights.
 
Richard’s sons, Luke and Toby, are current key players with Burton, and Hayman senior would have also featured in our picture – but he was playing to help out the seconds in Division Four because Toby was at a wedding!