Rupert Baker – a veritable giant of a cricketer!

 

When Rupert Baker arrived in Pembrokeshire, he opted to play for Narberth Cricket Club in 1985 and remained there for five happy seasons before his work in the civil service took home back to England for a series of work roles in his home country, where he continued to play cricket before he eventually switched to golf and has since played well there.
 
He made an immediate impact at Narberth as he steamed in from the Market End and used his height to get bounce, allied to pace, that soon had our cricketing fraternity talking about this new giant of a pace man causing them to leap about!
 
Rupert has always been a great one for keeping records and between 1985 and ’89 he played 78 times for Narberth and took 139 wickets at an average of 13.2. He also played in a number of cup matches, which not recorded, and he played seven times for the Pembroke County Cricket Club, with best figures of 5 for 51 against the South Wales Cricket Association.

 

Enjoyed a ‘Walk Down Memory Lane’

 

So, it was nice that he and his wife Pat were able to come back to watch Narberth win The Harrison-Allen Bowl Final, where he resumed friendships with his old cricketing pals Gary Hughes and Mike Johns, both of whom had respective sons in Ben and Matthew making an impact with their bowling exploits on the big day.
 
They took a ‘Walk Down a Memory Lane’ and recalled great days with the likes of the late Roger Price, Bobby Simons, Geraint Bowen, Peter Hughes and others too numerous to mention here. Rupert also told PembrokeshireSport.co.uk that he still keeps up with all the scores from Pembrokeshire Cricket by looking at our web site every Sunday morning!
 

Mixed fortunes in his rugby attempts!

 
Outside of his cricket in our county, he also played some seconds’ rugby for The Otters` as second-row partner to the late Howells Passey - and even made one appearance for the first XV as they played against Felinfoel, perhaps it was because some of the first teamers had too much to drink at a party the night before.
 
“That was as tough as I expected it – and to be honest I wasn’t in too much of a hurry to claim a regular place, and couldn’t wait for the cricket to start again!
 

A prize scalp – and service overseas

 
He started out in cricket after he had been brought up in Blackheath, London, when he joined the Ministry of Defence at High Wycombe and started playing for Princes Risborough CC - and when his work took him to RAF Marston he moved to play for Broadstairs CC in division two of the Kent League, which was a high standard with really good cricketers.
 
Then it was back to play for Princes Riseborough when he worked at RAF Uxbridge and he took one of three nine-wicket hauls, conceding only 14 runs in the process - and when he again switched to RAF Alconbury, an American base, he turned out for Kimbolton CC and played in the Cambridgeshire League whilst representing Huntingdonshire in inter-county matches.
 
Included in that time-zone he played against Leicestershire 2nd XI and he actually claimed the wicket of Jonathan Agnew, who was playing for the opposition - but Rupert admits that it was towards the end of the innings and ‘Aggers’ took a cross-bat swipe that caused his downfall.
 
He also had short spells with the Ministry of Defence in Belize and The Falklands, where they occasionally played cricket against crews from visiting warships- but they were definitely social events, rather than really competitive games!




 

Left Pembrokeshire – and found a new sporting love!

 
Then to finish in this county it was on to Pembroke Dock Mooring & Marine Salvage department and ultimately Trecwn - before moving to the South of England, where he switched his sporting allegiance to golf - and eventually reduced his handicap to 9 but is back up to 15 now, which is certainly not bad going for a 70-year-old!
 
He started out at Ross on Wye Golf Club, where he was captain for a year and has since switched to Cheltenham and is still going strong.
 

And finally . . .

 
Rupert insists, however,  that cricket has always been his first sporting love and he was delighted to return to Pembrokeshire, especially since he was able to watch his former club as they claimed the coveted Harrison-Allen Bowl.
 
On a personal note, it was a pleasure to resume our acquaintance because I had written a previous article where I had named Rupert Baker in my top team that was currently playing in the county - and I used to love watching him charge down the slope in Narberth and causing consternation amongst some very good batsman!