Sports lovers who used the internet last season would have found details of the Pembrokeshire Midweek Cricket League on there after that friendly competition was thought up and run entirely by Josh Hicks with the aim of providing more midweek cricket for clubs to enjoy on a less serious front than Saturday and cup cricket in the county.
It goes without saying that it takes a fair bit of organisation to start off, organise and then administer a mid week cricket league but in Josh’s case it is more remarkable because when the league started out he was only 17!
Now that he has reached the ripe old age of 18 he is already looking forward to a second season of the Pembrokeshire Midweek Cricket League and is in the process of meeting the teams interested and drawing up the fixtures for them.
Variety of reasons for playing
Josh held the view that for clubs knocked out of cup competitions early, or who wanted to just play a few games in a more relaxed atmosphere, the midweek league catered for that. It gave them the chance to include players back from injury or seeking to get back into form, to give youngsters or old-timers more chance of an innings or a bowl, or simply to provide a game for those not quite good enough to play regularly in league cricket.
“I play for Haverfordwest’” said Josh, “and Danny Potter was right out of form for our first team so played in midweek, scored a 50 and then on Saturday struck his first century of the season.
“We also played lots of teenagers and a few old timers so it worked well for us.”
Clubs eager to play
At the start, he contacted lots of clubs by e-mail and received a good response from ten of them who attended an initial meeting at Llangwm which he chaired. The format was explained to them and basic needs discussed and it was agreed that all ten would compete in two sections – north and south, to save travel. The games were to be played for fun over 20 overs per team, with a minimum of five overs each, and umpired by the players themselves.
Then there was the matter of contacting the Pembroke County Cricket Club for permission to start the league, which was soon granted to Josh.
Worked well, despite the weather
So Josh quickly got to grips with the fixtures, bearing in mind the fact that clubs might have cup commitments with the Pembroke County Cricket Club, and teams knew that they could postpone and rearrange fixtures, as long as they kept him informed.
“It worked well, despite the awful weather,” Josh told us, “and most were played, included one that should have gone ahead in April but was eventually played in June!”
“I e-mail each club to remind them of the forthcoming week’s matches and all they have to do is confirm the date or let me know when it is going to be played instead. One club even played on Sunday and that seemed to work well also.”
“Most clubs managed to play all their matches and a special mention from me goes to Carew, where Nick Scourfield did a brilliant job of being right on the ball as far as organisation was concerned.
There was high scoring aplenty in the games, with Carew scoring 170 in one match and Lawrenny responded with 160-odd.”
Other sport
Josh played county cricket from under 11s to under 17s alongside the likes of Ashley James, Jack Murphy and Richard Jones, and is no slouch either on the football field, having played in goal for the cricket club’s football side after previously being part of the Swansea City Development Squad as a central defender. He enjoyed four seasons there until a reorganisation left the Swans without a team in his age group.
“But I enjoyed the experience,” says Josh with a grin!
Special focus on Midweek League
But now he is focussing on his cricket on both fronts, as a Saturday player and midweek organiser.
“The feedback from last season has been positive and we might even have a couple more teams involved in midweek,” said Josh,
Ask him about helpers and he admits that he will be chairman, secretary and general dogsbody – but not treasurer because there is no need for one, since there is no charge to play and no costs, either.
It is great to see a young sportsman getting so involved off the field in his sport – and we at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk wish Josh Hicks continued success in his endeavours to bring cricket a little closer to those who might otherwise not be involved!