About Cowbridge Cricket Club

This time last year I thought that I’d been served a ‘curve ball’ as we had four members of the Committee and numerous players leaving the club. However, I shouldn’t have been concerned as the following report will highlight the resilience of our great club in adverse circumstances.

 

Each Friday, through the summer, around 80 All Stars children aged 5-8 years old, experienced their first taste of cricket. Their evenings were enhanced by Lorry Davies and Matt Wood’s BBQs - not only did Matt and Lorry research our BBQ options, but they also sourced the food and ran the BBQs on each All-Star evening- a tremendous effort. We also had 132 boys and girls playing in our Under 9 - Under 17 junior section. The highlight was our U14s hardball girls’ team, coached by Lorry Davies, winning the Cardiff and Vale league - a fantastic achievement. Thanks also go to the many coaches, supporters, parents, grandparents and helpers who are all so important to the success of this section. It is of course, the club’s responsibility to ensure juniors enjoy the game and to encourage as many as possible to progress to play senior cricket. It must be our aim to be fully inclusive, regardless of ability, so that every junior achieves their maximum potential. I’m proud that as a club we fully promoted this ethos throughout the season. The junior season ended with a fun and well attended end of season awards day on the Bank Holiday weekend. Thanks go to Rhidian Thomas and Vicky Jarvis, Directors of junior cricket, who worked incessantly throughout the season.

 

Following a successful early season tour to La Manga, our woman’s section endured a tough league softball season. However new players were recruited and the season ended with an enjoyable softball festival where we put out two home sides. It is our aim to field both Under 12 and Woman’s hardball teams’ next season. Thanks go to Guy Parker, Steve Pearce, Sarah Kotecha, Rhys Andrews and George Holly for their umpiring and scoring and to Ben Williams and Paul Jarvis for manning the barbeque and cake stall. Thanks also to Claire Williams for her unwavering support as social media lead and team manager, to Lorry Davies for her huge effort in preparing the club for creation of a women’s hardball team and to Alex Meredith and Elinor Sevenoaks for their coaching input and for Elinor stepping in as softball captain. Thanks also to Vicky Jarvis, Director of Women’s and Girls Cricket, for all her hard work in her first season in the role.

 

Our Open Age sides lost several players from our first and second X1s in the off-season resulting in us dropping from the Premier League to Division 3 and our seconds from Division 3 to Division 10. This decision however was vindicated with both the firsts, captained by Matt Smart and the seconds, captained by Will Harris clinching promotion, with both teams expertly coached by John Davies. Our third team, captained by Ian Harris, finished 4th in Division 10 and continued to provide an excellent early introduction for juniors transitioning to senior cricket, with many of the juniors playing with their parents. Individual highlights were Rhys Jones as Division Three’s top run scorer and Ian Harris with most dismissals in Division Ten. The midweek side finished 3rd in their league but, at times, struggled with player availability and commitment. They were however well led by Johnny Lowrie. Thanks go to Peter Cartwright, scorer and John Brazier, umpire. Michael Fogg, our new Saturday scorer, settled in well aided by Sara Russell with many of us enjoying reading his match summaries and comments on a Sunday afternoon.

 

There were numerous compliments from visiting teams regarding how spectacular our ground looked this year. Hugh Williams, our head of grounds, spent hours preparing the wicket and outfield to an extremely high standard, offering equal chance to both batsman and bowler. In addition to this, he also organises the 100 Club and liaises with Cowbridge Comprehensive School regarding winter nets. We are most grateful for his dedication to our club. I know that Hugh would also like to thank John Griffiths and many others for their help during the season.

 

Fundraising is always a challenging and time-consuming business but during the year several highly successful events were held and I’m grateful to the following for their hard work in facilitating these: Elinor Sevenoaks (Quiz Night), Gaynor Smart (Fashion Show & President's Lunch), Lorry Davies, Matt Wood, Sara Russell (official patio opening), Matt Smart (Golf Day), Sara Russell (Annual Dinner).

Thank you also for all the members and committee who helped at these events and for their donation of raffle prizes. I’d also like to thank Julian Hitchcock of The Bear Hotel, for always providing excellent meals at our functions and to Chris Rees, bar manager, who is so helpful and amenable to opening the bar when required. Chris also contributed significantly when organising the patio opening, which help us raise much needed club funds. Our sponsors, including player sponsors, and vice-presidents provide significant financial support to the club and are always so generous year on year - we are extremely grateful to them all.

During the year we sadly lost Llewellyn Davies, Roger Morris, Jill Brace, Colin Williams and Johnny Llewellyn all of whom had close associations with the club over many years.

Finally, I’d like to thank the committee - Gaynor Smart, Ian Harris, Lorry Davies, Claire Walker, Sara Russell, Rhidian Thomas, Vicky Jarvis, Matt Smart and Hugh Williams for their unrelenting support in what has been a hugely successful year for Cowbridge Cricket Club, and I look forward to another highly successful season in 2026.