50th Anniversary

The first recorded game in the town took place in 1870 and cricket continued to be played until the Second World War in 1940. The club was re-established at a public meeting in the Toc H Rooms on the 4th of March 1954. MANWEB employees had been playing friendly games for a year or two previously and they formed the backbone of the new Pwllheli team.

The youngsters attending Pwllheli Grammar School had also been playing cricket, encouraged by one of the teachers, Mr T H Jones. Mr Jones was a big fan of the game, an ex-player, captain and secretary of the club before the war. Within a few years, more than half the side comprised of youngsters from Pwllheli and Botwnnog Secondary Schools. In Pwllheli’s School side at the time were Derek Vaughan Jones and John Grant.

The games’ popularity had increased by the mid fifties. England regained the Ashes for the first time in eighteen years when they beat Australia in the final test of five at the Oval in 1953. Australia had been unbeatable since the mid thirties with the world famous Donald Bradman breaking all records. They had won six successive Test series from 1934 onwards with Bradman captain in four of these.
Although the ‘televisor’ as it was called in those days had broadcast games since 1938, television sets were far too expensive for all but the very rich. Coronation year however saw many people splashing out on sets and in-between watching the Queen being crowned and the testcard the nations cricket followers were spellbound by the exploits of Len Hutton, Jim Laker, Tony Lock and Fred Trueman and so the 1953 Test series became the first to be watched by a significant number of people.

There is no doubt that much interest was created and Pwllheli youngsters like everyone else would have been in awe of these new heroes. Some people remain convinced that this England team was their best ever excelling on  the ‘bodyline’ tour of the 30s and also surpassing the 80s team including Ian Botham and Graham Gooch amongst others.

In the early years the Cotgrove brothers, Cliff Hughes and W J Parry were prominent. The hard working committee should not be forgotten either, Mr J G Cotgrove, Mr J C N Shorting, Mr Arthur Jones and Mr Ken Thomas. The team played on a makeshift square on the middle of the football field on ‘The Rec.’ This was a group of young men enjoying the game. It is true to say that the standard of play was fairly ordinary with the state of the wicket little better in those early years. In the first season a hundred runs was surpassed only once. More often than not the team had to be content with totals of 50 runs, and quite often this would give them a sporting chance of winning the game.

There are two players however, who stand out head and shoulder above all others. Carl Shorting took 62 wickets in 1954 and was the first to score a century for the club, against Penygroes in 1957. It was very rare for a batsman to score a half century let alone a ton in those days. In the same game he took 7 wickets for 14 runs.

Aaron ‘Mac’ Eynon was a hero in the town due to his exploits on the football field. He was a member of the team managed by the famous Tommy Jones during the 50s and as a centre forward scored 97 goals in one season. On the cricket field he took nearly two hundered wickets in 69 appearances. His best season in 1955 yielded sixty eight wickets and best figures of 8 for 9 against Penygroes.
Three members of the original side still live locally; Cliff Hughes in Bangor, Carl Shorting on Anglesey and Maurice Cotgrove in Morfa Nefyn. Two of the team emigrated many years ago; R G Williams to Canada and M Robyns-Owen to New Zealand.

Uninspiring would be the best description for exploits on the field in the early years, apart from Shorting’s century and Eynon’s bowling. To compound matters the side lost no less than seven players at the end of the 1958 season. This blow cast a shadow on the future of the club during the close season, until pupils of Pwllheli and Botwnnog Grammar Schools stepped in to fill the breach. Mac Eynon(working in Trawsfynydd),Tom Haston(family business commitments), Carl Shorting(working away),John Grant(National Service), Ron Cotgrove(serious injury), Cliff Hughes(family business) and  J N Edwards(Trawsfynydd) were all lost to the game.

This as it turned out was the incentive that was required and the introduction of these youngsters saw a gradual improvement in standards up to 1963 when John Llew and Idris Williams swept all in front of them. This was the year when John took 91 wickets, a record which was to stand until broken by Neil Williams in 1990.

The record for most runs scored in a season is shared between Gwyn T Jones(1976) and Howard Gill(1989), both men scoring 707 runs.

Amongst the highlights of recent years is Howard Gill’s magnificent score of 165 against Benllech in 1989 and Gary Williams’s 10 wickets for 14 runs against Menai Bridge in 1987. Duncan Maclean remains the only player to have made 500 appearances and John Llew the only one to take 1000 wickets. Nine players have scored centuries with Neil Williams leading the way on six. The club is extremely proud of the achievements of two players who have represented Wales, James Verity in 1989 and Ben Jones in 2003.

Finances were very tight in the beginning. The kit comprised of two or three bats, two pairs of pads and no box. The team could not really afford to travel to away matches. On the rare occasions that they did a Crosville bus was hired with the driver David Ogwen Williams often doubling up as 11th man making up the team. Away days would be restricted to venues like Penrhyndeudraeth and Penygroes. Emyr Price as a ten year old well remembers the pride of being ‘part’ of the team and being given the responsibility of keeping score, looking after the kit and polishing the ball after the game. Later on as a member of the team and a youngster ‘showing promise’ being invited to Butlins Holiday Camp and receiving personal coaching from no less than Mr Charlie Hallows. Mr Hallows was an ex-Lancashire player who played twice for England who later became coach of  both and Lancashire and Worcester. He was employed at the Camp and would often bring his team to the Rec to play against Pwllheli.    

Shortage of money remained a problem in the early years. Rental of the ground and maintenance costs for 1959 was £11.0.0. On top of this the bus to the only away game played that year at Bala cost another £6.0.0 and food £4.10.0. With expenditure totalling nearly £31 there remained a surplus of £2.10.0 in the bank at the end of the year. The club was fortunate of the generosity of several vice-presidents who contributed £24 to the coffers. One of these was long standing benefactor, Mr J F Andrews, great-grandson of Solomon Andrews developer of the Rec. He gifted three guinees annually and took a great interest in the team’s exploits whilst retaining an eagle eye on the Rec.
Expenditure in 1960 rose to £43 with two away games costing nearly £15. Another expensive item was feeding the away teams which rose from £4.9.0 the previous year to £12.2.0. It was fortunate that contributions rose as well allowing for a bank balance of 8 shillings at the end of the season.
Bank balances rose to £9.1.1 in 1961 due largely to a grant of £40 from Border Limited. A consious effort to save money saw the decision being taken to prepare refreshments in the pavilion and this proved successful mainly due to the efforts of the wives and girlfriends of the players.

Games were played in the beginning on the middle of the football pitch with the square running from Talcymerau Bach towards the tennis courts. This did not last long as pressure from the football club forced the square to be relocated to an area between the football field and the tennis courts. This was fairly wet ground liable to flooding even during summer months and together with short boundaries was a less than ideal location. The standard of the square left a lot to be desired and there were times when it was dangerous to bat on especially without a box.

Tension between the sections came to a head, when in January 1961, without knowledge or permission from the cricket section a football match was played across the cricket field. As a result of the damage caused no home games were played until the end of May that year.

The Council spent very little on the Rec during this period and it was left to the players to carry out improvements. In 1962 the team decided to start clearing an area of rough ground backing onto Ffordd Talcymerau which when completed would extend boundaries by fifty yards. This work was ongoing in 1964 when three new drains were laid  and connected to an existing pipe on the boundary wall in an effort to improve drainage. Hard work from a few willing volunteers tried to improve the playing conditions, often under difficult circumstances.

By 1969 the condition of the Rec was a concern to Mr J F Andrews as noted in his correspondence. In response Bob Bovill the secretary agreed and confirmed the frustration which was felt by the cricket section. He confirmed the recommendation of the section conveyed through the Pwllheli Athletics Association in October 1968 to a plan that would transform the Rec. The idea of a swimming pool and sports hall was perhaps 15 years ahead of its time and failed to get a response from the Council.

He went on to emphasise the problems facing the team each year. The field was often too wet and had become worse since the new houses were built on Lon Talcymerau and the restriction on playing home games during the football season made the situation hard. The result of these difficulties was that only two home games were played before the end of June during 1969. The likelihood was that as many as 75% of games would have to be played away during the season and in future.

There had been much discussion over the years about moving from the Rec – a site in Glandon opposite the present CK main office had been mentioned at one time but nothing came of it. By September 1973 however confirmation came of the amalgation of the cricket and rugby clubs and the intention to develop a sports complex on ten acres of land in Efailnewydd. The rugby fields were ready in 1973 and the cricket square in 1977.

The team spent many happy years at the Rec before moving to Bodegroes Park, a move which coincided with a gradual improvement of both the playing standards and conditions and by now the wicket is one of the best in the league.

The Sports Club have recently purchased the land from Mr Anthony Jones, Penmaen and are owners of facilities which are amongst the best in the whole of North Wales.

 

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