Cricket Scorers Feature:
Jayne Cole is rightly regarded as the most experienced scorer in Pembrokeshire Cricket because in her time at Haverfordwest CC she has created records of success that are never likely to be matched.She unofficially began scoring up on The Racecourse when she was eight years old, part-scored her first Harrison-Allen Bowl Final as a teenager, and in the intervening years has been involved in another SIXTEEN Bowl Finals, THIRTEEN Duggie Morris Cup Finals and scored in TEN seasons when The Town claimed the division one championship!
Loads of travel just to score matches
And what has made this amazing collection of mementoes is the fact that throughout all that time she has regularly faced a 130-mile round trip because Jayne lives in Briton Ferry, and for 36 years was a theatre sister at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, which was formerly Neath General Hospital.
“There was only SEN nurse training at Haverfordwest in those days,” Jayne told us,” and since I couldn’t speak Welsh I thought it was better to go there than Carmarthen – and I loved my work there and am considering whether to go back there to help out for a couple of days a week.”
A real Town family involvement and a nervous start!
That Jayne should be involved in cricket is unsurprising because the family lived a cricket-ball throw from The Racecourse and her late dad Huw was a player there for many years, as were brothers Andrew and Steve.
“So it was natural that my mum Jean used to stroll across to watch and I went to. I started to watch the scorers and mum got me a book to score in – and I took to it like a duck to water.
“Gradually I started to score some games as I got older and at 17 I shared my first Harrison-Allen Bowl Final with Susan Hughes, where I scored the first and third innings and she did innings two and four. I have to admit that I was so nervous that I knocked over and broke a flask of coffee!”
Even when she got marries she continued her interest with full support from her late husband Dai, who used to jokingly tell friends he was a cricketing widower.
Memorable moments . . .
“In those 17 Bowl Finals, ten of which Haverfordwest won, there have inevitably been some highs and some lows, with an upbeat moment being when we beat a Lamphey side that included a great player in David Lovell, and despite his being at the crease for the final over we still manged to snatch victory against the odds.“Another memorable moment came in 2016 when we looked like losing as Cresselly needed only seven runs off the last seven balls but Adam Chandler was well caught near the clubhouse by Nigel Delaney – and Adam James bowled the last over so well that they still needed six off the last ball.
“Neilson Cole belted the ball towards the scorebox and Teagan (Cartwright) and I thought it was going to hit us but Dai Davies took the catch to give us a nail-biting win!”
“And last season’s success also deserves a mention as Adam James’ brilliant batting performance pulled us back from a 43-run deficit at tea, ‘with ‘Jamer’ belting 80+ runs in both innings!”
. . . And disappointments too!
One of the disappointing moments came in the Duggie Morris Cup Final at Burton when Neyland needed six runs of the final ball and Patrick Bellerby smashed the ball over the boundary – and another bad experience, again against Neyland, came in last year’s semi-final when Neyland needed eight runs of the last ball, a seemingly impossible task, until they were awarded five wides and another ball, which was misfielded on the boundary and Neyland were able to scamper the three runs needed!
Great camaraderie amongst scorers young and not so young!
But as well as lots of highlights, far too many to talk about here, Jayne would say she has made many great friendships with her own players and lots more around the county.“There is a great camaraderie amongst the scorers and long-lasting friendships formed, plus some nice banter with umpires as we all work together.”
“I have also enjoyed helping new scorers too get started and now I like using the I-pad method of scoring alongside my book, which I try to keep not only accurate but looking a picture too.”
And finally . . .
It is typical of Jayne that she plays down her part in local cricket but she forgets to mention how well she deals with the local press, with nuisances like me phoning at regular intervals for updates on the score.Danny Potter has been The Town skipper for several years and stood down this season, but told us,
“It has been brilliant having Jayne as scorer because her scoring methods provide us with so much valuable information about individual player performances, scoring rates from batsmen and over by over analysis of bowlers’ figures.
She is very much part of our team and long may she continue to be with us.”
High praise indeed from someone who is a lovely lady, knows her cricketing stuff, and echoed by myself and others in local cricketing circles!