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A brief Club History It is believed the club was originally formed in the early 1880s playing home fixtures on the "Barn Field". In the early 20th century, matches were played at the Park on a wicket at the top end of the current rugby ground. The beautiful setting of The Park is still the club's home, a purpose built ground at the south end surrounded by tall trees and the steep Arael mountain (1806 ft). The river Ebbw Fach forms The Parks' western boundary and the famous "Bob Bank" to the east. The A467 main highway passes within yards of this eastern boundary, Glandwr Street (or is it Wembley Way?!) lies to the south and the Pavilion end north. The wooden pavilion (as it used to be) is now the site for the score box. Interest in playing cricket had eased a little of late after a boom period in the mid to late nineties. However, the unprecedented success of season 2003 has resulted in enthusiasm for the sport returning to the cricket fraternity with the fantastic news that the third team will be reformed for league cricket in 2004. The 2003 captains Chris Rogers and Dave Morris can take a lot of credit for the resurgence having stated on this page last year that one of the aims was to revive interest so that the third team would become viable again in 2004. Congratulations lads! For the record, the first team won the Thomas, Carroll Welsh Club Cricket Conference Division Two and the John Cotton Knockout Cup (for the second time in four seasons) whilst the seconds also gained promotion into Division One by finishing second in the reserve league. It was a fantastic season and it is hoped the good times feeling will remain for 2004. The officers are all long serving members (and former players) of the club and the current captain of the club is batsman Chris Rogers who has followed in the footsteps of his father Eric - the captain of the side in the mid-eighties. Of the previous captains, special mentions must go to Tony Seymour, who captained the club for 10 consecutive seasons from 1992-2001 (and led his team to promotion in 1996 and cup final success in 2000), and Dave Abraham, the current treasurer who was captain for 14 seasons between 1961 and 1974, one year before the current incumbent was born! Other captains to serve the club well include the 2nd XI's Martin Lewis who captained his side for 11 seasons (leading them to a league title in 1989) and John Fox who worked tremendously hard in overseeing the third team (whose home games were at Llanhilleth) for seven seasons commencing in 1995. The 1st XI play in the Welsh Club Cricket Conference (re-organised 2002) with the main target being promotion to the South Wales Cricket League (the elite clubs in South East Wales) so that the young cricketers of the future have the chance to play at the highest possible level. The second XI follow the firsts in that they play in the Conference reserve league. For 2004 the third team will actually play in the South Wales Cricket League Third XI league hopefully treading a path for which the firsts can follow! The club has a fine tradition of bringing youngsters through into the first team - the policy paid dividends in the late eighties with the likes of Matthew Shore and the Rogers boys (Paul, Greg and Chris) coming through the ranks. Before that, of course, we had the golden era which produced the likes of Tim and Chris Lewis, Darryl Abraham and the Rossiter boys (Mark and Ian). The current crop have been looked after for some time by the excellent Andrew Langdon who has given up a lot of his time to ensure the boys receive the best possible coaching. With the likes of Andrew's boy Geraint, David Langdon, Adam Poole and Matthew Haile, the club again looks to be in a healthy state for some time to come. The club remains strictly amateur with a playing membership of around 45 players. Amongst the leading players are Chris Rogers (28 centuries in the last 8 seasons), all-rounder Clive Cooper (who arrived from Blaina CC in the summer of 1991), and opening bat Steve Hughes. The club would also like to extend a warm welcome to all-rounder Gareth "Wesley" Price, an Abertillery boy who has just arrived from Ebbw Vale CC and is a player the club have long coveted. Gareth will, in 2004, be playing in his second season for the club having performed superbly in 2003. Noteable past players include Albert "Allan" Watkins (15 England Tests), Phil Clift (Glamorgan CCC) and big hitting Cyril Smart (who held the first-class record of 34 runs in an over in the pre-war years.) Post war players who have been particularly successful include Bob Berryman, Bill Mayberry, David Abraham, Roy Howell (an excellent 1st class rugby player too!), Arthur Paul, Ken Hares, Keith Rossiter, Mike Crowley, Keith Jones, Arthur Hayman, Mike Williams, David Paul, Terry White, Keith Parsons, David Taylor, Nigel Paul and Tony Seymour. While the club has competed enthusiastically and competitively in the Monmouthshire League, Glamorgan and Gwent Conference and now Welsh Club Cricket Conference with several promotions and Cup Finals along the way, chasing pots has often come second to the sheer enjoyment of the game. Touring has regularly featured with visits to Ireland, London, Chesterfield, Wigan, Nottingham and Warwickshire being amonst the most memorable. Colwyn Bay has also proved a more than adequate venue and the club also have plans to venture further afield in the not too distant future. Excellent clubhouse facilities are provided at the Railway Inn, Bridge Street (see Sponsor's Page) where Olly and Rob made us feel most welcome and, although the Railway is now in the hands of Kelvin Hayman, we hope to continue our fine tradition of being welcoming hosts! Special mention as we head into season 2004 must continue to be given to Richard Smith who has given the club a lot of his time and effort in producing the club's first dedicated website which, many observers believe, could be one of the best of it's kind at our (or even higher?) standard. Richard will stay on at the club in his capacity as committee member (and also fan!) and the club hopes this continues to be a long and fruitful relationship.
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