The "Experienced" Cricketers
Rob McAndrew
Right Hand Bat / Right Arm Slow weird cutters
Rob likes things to be done properly, a stickler for rules and regulations his organisational skills are exactly as you'd expect of a man with more letters after his name than the letter "A." A former 2nd team captain Rob has been a consistent performer for the 2nd XI for over 10 years. Never a batsman you'd hang your hat on he did hold the club record score when in 1995 he bludgeoned his way to 156 off just over half the amount of deliveries. The bat used that day was nailed to the pavilion ceiling and some say that same hammer used for the bat was used to nail his feet together as the shot Rob now performs more regularly and effectively than any other is the jumping dab. A manifestation of Colin Watson's "running dab," Robert was forced to improvise a new shot following the threat of legal proceedings for copyright infringement made by our current scorer. Rob is allergic to Miskin where he has broken his finger on 2 separate occasions.
Steve Matthews
Right Hand Bat / Right Arm Off-spin
Mattsy joined Pentyrch in 2005 from Pontypridd and immediately set about trying to sell cricket equipment to all his team mates. Famed for his "Four Cheese & Onion sandwiches" he puts his success down to his magic bullet, "a cooking utensil not available in any stores and if you call now we'll also give you this brand new set of bread knives." An organised batsman who takes guard 11ft outside his crease Mattsy is also a very useful off spin bowler and slip fielder. Thanks to his own words "I've got a girls arm" he will rarely be seen patrolling the boundary when defending a total but his cool head ensures that he is always best off where the action is.
Dave Tallis
Right Hand Bat / Right Arm Pitcher
A former baseballer David is the 2nd XIs' premier all rounder. As well as his uncanny ability to run in to bowl whilst shaking his head David has never been given out correctly LBW. As mid week captain Tally likes to flex his leadership muscles by threatening to not bat people who don't offer to umpire and then forgets about them when they are. Dave was notorious, when he first started playing cricket, for never wearing a box or gloves; it is vitally important for any player to protect the body parts most important to them and for Dave to not wear gloves was ill advised. He has perfected the Crocodile method of catching and his egg mayo sandwiches are not to be sniffed at. Dave is a keen cook and nearly killed our new second team skipper over the winter by putting mushrooms in his meal.
Paul Jones
Right Hand Bat / Right Arm Medium-fast
A long time servant of Pentyrch, Jonesy is a bowler with a fear of left handed batsmen. Joined an exclusive Club in May 2005 when Creigiau's Deadly Derek had him trapped LBW plumb in a 3rd team game. Paul's protests that "the ball wouldn't have reached" fell on deaf ears as he made the long walk back to the changing rooms. Paul is a skiddy bowler and often surprises batsman with the bounce he gets from even the slowest of pitches. No slouch with the bat either, Paul is an aggressive batsman who more often than not likes to take the aerial route.
Phil Roberts
Right Hand Bat
Punchy or "Punchington Muse" as Martyn Brown would call him has been a member of Pentyrch & The Old Monktonions since JM had sideburns & before Ted was wearing shorts. A bottom handed slapper of the ball he can manoeuvre any delivery to behind square leg though his finest moment in recent history must have been hitting the ball onto the roof of Brecon Leisure Centre, a feat even more memorable as we were playing at home! A typical Scouser with a razor sharp mind, grrrreat sense of humour and a natural musician; it was Phil that was called on when Colin lost his car keys. He was the first 3rd XI captain, a job that he performed for 3 years, and is the outgoing 4th team skipper. From Monday to Friday Phil works for Thomas Carroll, from where he sends e-mails on behalf of JM. Punchy is also very skilled at finding rude words in song titles.
Tony "Doc" Yule
Right Hand Bat / Right Arm Floaters
The Doc likes to have a walk; he walks on tour, he walks up to the ground when he isn't playing & he walks on LBW appeals. Also fond of walking around topless with a hanky on his head Tony is still one of the most enthusiastic members of the club whether it be on or off the field of play. He joined the Old Monks before they had a ground and is determined that the club will continue to go from strength to strength by virtue of huge generosity and application. I am led to believe that Tony hasn't missed a tour in 32 years though I am unable to tell you of Tony's bowling due to the old saying "What goes on tour stays on tour." Turning up at Nets every Friday Doc is a member of the "Take the pin out and thro it over the top" school of bowling and has taken 32 wickets for Pentyrch.
Bob Szpadt
Left Hand Whacker / Right Arm getting slower
Bob has played cricket for every team in South Wales and you can not go anywhere North of Pentyrch (why would you want to?) where Bob hasn't left a mark. Bob joined Pentyrch 11 seasons ago with his son Mark and, for 2 of those seasons, captained the 2nds. As a captain, Bob was from the Unsolved Mysteries' school of thinking as he strategically placed all his fielders in a circle around the opposition batsmen. This would start as a small circle which would expand as the game went on; I must say that for an enthusiast, Bob is the most defensive field setters in the club. This is by complete contrast to his batting where he is something of a typhoon. One of his most memorable moments in the last few seasons came at Ponthir for the 3rds whilst batting with Ted. Ted who had stepped into the breach as we were short of a player had steadied our ship after being not very many for 5 chasing 154 when he was joined by Szpadtsy. We were confident that with these two at the crease a narrow victory would be coming our way. This was also Ted's thought and between overs the batsman met in the middle for a chat "Nothing stupid now Bob, we can win this in singles." "Spot in Ted, reminds me of a game in '73 at Crimla for Ebbw, 1's and 2's that's all we need" replied Bob who turned around to take strike for the first ball of the next over. Unfortunately Bob failed to take his own advice and as the 12 year old bowler let go of the ball Szapdtsy left his ground and swung his bat like he was trying to hit the ball back to 1973. Bob was stumped, Ted was furious while the rest of the 3rds were hiding as they didn't want to go and umpire. Bob is almost famous for "pulling a fetlock" and at last count he had pulled both hamstrings a total of 82 times.