Brymbo Legends Interviews

Background:
Started Playing at the age of 7/8 while watching my Dad and Uncle play.

Best player ever played with and against:
With: Nigel Roberts/ Marnus Labuschagne. Starting off at Brymbo and playing in a team full of excellent players in an era when trophies were the norm. Nige was such a fantastic player who made the game look extremely easy and also helped me a lot with my game.
Marnus announced himself last season and learning off him has been a privilege. His love and passion for the game is quite extraordinary; he brought a typical Aussie presence with him which really rubbed off on the whole team.

Against: Glen Chambers. A player who you wouldn’t want to play against but at the same time admire; a player who has done so much for North Wales cricket. Extremely good with bat and ball and could win games by himself.
Brendon McCullum has always been one of my favourite players, he scored a hundred against us a couple of years ago and the arrogance he had was incredible.

Best Captain:
Dafydd Rhys. He captained me at the start of my Brymbo career, was a passionate player and helped me a lot with my batting. He’s also a lovely bloke.
Jaques Rudolph. He really gave me the confidence to express my game, and gave me the opportunity especially in the shorter format.

Seam Bowler:
With: Michael Hogan. In his day, one of the best bowlers I have ever come across; his skill and control is incredible.
Bit of a blast form the past, but Chris Trulove who I played with at Brymbo. He was a serious bowler who we missed greatly when he left.

Against: Mad Rhys from Pont used to get me out every time and also wouldn’t be short of a few words, great player and bloke too.
Chris Rushworth, especially with a new ball he can make any batsman look stupid.

Swing Bowler:
With: Russell Penrhyn. He’s a very skillful bowler who, a bit like Rhys, would love a chat with the opposition. Great to have and your side, and did a lot for me.
James Allenby. Slow-ish bowler but had incredible skill with the ball and would get loads of wickets, even on flat wickets.

Against: Danny Clubbe. Played a lot with and against as a kid and he was a real talent, great competitor and really skillful bowler.
Darren Stevens. Similar bowler to Jim Allenby; a very clever bowler who can, again, make players look silly.

Spin Bowler:
With: Nige was great to watch while I played for Brymbo. He knew exactly what he was doing and also knew what the batsmen were going to try and do. I think it helped being such a good batsman that he could bowl with a batting mentality.
Robert Croft. Again similar to Nige, great control and he would also use the crease a lot.

Against: Rashid Khan. I’ve been very fortunate to play against him; very difficult to pick, especially with the pace he bowls it at. Luckily he hasn’t got me out yet and I’ve also managed to whack him out the park a few times.
Ashley Wood from Menai. Long, long time ago but I seem to remember how good he was and he always seemed to pick four or five wickets against us all the time.

Quick Bowler:
With: Will Owen in his prime was one of the quickest bowlers consistently I have seen. As he got older and injuries became an issue, he got really skillful with the ball.
Ben Roberts/ Dewi Penrhyn. Both were young but could send it down at a fair lick for Brymbo.

Against: Jofra Archer. Scary quick, especially with the angle he creates you just feel he’s going to bowl you a rocket which will angle in and hit you in the box… Which has happened a couple of times and it, as you imagine, isn’t nice.
An overseas player from Bangor. He was only little and was from South Africa but can’t seem to remember his name.

Batsman:
With: Marnus. His hunger for runs is amazing. He just loves spending time in the middle and just loves cricket as a whole; it’s like a religion to him.
Dafydd Rhys. Saw some great innings from Dafydd and fortunately for me, I spent a lot of time at the other end watching him.

Against: Dion Holden from Menai. He made it look easy and had such a great technique. Should have played pro for sure.
Ian Bell. We played him twice a couple of years ago and he had scores of 200, 100+ x3 and we got him out once. Such an elegant player to watch.

Wicket Keeper:
With: Chris Cooke and Phil Lloyd. Both have and had such great hands, standing up to seamers and spinners, they both make it looks so easy. Also both a very, very good batsmen, which for any side is crucial.

Against: James Foster from Essex. Similar to Phil and Chris, he had crazy hands.
Robbie Marshall from Bangor was really good and still is imagine. Top bloke too.

The Big Hitter:
Chris Cooke, Ross Roberts and Dave Blackwell. All three can hit the ball absolutely miles.

Mr Consistent:
Colin Ingram. Consistently smashes it out of the park in the shorter format.
Joss Roberts. Loved batting time and boring the opposition, very talented player.

Best Catcher:
Ross Roberts. I seem to remember he had bucket hands.
Marchant De Lange. Haven’t seen him drop many at all.

Best Arm:
Marchant De Lange. Absolute racket of an arm.

Top Fielder:
Marnus Labuschagne. Such a bubbly and energetic character who would love to field in the slip or point, also loves getting stuck into the batsmen.
James Claybrook would only have been young when I played with him, but he was a great athlete.

Best No 11:
Michael Hogan. He can play some proper shots and can also hit the best bowlers out of the park.
Danny Mumbles used to be steady with the bat.

Biggest Joker:
Ali Khalid just always makes you laugh, even if it is crap that comes out of his mouth.
Kiran Carlson; the annoying one in the dressing room that just doesn’t stop winding people up.

Toughest Opponent:
Robbie Jones from Menai always seemed to produce the goods in tricky situations.
I would have to say Jofra Archer, he just never lets you settle.

Inspiration:
My Dad and Uncle. Watching them from a young age really did inspire me to want to play cricket. I have a lot of people to thank for helping me in becoming a cricketer, especially Brymbo Cricket Club.

Proudest Cricketing Achievement:
Captaining Glamorgan

Best Innings (most memorable):
T20 match v Kent, managed to get 97* of 46 balls

Favourite Bowling Spell:
5 wickets also v Kent in a one day game at St Helens

Highest Innings:
245 against Warwickshire in a 2nd team, three day game

Stand Out Memories:
Brymbo dominating age group cricket and playing with all of my mates is something I hope to do again.

Any Regrets:
Plenty. Not working hard enough at a younger age. Training has become a big factor for me and training smart.

Promising Youngster:
Roman Walker. He has a lot going for him.

Three most important qualities that make a cricketer stand out:
Resilience
Hard Work
Enjoyment.

Fondest memory of your time with Brymbo:
Playing with all of my mates for the club I love. One particular moment was winning a game batting with my Uncle. It was a proud moment.

What would you like to have achieved by the end of your cricket career:
To come back and play for Brymbo and win the league would honestly be one of my biggest achievements.