PEMBROKSHIRE cricket has a new man at the helm after the annual general meeting saw Tony Scourfield elevated to the chairmanship as due reward for his long service and commitment to the Pembroke County Cricket Club.

Tony has been vice-chairman to Dave Loosmore (Haverfordwest) over the previous three seasons and now will occupy the chair for the next three years, working closely with Steve Blowes (hon secretary), Andrew Scott-Davies (hon treasurer), Nick Evans (hon assistant secretary) and John Harries (league secretary).

Dave Loosmore will now take over the role of immediate past chairman from Trefor Evans while another well-known cricketer in Paul Webb (Whitland) will sure to be a good support to Tony Scourfield as the new county club vice chairman.

Tony Scourfield was brought up in Lawrenny and for over 20 years was an integral part of their team alongside other good players like Owen Williams, Dai Jones, David Arthur and Chris Williams. But he moved to live in Carew when he married his wife Janice and their eldest son Nicholas became a talented Carew Youth player. Nick still plays a key role with the club alongside younger brothers Robert and Martin, and Tony played in the second team there for over a decade, putting his wealth of experience to good effect with some of the talented young players beginning to make a name for themselves.

From there Tony was persuaded to take up umpiring and has earned a reputation over the past 13 years as a very good, strong and reliable umpire who joined Richard Merriman in officiating at the Harrison-Allen Bowl final of 2009, when Cresselly beat Neyland.

But now he takes on a vital job and his typically down to earth way told us: “I want to see cricketers in our county showing every respect for umpires and to play with total commitment whilst always remembering that we play to enjoy ourselves and not to win at any cost.

“We have a great league and cup competitions and I hope the 2014 season is one that can be remembered for all the right reasons.”

The other major changes in the county executive centre on the role of Ground Advisor, with Euros Jones (Crymych) having decided to stand down and his place taken by Glyn Cole (Cresselly), also Stefan Jenkins (Cresselly) joins the county executive alongside the previous incumbents who were available for selection.