‘Around The Boundary’ Feature:

 
 
Helen Hodges has served Lamphey Cricket Club as their scorer for an amazing 30 years and has mastered the art so well that she provides her players with all the facts they need to look at to see in depth what has happened during matches – and it is nice to report that they appreciate her dedication because before the start of this season she was presented with a briefcase in the club’s colours, suitably inscribed.
 
It was presented by Rob Mathias, the club captain, and it was gratefully accepted by Helen who modestly plays down her role but there is no doubt that she knows the scoring system through and through and in dealing with pests like me, who call themselves the local press, she joins an elite group of scorers who can answer any questions on the match, no matter how complex.
 
And perhaps more impressive is the fact that she has remained with the club through thick and thin, from the time they were a small, village side through the years when they stood proudly at the top of the first division table and won the league under the imperious Dave Lovell in 1998, 2000 and 2001 alongside The Harrison-Allen Bowl in 1999 and 2000.
 

Other interests galore

 
In her scoring role Helen is a model of calmness, which perhaps she has gained through many years as a solicitor and a director with Eaton, Evans & Morris, in Haverfordwest – and it is fair to say that she also has a range of other interests outside sport, especially with regard to The Pembrokeshire Young Farmers’ Club, where she has been the president for some time.
 
She is also very musical as she plays violin and mandolin in a folk band and is involved in amateur dramatics with a Pembroke-based company – but still finds time to devote to her cricket; rarely missing a match.
 

A doyen of scoring – and looked up to by others

 
It is very much a tribute to her that she is shown enormous respect from the Lamphey players and by other scorers across the county – and it is very thoroughly deserved because she is an expert in her role, but still finds time to help newcomers into the specialist work that demands concentration of upwards of two hours for each innings, as she was doing when we bumped into her when she helped young fellers scoring for spells as Lamphey beat Johnston at Glebelands.
 
It was there, as enjoyed a walk around the boundary rope, that Helen proudly showed us her new briefcase/laptop bag, suitable engraved with her name and that of Lamphey Cricket Club.
 
We already knew that Rob Mathias, Nick Shelmerdine, Hywel Gibbs, Peter McGilloway, Andrew Skeels, Jonathan Mathias and Co have total respect for her support – and we of the ‘gutter press’ at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk would join them in thanking Helen Hodges for all she does to help us!