Charlie’s making great strides forward at Hook CC

 
Hook Cricket Club has a terrific record over the last decade of bringing on talented young players and the proof of that particular pudding is the fact of their low average age of their first team, which is currently playing well in Division two of the Pembroke County Cricket League, and one of the latest to emerge is Charlie Holder, whose father Matthew and uncle Chris are current stalwarts, dedicated to giving teenagers a chance to develop their full range of skills.
 
Matthew still plays for the seconds, having been a first team regular for almost three decades,  whilst Chris rarely plays these days but scores regularly for the club’s second string and gives every encouragement to all involved on the field there – particularly to his young nephew as a great supporter.

 

Great help given – and top players admired

 

Charlie enjoys other sports but is cricket mad and at 13 is not only captain of the club’s under 13s (where dad is joined by Callum James and Phil Llewellyn as coaches) but also plays for the under 15s and 17s – and is also a regular in the seconds, where astute captain Jamie Phelps, another stalwart member for many years has taken him under his wing and puts him to bat at No 3 and sometimes opens the bowling if one of the regular strike duo of Brennan Martin and Kieran Sinclair is unavailable.
 
His top score so far is 37 against Fishguard for Hook 2nds and has a best bowling of 4-16 for Cricket Wales West against Cricket Wales South and whilst he has had a few ducks so far Matthew has warned him that they are bound to come at some time – and speaks from experience, like most batsmen!
 
Ask Charlie about favourite cricketers and the answer is quickly forthcoming – it’s Joe Root with the bat and was Stuart Broad with the ball!




 

Other sports played

 
On other sporting fronts he also enjoys playing rugby for Neyland Under 13s, where he is coached by John Tennick, Delme Bateman and Simon Phillips, playing at inside centre and helping them to win the 2024 Plate Final for their age group, beating old rivals Tenby United with winger Zac Harries-Brown as their try-scoring man of the match.
 
Charlie had started out with Llangwm until he was nine but then he switched to the All Blacks and hasn’t looked back since – and now he also plays for Haverfordwest High School in a team coached by Mr Mikey Jones, who plays cricket and rugby for Haverfordwest.
 
He also loves a game of football and as well as for the school team plays for Llangwm Lions on the Cleddau Reach School pitch, playing at right back and having been captain for the past two seasons.
 
Not content with that little lot, Charlie also enjoys joining dad for a friendly game of darts at Llangwm Sports Club as proof of his willingness to take part!
 

Back garden ‘nets’ during Covid - and George’s generous gesture

 
 
Charlie’s natural sporting interest has always been nurtured by his mum Kirsty (his No 1 fan) and great-grandmother Shirley, who bought him his first cricket set before he practised so hard in the back garden that he was good enough to represent Pembrokeshire Schools under 11s before Covid struck and all organised cricket came to a halt.
 
And that is where the back garden came into use as he practised so hard that Kirsty and Matthew were bowling for long periods and his stroke play really blossomed.
 
As the skipper of Hook under 11s he was also delighted to pick up the county silverware on behalf of the rest of the team after beating Cresselly in the final by Hook legend Evan Martin, although there was an element of good fortune about it because Hook were looking well-beaten when the game was initially played before it had to be abandoned because of bad weather and Hook managed to beat Cresselly in the replay! 
 
As a measure of how well he is looked after by the first team in Hook, Charlie was given a new bat thanks to a generous gesture by Hook’s excellent first team batsman George James, who won a very good bat in a big raffle and promptly handed it over to a surprised but delighted Charlie, who uses it at every opportunity he can!
 

Lots of cricket played – with Cricket Wales (West)

 
This season has seen Charlie selected for Cricket Wales (West) team but it demands total commitment from him and his parents, because it demands so much travel to practice and actual games – indeed, on the day that we spoke to the Holder family they had just returned from a trek to Cardiff where Charlie had played on the beautiful ground at Llandaff School, in the shadow of the magnificent cathedral. Charlie told us that the best ground he has played at was the prestigious Millfield School, where the facilities were first class.
 
Since then he has played a lot more cricket, including three successive days ‘up the line’ which meant more travel for The Holders, all done with enthusiasm and a share of his commitment,  and more recently, being at the crease when Hook Youth astounded the pundits by winning the Ormond Youth Cup - and those in the know at Hook have said that he is certainly a talent to watch out for in the future,
 
We at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk have already seen young Charlie Holder in action and can only agree with their opinions – and we wish him every success in the future because he deserves it!