Charlie Arthur - one to watch in the future

Talented teenagers:

When The Pembroke County Cricket Club won against The South Wales Cricket Association recently, someone who caught the eye with the bat was 16 year old Charlie Arthur as he came in at No 3 after the fall of an early wicket and shared in a stand of 112 with Patrick Bellerby that gave his side an excellent base for a large total.

He scored his 44 from only 41 balls against some very experienced opposing bowlers and his innings included seven fours and two sixes as he showed the sort of form that has already made him a regular with the Cresselly first team — and he’s more than capable of bowling as an added bonus!

Family matters

That Charlie should be such a useful talent at such a young age should come as no surprise because he hails from the large ‘Arthur Dynasty’ which has served Cresselly so well for a long time, with his father Julian still playing(when required ) for the seconds and belting 68 not out in his last match, uncle Damian who is still playing and his grandfather John another accomplished batsman in his time and with his younger brother Oliver (14) another great prospect as he scored 84 recently for the third team.

Then there’s mum Sallie, who is the family’s main supporter and great organiser, and dachshund Rolo, who is no stranger to cricket grounds!

Great support since setting out as a nipper

Charlie has played cricket for Cresselly since he was a nipper and says that as well as his family he has also enjoyed great support from Tom Arthur and Simon Cole as well as Rob Williams who got him playing juniors before Cresselly developed their current junior set up.  He also enjoyed the county tours to places like Bromsgrove where aged 13 ended up touring Bromsgrove twice in 10 days being a replacement on a under 16’s tour Scoring 46 not out against Leicestershire.

Charlie is proud to say that Dad has been his coach from a very young age, advising him to bat properly not like his dad used to! 

He started out in senior cricket in the Cresselly third XI captained by Steve Davies when he was 13 and was given every encouragement as he scored a few 30s and 40s before promotion came to the second team, where he scored his first senior half century whilst batting in the lower middle order. Charlie seemed to have a pretty quick transition to first team cricket having only played 6 games in the 3rds, 5 games in the 2nds then ended up aged 14 in the 1st team and has stayed there ever since.

Runs aplenty for young Charlie

“I started playing in the first team as middle order bat, and this season as opening bat alongside Phil Williams, who is my games teacher at Greenhill School, and so far my top score (for Cresselly) is 85 - and I’ve had three 50s in the first division against Herbrandston (52), Neyland (58) and Burton (55) and I’m looking forward to building on those scores as I go on.

“My top overall score is 116 for Pembrokeshire County under 13’s against Cardiff & The Vale at Cresselly, and I’ll always remember that because as well as being my first century it was also on my 13^th  birthday!”

Sporting interests pursued in school and LLS Course

Charlie is currently following a sports coaching course at Greenhill School, with three days in school on the LLS Course with Mr Daniel Evans that comes from Liverpool and he has sessions in how to coach a range of sports as diverse as rugby, football, cricket, netball, hockey, basketball and others, followed by one day out in schools with Tom Davies from Sport Pembrokeshire.

It certainly keeps Charlie busy because as well as his work there he also attends nets twice a week at Cresselly, where he has worked hard at his batting and allowed him to develop shots like the reverse sweep, which wasn’t heard of until a few short years ago. 

He also works hard at his bowling and grabbed 5 for 34 against Llangwm at Pill Parks - and his hard work is paying off because as well as his performances for Cresselly he has recently been selected as captain of the Pembrokeshire Youth team after playing for the Pembrokeshire Vikings under the guidance of Jon Willington last season - and pleased to receive his cap as a memento.

Outside of his cricket, Charlie also plays football for neighbouring village Carew.

“I started out with the seniors last year and had a few run outs for the firsts as a left winger under Tommy Arthur - but cricket is always going to be my favourite; no doubt about that.

Back with the summer sport, Charlie is quick to praise the plentiful advice he has received at Cresselly, not only by dad and granddad, but by the experienced first teamers like skipper Iwan Izzard and Simon Cole in the nets, as well as praising the ground staff of Dick ‘The Dog’ Arthur, Phil ‘Spam’ James, Glyn Cole, and Denis Chiffi - “who make batting a pleasure”!

And finally . . .

What’s good to report is the fact that Charlie Arthur is ever-ready to take in any advice as he also praises other cricketers like Kurtis Marsh (now playing ‘up the line’), Patrick Bellerby, Brad McDermott-Jenkins and Ashley Sutton (Neyland). Former Cresselly and Glamorgan cricketer Dan Cherry is a very close friend of the family and has had a big influence in Charlie’s cricketing ability from a young age, Dan keeps in regular contact with Charlie regarding his cricket offering advice and chatting with him about his progress. 

He is eager to progress to as high a level as possible and there is one thing for sure - whatever he achieves will be down to hard work alongside the very high skills that he already has- and we wish Charlie Arthur every success in his cricketing future because he is a credit to his family and Cresselly Cricket Club!