Devon Cricket Board - Mitchell looks back on nearly 60 years at same club

Flashback to 1987 and a Kingskerswell line up Back (left to right): John Haly, Ian Woodcock, Barry Page-Dove, Rob Lee, Dave Holley, Paul Mardle, Jason Rossiter, Bill Rossiter. Front: Bill Webster, Martin Mundy, Bert Mitchell. Marcus Haly, Mike Rowse

KINGSKERSWELL’S Mr Cricket Bert Mitchell won’t be severing his ties with his local club despite standing down as president.
Bert, 83 this year, has been associated with Kingskerswell CC man and boy since the 1930s.
For the past 10 years the retired accountant has been president of the village club he helped reform nearly 60 years ago.
Ill health has forced Bert to accept he can’t be as active as he would like and the time has come to stand down.
When the sun is out though, don’t be surprised to see Bert down on the boundary in a favourite chair watching the cricket.
“I have always tried to be an active president, going down to the ground and doing the little odd jobs that need taking care of,” said Bert.
“Last year I realised there were jobs to be done and I could no longer do them because of my health. That is when it is time to stand aside.
“I have a heart condition that needs an operation, which I hope to have later this year.
“I felt the time to go was before the season started, not once it got under way.”
Bert followed his father to the original Kingskerswell CC in the 1930s, first changing the numbers on the scoreboard then writing up the scorebook.
When cricket resumed after the War there was a place in the side for Mitchell the young left-arm bowler, but not for very long.
“We were playing on a ground in Coles Lane near the Park Inn which was compulsorily purchased to build houses on,” said Bert.
“Our last full season there was 1947 and by 1949 were not playing cricket at all in the village.
“It looked like cricket might be lost altogether until we were offered a piece of land by one a Mr Adams.
“I was a bell-ringer and he was a churchwarden, which is how he came to approach me.
“At first Mr Adams didn’t want to say where the land was, but he said he would give it to the parish if we would reform the cricket club.
“Of course we said yes, then he said it was a marshy bit of land down by the railway line.
“A few of us got together with some of the old boys and put in the necessary drains.
“By 1955 we were playing evening games and the following year we had a pretty full fixture list on Saturdays and Sundays.
“Mr Adams was a religious man and although he didn’t mind us playing on a Sunday, he insisted on games finishing by six o’clock so anyone who wanted to could go to evensong.
“So we started at 1pm, had tea after the game and around twenty to seven would start making our way up to the Lord Nelson.”
Bert had one season at neighboring South Devon – persuaded there by his boss Francis Cundy who was 1st XI captain – but the lure of Kingskerswell proved too much and he was soon back on home soil.
Bert carried on playing until 1971 when he swapped bowling for umpiring and donned the white coat for the first time.
A second career beckoned and Bert went on to become one of the most respected umpires in Devon cricket.
“I umpired on the league panel for 32 years and although I came off it I was still available to help out until about four years ago,” said Bert.
Bert was known as a players’ umpire – ready with a quick quip and with a feeling for the game – but he wasn’t afraid to exert is authority, or report players to the league discipline panel if they stepped out of line.
All future Test cricketers have to start somewhere and Kingskerswell was the nursery club that encouraged future England spinner John Childs.
Childs, like Bert, was a left-arm spin bowler, only when he left for South Devon he didn’t come back.
“I can remember John as a lad coming to the ground on practice nights and joining in with things like getting the balls out of the hedge,” said Bert.
“There were colts teams in those days – certainly not at Kingskerswell – but after a while John would join in with a few of us.
“It was pretty obvious from an early age he was destined for big things and off he went to South Devon, then Exeter and then Gloucestershire, Essex and England.
“The club has always been very proud of what he achieved,” said Bert, who is pictured above with Childs.
The Mitchell name is synonymous with Kingskerswell, not just because Bert has been 1st XI captain, chairman at the same time, part-time bar person and president.
Wife Shirley – the couple have been married 54 years – has been club secretary and tea lady as well as Bert’s constant supporter.
Son Paul has captained the 1st XI and was instrumental in starting a junior section at the club five years ago.
Bert’s fellow club members have been queuing up to pay personal tributes to a man who has done so much for Kingskerswell CC.
Steve Waters , the club chairman, said: “I hope we will continue to see a great deal of Bert around the club during the summer.
“It is impossible to think about Kingskerswell CC without thinking about Bert Mitchell and he represents a major part of this club’s heritage and history.”
Bill Rossiter, another Kerswell lifer, said: “If it wasn’t for Bert Mitchell there wouldn’t be a Kingskerswell Cricket Club.
“He was instrumental in securing the use of the Playing Fields as our ground and ensuring this in perpetuity.
“It is with great sadness that he has now had to step aside for health reasons.”
Senior player Nigel Butt added: “His tireless work, enormous common sense, and his always approachable attitude is a hallmark of Kingskerswell Cricket Club and his routine and regular attendances will be sadly missed.”