Plymouth
children’s involvement as they were the lifeblood to ensure the
Club’s future.
“Plymouth has always encouraged the development of
young players and this has borne fruit over the last few years
with 7 of our young players selected for the Devon Lions
development side and 3 players for the full county side.
“The County always supported the clubs and he felt it is
important that the club support the County. After a number
of years of concentrating on off the field matters everyone at
Plymouth can now concentrate on what really matters – playing
Cricket.”
In 1990, Keith White MBE and Bob
Widdecombe MBE bought Plymouth
Cricket Club saving it from closure and
going into administration. Keith White,
Managing Director and co-owner of
Michael Spiers Jewellers together with
Bob Widdecombe, Director of Vospers
joined together to revive the ailing sports
Club.
Both highly successful businessmen
and sports enthusiasts…Keith, a county
and international squash player, and Bob
a county and national badminton player
relished the thought of promoting the Club.
To their credit they installed the first Astroturf in the South West enabling hockey,
five a side football, tennis and American
football to be played on this surface.
The semi-finals and finals of the
National hockey tournaments were staged
at the Club in 1999. Both men were
members of the Lords Taverner’s and
were commended to the Sports Minister
at the time and granted the opportunity
of a synthetic wicket for the Cricket Club.
England International Geoffrey Boycott
OBE and Sir Ian Botham OBE as well as
Somerset’s Sir Viv Richards OBE all came
to the Club to promote the game and
obviously were welcomed by large crowds
of people.
The ‘Michael Spiers Invitation Squash
Tournament’ hosted some of the leading
overseas internationals took place at the
Club as well as hosting Jahangir Khan the
famous ten times squash world champion.
The American football was certainly an
innovation and very successful part of the
Club.
The Club produced many rising stars
especially in the hockey section where
John Bleby and several other players were
selected for England International Honours.
Gary Drake, a junior Wimbledon champion,
trained at the Club and was sponsored
by Keith and Bob. At its peak there were
over 3,000 members. Keith and Bob were
extremely proud of their contribution to the
city of Plymouth and certainly encouraged
all the schools and universities to use their
facilities.
The Club was eventually sold to
the directors of Plymouth Argyle and
subsequently was taken by Goals R
Us. Plymouth Cricket Club moved to
Mount Wise where it has enjoyed great
success. Keith continues to be a sponsor
of the Cricket Club and wishes them every
success for the coming sea