Devon Cricket Board - Geoff Evans reprises the careers of Jack Davey and Roger Moylan-Jones

FOR holders of Offices of State within the cricketing world not all of the duties which are required to be carried out are ones to be welcomed and in these parts we have had our fair share of those in recent times. Not so however on this occasion.
It is my pleasure to ask the meeting to consider a matter which seldom appears on our AGM Agenda and on this occasion at least it could be said that we have perhaps been somewhat remiss. Whilst I fully support the premise that such rewards should not be too liberally distributed it is perhaps ironic that I now wish to propose that we confer HLM's on two of our number at the same time.
Both in their own way have been tremendous servants to the County Club, having graduated from the age group youth teams to the full County side before moving farther afield where they both enjoyed distinguished playing careers, before returning to Devon where they have willingly donated much time and experience to the benefit of the County Club. At the risk of appearing indelicate it seems that they have both been connected with Devon CCC ever since their bottoms were the size of a shirt button!
Roger Moylan-Jones
Our current President, RCM-J, played 28 Championship matches for the County between 1959 and 1975 and during this period he represented RN and CS on over 100 occasions, many of those as Captain. He had previously led Devon Youth sides populated by such luminaries as Roy Kerslake, Doug Yeabsley and his predecessor as President, the late David Shepherd, as respected a figure as could be found anywhere in the game. There can be no doubt that he would have be appointed to a similar position with Devon had his availability been less spasmodic.
My first Championship appearance for Devon coincided with a "run ashore" for Roger who was therefore able to make himself available for the match versus Dorset on his home ground at Paignton and I was immediately struck by the fact that he was referred to as "Admiral" by the rest of the team who seemed to completely ignore the fact that in those days he was but a "Junior Stoker". There is no truth in the rumour that his Devon teammates later sought the credit for instilling into the mind of the First Sea Lord that Roger should subsequently be elevated to positions of authority much more befitting to his ability! His final order of rank at retirement merely confirmed that Devon was, as ever, light years ahead, even of organisations as eminent as the RN!
On retirement Roger and Mary returned to a permanent base in Torbay whereupon he immediately offered his services to the County in whatever capacity we might consider appropriate. Thus in 1997 when his former tutor at BRNC Dartmouth, Derek Cole, was elected President of the County Club, Roger succeeded him as Chairman, an office which he filled with an enormous amount of common sense and clarity of thought until 2010 when a further reshuffle resulted in he himself following the path of his distinguished predecessor by accepting the position of President in succession to the late David Shepherd. I am pleased to say that he shows no diminution of powers in fulfilling that role with equal distinction and unwavering support for the County Club. He also found time to fit in the Chairmanship of the DCB during its formative years to 2003. In addition he has recently been recruited to the Presidency of DACO.
Nor has his service to the game in recent times been confined to the administration of cricketing matters within his home County. With the advent of the ECB in 1997/8 Roger was elected to the Main Board as 1 of 4 representatives of the Recreational (as opposed to the Professional) Game and lost his seat only when a later reorganisation of the Board resulted in a reduction in numbers. He has subsequently retained his national connection by way of his appointment as a Trustee of the England Wales Cricket Trust which is responsible for the distribution of significant charitable funds from ECB.
I have referred to Roger's prowess as a player and the value of his wise counsel at meetings of the various committees upon which he sits but he has a further string to his bow, of strategic importance when discharging duties of hospitality in entertaining opposition officials at County fixtures. The title of Entertainments Officer might better describe his role upon such occasions, particularly when he slips into Jethro Mode. His store of such material can easily outlast the afternoon session until well beyond the tea interval, particularly if the supply of Tolchards red wine has not been rationed over lunch. I can think of one County Secretary amongst our opponents who, upon submission of our party for the coming away match, always neglected to pose the normal question "Are Nick Folland/Nick Gaywood/Peter Roebuck playing". Instead it was "Is the Admiral coming", a matter of the utmost importance if the post lunch comedy slot was to be its customary roaring success! I have heard it said that Jethro made his name by impersonating Roger M-J and those who have witnessed Roger in full flow would not regard that assertion as at all fanciful!
Whilst expressing our grateful appreciation of the extent of his past service and commitment to our affairs I am sure that all his colleagues in the County Club and beyond will hope that Roger is able to continue to discharge each of these functions for many years to come.
To turn now to my other candidate;
Jack Davey
The route taken by my other nomination has followed a not dissimilar path although his appearances for the County at the start of his career were even more limited than those of Roger, simply because he was recruited by Gloucestershire after a mere handful of games for Devon. It is to his enormous credit that he was able to graduate from appearing at the Ring at Tavistock in front of a few locals and a couple of dozen sheep that had to be chased from the square before the match could start to a Gillette Cup Final at Lords in 1973 with a capacity crowd in excess of 20,000. His FC career netted him 411 wickets @ 28 in addition to which he took a further 173 one day wickets at 26 runs apiece.
Bearing in mind the class of opposition, particularly in the form of the number of star players from overseas, Jack's record is even more impressive, matched by his value as a team member who could always be relied upon to provide 100% effort even in the most difficult of circumstances. I was once told by a former captain of his that, unlike several of his illustrious team mates, he never suddenly developed a troublesome hamstring or a sore shin when Gloucestershire lost the toss on a hot day and faced the prospect of a long spell in the field with Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge coming down the pavilion steps to open the batting for the opposition!
At the end of his FC career which ran from 1966-1978 he returned to Devon and gave further service to his home club, Tavistock and later, on moving to East Devon he turned out for Exmouth.
In my experience, sad as it might be, it is unusual for former FC cricketers to take much interest in the lower echelons of the game unless some form of payment can be derived from it. Jack, however, is a shining example of how such things should work by not only making his experience available to young players on the field, but also offering his services to the County in an administrative capacity and for nine years he undertook the notoriously difficult job of Team Manager, where the combination of his FC experience and his genial temperament made him a firm favourite with all of our personnel. Unsurprisingly for one who had enjoyed such a successful FC career he was no soft touch and did not shirk from the need to introduce a note of firmness whenever the occasion demanded. Latterly he has devoted considerable time and effort as Chairman of Trustees of the former DSCF, recently merged with the DYCF and now reborn as the David Shepherd Cricket Trust.
Perhaps it is a common trait amongst cricketing Devonians but, like Roger, Jack's talents also extended into the field of entertainment. During his time with Gloucestershire, whilst not officially entitled Entertainments Officer, he was in charge of the "Black Book" which contained a comprehensive list of key addresses and phone numbers necessary to ensure that the team was fully occupied with appropriate (or as some would say Inappropriate!) activities during those long evenings to be endured during away fixtures. So valuable was the Black Book that, when not in use during hours of play it was entrusted to the safe keeping of the scorer along with the remainder of the County's vital statistics. Jack also prepared himself for his present career, which involves much driving, by acting as driver of the "getaway car" when one or two of his famous team mates were paying unscheduled calls upon somebody else's wife and he was outside with the engine running ready to whisk them away to safety before the husband arrived home ahead of schedule!
I cannot recall any Devonian who, on returning to his roots after a long and successful FC career, has made a bigger contribution to various aspects of the game without ever seeking the limelight and as with Roger I very much hope that we shall be seeing plenty more of Jack in the future.
I have been fortunate that much of my time in office has been spent in company with Roger and Jack and together with my personal thanks to them for their comradeship and commitment to the cause of Devon Cricket it is a privilege for me to invite this meeting to support my proposal that Roger Moylan-Jones and Jack Davey be hereby elected as Hon Life Members of DCCC.
Geoff Evans 27th March 2014