Once a Bear, Always a Bear - Gwen Davies

In the latest instalment of the series, we had the pleasure of catching up with Gwen Davies - a Welsh wicketkeeper-batter who proudly represented the Bears between 2018 and 2024 - to speak about her earliest cricketing memories at Clydach, the highlights from her playing days at Warwickshire as well as her venture into the rewarding world of cricket coaching.

Here’s what he had to say:

Gwen, thank you so much for joining us. Seeing as it’s our classic opening question here at The Bear, what are your earliest memories of cricket, either playing or watching the great game?

My earliest memories would be playing for the Under-11’s boys team at my local club, Clydach, in Swansea. I first started when I was around 8 or 9 and did that until I was about 12 because girls were able to play at one age level younger in club cricket. Looking back, I had an amazing upbringing at Clydach because I would watch my Dad play on a Saturday and then after the game I would sit at the table with people like Greg Thomas, Alan Jones and my Dad’s cousin, Arthur Francis. The stories they told were unbelievable and it definitely made me want to be a cricketer growing up, mostly because I wanted to be telling those same kind of stories to the people around me when I was older!

And who inspired you the most to continue playing cricket in those early years?

Yeah, the biggest influences for me were definitely my Dad, Kim, and my older brother, Sam. I properly idolised Sam when I was a youngster and I wanted to copy whatever sport he was playing, whether it was cricket, rugby or football etc, I just followed what he did basically! Then in my teenage years, listening to the likes of Greg [Thomas], Alan [Jones] and Arthur [Francis] on those Saturday evenings at Clydach gave me that hunger and desire to pursue a professional cricket career, even though at that stage, I never really knew if it could ever be a reality.

Out of interest, have you always been a wicketkeeper or was it something that you picked up at a later stage?

It’s a funny story actually… as a youngster, I was more of a bowling all-rounder. At that stage, I was a scary little fast bowler who could bat a bit, but when I was 15, I suffered a stress fracture – which was pretty bad in all honesty - and I stopped bowling entirely. Then when I was 18, I went to university at Loughborough, and Amy Jones was the only wicketkeeper that we had in the team, so when she was set to be away on England duties during the Summer our coach, Sal Briggs, asked if I could take on the role. As you can imagine, I said yes and my journey as a wicketkeeper went from there basically.

It’s funny looking back at it now though, because a lot of people at Clydach used to ask why me and my brother weren’t ‘keepers growing up when it was the role that my Dad played for Glamorgan. I think it was just because we wanted to run in and bowl as fast as we possibly could as kids, but I can definitely say that I’ve fell in love with wicketkeeping ever since those first days with the gloves at Loughborough.

What’s your favourite aspect of being a wicketkeeper?

I know it’s the classic answer, but I think it’s just the feeling of being in the game every single ball. Even if the ball doesn’t actually come through to you, I feel like you can still influence your teammates - and even the game at times - with the way that you carry yourself. It also helps that you’ve got the best view on the pitch, so that’s a bonus as well!

And before we talk about your journey with the Bears in more detail, which other cricket clubs have you represented over the years?

I started out at my home club, Clydach CC, and then started playing representative cricket for Wales when I was around 11 or 12. Then in my late teens, I made it into the side at Loughborough University and also made the move to Somerset to test my skills at a slightly higher level of county cricket.

After spending 3 years at Somerset, I was offered a full-time job at Shrewsbury School and given the length of the commute to games every weekend, I couldn’t see the logic in staying. It was at that point that I got in touch with Marie Kelly to see if I could trial at Warwickshire and thankfully it went well, so I started playing for the Bears. All of that was in 2018. Since then, I’ve also played for Surrey Stars and Northern Diamonds in the Kia Super League, the Central Sparks in the regional era, the Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred and now I’m at Worcestershire in the new county set-up.

Speaking of that initial move to the West Midlands in 2018 Gwen, how did the opportunity to play for Warwickshire first materialise?

Yeah, as I touched upon there, it all started with that trial. Errol [Simms] was the head coach at the time, and he must have seen something in me during the trial because he wanted me to take the gloves while Amy [Jones] was away with England. From that point onwards, I absolutely loved my time playing for the club and I’ve never wanted to leave since. It just felt like home from day one.

What would you say was the highlight from your time in a Warwickshire shirt?

It has to be 2019, doesn’t it? That entire season was unbelievable. Not only were we a really good team, but we were also a very tight-knit group, and we all still keep in touch with each other as friends to this day. I’ve still got the signed shirt from that season as well, so that’ll always be right up there for me.

With the power of hindsight, how do you reflect on your time at Edgbaston?

I’ll always look back on my time with Warwickshire incredibly fondly. Obviously, everyone has their ups and downs during their playing career, but the club has always felt like home, and I shared some really special times with a great group of people there. If anything, I just wish that I could have had the opportunity to represent the Bears during this new era of professional county cricket, but I was lucky enough to have some properly amazing days there and I’ll always reflect on those days as being the favourite ones from my career.

What are you getting up to in your cricketing career nowadays?

Well, I’m playing for Worcestershire and working with the pathway at Warwickshire, so things are quite busy at the moment! With the pathway, I mainly work with the teams from Under-13’s level upwards at Edgbaston, and I really enjoy the role, especially when it comes to helping out the girls on the EPP and the academy. Throughout my career, I’ve always wanted to give back as much as I can to the younger players in the game, so it’s definitely something that I’m keen to do full-time at some point in the future.

Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of cricket which help you switch off from the game at all?

It’s a standard cricketer’s answer, but I’m obsessed with my golf! I never had the chance to play it as a kid, so it’s been really nice to pick up something completely new during these last 3-4 years and I absolutely love it.

Aside from the newfound love of golf, are there any other interesting facts about you, cricket-related or otherwise, that people might not already know about?

I’ve played international football for Wales, but I think people may have already heard me speak about that in the past. Aside from the football though, I also used to do quite a bit of singing when I was a youngster. My Mum wasn't really into sport so she would take me and my brother to these national singing competitions like the Eisteddfod, and we'd be standing up in front of hundreds of people at a time. As a 10-year-old, it was absolutely terrifying at first, but it certainly helped me become more confident with public speaking in later life, so I've got a lot to thank my Mum for in that sense!

And finally, Gwen, it’s a rather profound question to round out today’s conversation on, but what would you say has been the proudest accomplishment of your life to date?

That’s a tough one. I’ll always be incredibly proud of the fact that I made it as a professional cricketer, and I’d like to think that I’ve given it a really good go over the years. The biggest kick that I get from day-to-day life though is the satisfaction of helping someone achieve their goals. I’m not sure how often people would say that their proudest accomplishment is watching someone else succeed, but that’s what’s driven me to get into coaching, because you know that you’re helping to make a difference. If someone I’ve coached - or even just given advice to - goes on to experience their dream, that’ll always give me an immense feeling of pride.