Pictured above is the Plymouth team that defeated Torquay at Exeter St Thomas to win the inaugural Rothmans Devon Cup final in 1966. Back (left to right): John Swinburne, Doug Martin, Brian Hughes, Chris U’ren, Keith Baker, Don Stilwell, Brian Ridge; front: Tom Waldock, Brian Crawford, Tony Ward, Jon Solanky
By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE
TEAM-mates and friends have been remembering the sporting career of cricketer and rugby player Chris U’ren, who has died aged 85.
U’ren captained Plymouth CC for more than a decade in the 1960s and 1970s and led them to victory in the 1966 Devon Cup final. It was the first year of the limited-overs competition – a novelty in club cricket at the time – and U’ren had his sights on the silverware right from the start.
“I remember in the 1966 season Rothmans decided to sponsor a club cricket competition and as soon as it was announced I was determined that our name was going to be on the new trophy,” U’ren told local historian Chris Robinson during an interview for the Plymouth Herald back in 2011.
“It was our first experience of limited-overs cricket and we met Torquay in the final … and we murdered them!”
As an early-order batsman U’ren made more than 8,500 runs for Plymouth during a 350-game career that extended from 1957 to 1977. When he retired from playing he pushed the expansion of youth cricket at the club.
The city club contacted 28 primary and secondary schools inviting youngsters to attend nets sessions on Monday evenings at Ernesettle sports hall was fixed up. It was done merely to aid schools whose facilities were under strain. The first session was attended by 53 boys from 11 schools.
Dave Tall, now Devon CCC’s director of cricket, was one of the young players encouraged by U’ren. He said his former mentor’s influence on a generation of players could not be under-estimated.
“I must have been only 12 or 13 when I started with Plymouth and started playing in the colts,” said Tall.
“Chris ran the team at the time and was very keen on getting the best out of young players.
“He must have been doing well at work as he owned a brown Rolls Royce and would pick us lads up for training and matches in it.
“I remember one Sunday we played away at Werrington. You should have seen their faces when the Rolls pulled-up and we all got out.
“I know Chris was extremely proud of the players he helped along the way who became established Premier Division cricketers, such as Duncan Boase, Martyn Cooksley and myself.
“He was a smashing man. I went to see him shortly before he died and he said what a lovely surprise it was to see me. That was the sort of man he was.”
Richard Widger, who played cricket with U’ren in the 1960s, said his longevity as captain was helped on the quality of players in the dressing room.
“Chris was a very, very good batsman – extremely quick running between the wickets – and was lucky enough to have a talented side,” said Widger.
“John Solankey (Glamorgan) and John Swinburne (Northants) both turned professional and we also had Devon players such as Brian Crawford and Tony Ward,” added Widger, who appeared for Devon in 1971.
U’ren played for the touring side Gentlemen of Devon, which is how Widger met him. They played against each other when the GoDs toured in the London area in the late 1960s.
Nigel Mountford, then a GoDs’ tourist himself, played with U’ren and against him for Bovey Tracey. He remembers U’ren with affection.
“I toured with Chris a number of times with the Gentlemen of Devon,” said Mountford, now the chief executive of Devon CCC.
“Chris was a really nice guy and a good cricketer, who played the game the right way.”
U’ren was also a first-team rugby player for Plymouth Albion between 1960-1968. He played at scrum-half alongside Bobby Luffman, who went on to find fame as a rugby league player with Hull Kingston Rovers.
Former Albion hooker Dave Fuge, now the club archivist, remembers seeing U’ren in his prime.
“I saw Chris play a few times, mostly on Easter Mondays when my father took me to Albion to watch the Leicester fixture,” said Fuge.
“Chris was very quick around the base of the Scrum – and his pass to his fly-half was swift and accurate.
“He was also very good at involving his forwards in ruck and maul drives, using the likes of Nick Southern, Al Greep, Ron Glazsher and Brian Spiller to good effect.
“I got to know Chris very well over the years. A true gentleman , who will be sadly missed by all at Albion.”
There were county call-ups for U’ren in both cricket and rugby. He played cricket 11 times for Devon between 1962-1971 and made one county appearance on the rugby field in 1966.
Christopher Cecil U’ren was born in Plymouth in January 1939 and attended Plymouth College between 1945-1951. He moved to West Buckland School in North Devon for his secondary education, where his sporting prowess won him a place in the cricket and rugby teams. While there he was selected to play cricket for Devon Colts.
It was through rugby that U’ren struck-up a friendship with rival scrum-half Robert Hicks that lasted for more than 60 years.
“He was the scrum-half for West Buckland, I was his opposite number for Queen Elizabeth School in Crediton and we quickly became friends off the field,” said Sir Robert, who went on to become a Conservative MP in Cornwall for nearly 25 years.
“We used to meet up regularly at Plymouth Albion and the County Ground at Taunton, where a group of us shared a box and enjoyed watching Somerset matches.”
After doing National Service in the RAF –mostly at Northolt air station in west London – U’ren returned to Plymouth and resumed his sporting career.
There was rugby for Plymouth Argaum in the winter – he switched to Albion in 1960 – and cricket for Plymouth 1st XI over two decades.
U’ren had many highlights during his cricket career, ranging from making 120 at run-a-minute rate against Exeter in 1964 to averaging more than 50 in the 1968 season, and perhaps the greatest was leading Plymouth against a star-studded International Cavaliers side in 1967.
In the days before John Player League cricket started in 1969, teams such as the Cavaliers and Whitbread Wanderers turned out against club sides on Sunday afternoons in exhibition games.
Test match stars Fred Truman, John Edrich and Colin Milburn along with West Indian legends Lance Gibbs and Clive Lloyd were in the Cavaliers side skippered by Garry Sobers.
“We had a three-hour committee meeting to discuss whether we should pay the extra £50 that Garry Sobers was asking at the time,” U’ren said later.
“I couldn’t believe it, I even offered to pay it myself if necessary.”
One of U’ren’s last appearances on the cricket field was during a 1989 tour to the West Indies by Mendip Acorns that included a match against an Antigua XI that included Sir Viv Richards.
Joe Oliver, a fellow tourist and club rival with South Devon CC, said U’ren was: “A true gentleman and a lovely guy.”
Richards only made a handful of runs in the match, but the tourists met-up with him again on the way home.
“Viv was on the same flight back as we were as he had to join-up with Glamorgan for the season,” said Oliver.
Chris U’ren, a retired estate agent, is survived by Liz, whom he married in 1964. The couple had no children. His funeral will take place tomorrow (Friday) at Stoke Damerel Parish Church (11am), followed by private cremation.
