LV= INSURANCE PRIDE OF CRICKET AWARDS 2023 - PRIDE OF CRICKET AWARD WINNER: Tim Howard joined Shepherd's Bush CC aged seven. His on and off-field contributions since have been immense
For the best part of 50 years, Tim Howard has featured prominently in the continued evolution and development of Shepherd's Bush CC.
Tim's involvement in the club began aged seven when his parents moved to Acton and placed him in a local primary school, whose headmaster was the club's fixture secretary.
He has been hooked ever since. Starting as a colt, he made his first-team debut in 1981 and continued playing in the 1st XI until he retired in 2012.
By then, Tim had already taken on a new role as groundsman, a post that started as something to do between jobs – and for which he trained in his spare time – but then became an 11-year calling.
So, while the records will show that he is without doubt the most successful allrounder to have played for the club, it is his off-field contribution to Shepherd's Bush that stands him apart.
"In my head, Tim is Shepherd's Bush Cricket Club," says Briony Brock, who heads up the girls' section, which was the brainchild of Tim, who was a driving force behind it.
"Just the way that he goes about it, you couldn't ask for anything better in a supporter. He very gently gives it to you, and then you fly. He does that so brilliantly with the women and the girls."
Shepherd's Bush stalwart Tim Howard [supplied]
Tim is the LV= Pride of Cricket Award winner for 2023 [supplied]
Tim began as team secretary during his mid-teens, shortly after then-captain and current club president Alf Langley had brought him into the first team. These days, he claims just to focus on running the junior section, which includes managing three separate boys' age-groups, but Brock insists "that's not true at all".
"Tim has just always been frontline," she says. "We've had camps this week, and he'll be with the children doing an activity or mowing the square. He can't help himself, he is doing everything all of the time, just as he always did."
He was at the forefront of a sub-committee who fought for the future of the club in the late 1990s and then again once they were forced to move 200 yards to a new ground. He was among those who secured funding for a pavilion and facilities as the new ground took shape.
"That was probably the biggest challenge for the club in the last 50 years," says Tim, a reluctant award-winner.
"It has been a joy to be involved. It does feel like home; I've spent most of my life here, playing every Saturday and every Sunday. And then with all the junior cricket, running matches after school for the kids. There are weeks where you're here seven days per week. It's been part of my life for 50 years. I'm here for life, so they'll have to put up with me for a little bit longer. It is just nice to be providing cricket for the youngsters in the area."
"His contribution can often go ignored because of his familiarity and the fact that he's always around, always on-hand. He is part of the furniture, so everybody underestimates his contributions"
Shepherd's Bush CC president Alf Langley on Tim Howard
As part of that, he works with the local borough to host school tournaments at Shepherd's Bush, while continuing to coach and mentor players at all levels.
"They just absolutely adore him," says Brock. "Everybody speaks about him with such awe. Everybody knows who Tim is. The children just think he's amazing and have so much respect for him.
"If I tell them not to walk across the square, they'll walk across the square. If Tim tells them, they'll never walk across the square for the rest of their lives. It just sticks. There is something about the way that he communicates that is patient but not dictatorial, and really coming from such knowledge and experience. The parents just see what he puts into the club."
"I don't think any volunteer goes into it to win awards," adds Howard, "so it is a bit crazy and surreal to get the award through votes. We just sit in the background and do what we do, so to be recognised is quite nice but it's not something that we seek."
Tim has given more than 50 years of service to his club [supplied]
Langley recalls a heritage day last summer when Shepherd's Bush played host to an occasion to mark the contribution of the Afro-Caribbean community to the club. It was Langley's brainchild, but he credits Tim with ensuring it came to fruition.
"Shortly after I came, we acquired a Caribbean influence," says Langley, "so Tim grew up as part of that heritage around the club. He fostered that environment and was able to communicate really well with people of that demographic, so our club, I think, was one of the key examples of how a properly integrated club could be in those terms. He was key to that.
"Even now, when the demographics have changed, there is still a demographic of that heritage who congregate at the club for social events while games are on and are still supporters of the club. He can navigate and make their continued presence at the club welcomed and treasured. He was one of the key drivers behind the heritage day, and he made sure that the rest of the club understood the reason behind it. He has lived through that history and is a great ambassador for us in that regard.
"His contribution can often go ignored because of his familiarity and the fact that he's always around, always on-hand. He is part of the furniture, so everybody underestimates his contributions. He is my go-to man. I live in Norfolk now but knowing that Tim is here is a huge relief. I couldn't do it without him."
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