A collective sense of sadness last week descended over Ottery St Mary Cricket Club after the sudden death of highly popular and much respected club member Andy Harrison, writes Ian Townsend.

Black armbands were worn by the club’s 1st XI in last weekend’s home fixture with Plymouth Civil Service and Roborough and club members and players from both teams observed a minute’s silence in his memory prior to the start of the game.

Andy regularly turned out as a player for the Otters after moving to the town with his family from the Midlands in the late 1980s and went on to become a key figure at the club carrying out roles as diverse as umpire, club secretary,fixture secretary and fund raiser with his characteristic enthusiasm and good humour.

He was the ultimate clubman, truly part of the fabric of Salston Field who played an integral role in the recent evolution of the club, someone who was always looking forward and took enormous pleasure in seeing players emerge from the thriving Salston Field youth set up.

Former Ottery CC chairman Rob Bradshaw-Smith summed up the thoughts of everyone at the club when he commented: “Andy was one of life’s good guys. If you had to choose one word to sum him up, it would be ‘commitment’ because he put his heart and soul into everything he did”.

Andy’s wife, Bev, daughter Vicky and son and 1st XI regular, Will, are in the thoughts of everyone at Salston Field.