Tony Bowry of St. Kitts and Yorkshire
The article was first published in June 2025, author Michael Pulford
Tony Bowry, the ever popular and well-respected former Yorkshire league cricketer, long-time Yorkshire Cricket Board coach and local umpire, was born on the island of Saint Kitts and came to the United Kingdom and Leeds as a teenager, so that he has given his time and skills to the game in the county. However, he has always retained strong links with his home island, a connection which has benefitted cricket in St. Kitts, Yorkshire and beyond.
St Kitts is a Leeward Island which faces the Caribbean to the west and Atlantic to the east, having a population of around 40,000. It is a dual nation state with its neighbour Nevis. Tony grew up in the capital, Basseterre, the third of four children. It was a close-knit family, looked after by their maternal grandmother as their mother had to work on another island, Curacao, over five hundred miles away off the Venezuelan coast, a Dutch possession, from where she sent fortnightly parcels to help maintain them all. Tony recalls that church and family were very important in their lives as were friends and neighbours in a very supportive community.
Tony’s first education was at the Basseterre Boys School before moving on to its High School. He describes his teenage years as full of fun, through education and sport. His favourite teacher and sports mentor at the High School was Mr. Washington Archibald, who gave Tony a tremendous interest in school work and sports, the games including cricket, table-tennis and football. He learned his first organised cricket in schools’ inter-class matches and his achievements at sport and classwork gained him a high profile and much respect. For recreation out of school there was Warner Park (now a Test venue), the Police Station Sports Hall and the beaches. Tony says all this provided him with a very good quality of lifestyle and also educational skills.
By Tony’s teens, his two older sisters, Rosemary and Gwen, had moved to the United Kingdom, initially to Leicester but then to Leeds, and in 1965, just a few weeks before his seventeenth birthday, he travelled by boat to Europe on a fourteen day journey to join them. His motivation was education and personal development. In London, he was met by Rosemary and they then made their way from King's Cross Station to Leeds where he has lived ever since. Tony initially considered applying for the RAF or Army but instead his first job was as a cabinet maker. However, he found he was not suited to that and moved into engineering, getting day release to attend Kitson College where he passed a City and Guilds course in Engineering and Science. Tony became a welder, making hospital and catering trolleys for many years, work he always enjoyed.
Tony’s cricket experience in Leeds started with his church side, Roscoe Methodist Church Youth Club at Chapeltown, in 1966, a team which played friendly matches around West Yorkshire. His talent then became known to the Leeds Caribbean Cricket Club and he joined them two years later as a wicket keeper and opening batter who bowled ‘a bit of off spin’, playing in the first team in the Barkston Ash and Yorkshire Central League. The club had much success, notably a treble winning season in 1970, before going on to join the Leeds League.
Tony played for Caribbean in that competition for almost two decades but eventually wanted to test his skills at a higher standard so in 1992, in his early forties, he moved on to Gildersome in the Central Yorkshire League where his youngest son, Sheldon, was playing in their Under 13s team. Tony stayed there for three seasons before accepting an invitation to join Batley and later Scholes, both also in the Central Yorkshire competition. He then achieved his wish of playing in the Bradford League, with Lightcliffe. His final move was to Illingworth St. Mary’s in the Airedale and Wharfedale League before a leg injury caused his retirement in 2004 in his mid-fifties, so thirty eight years after he first played with Roscoe Methodist Church.
Tony was then encouraged to take up umpiring by the CEO at the Yorkshire Cricket Board, Ian Chappell, who was also an officer of the Airedale and Wharfedale League. He had never thought about umpiring but it was an opportunity to stay in the game which had given him so much pleasure so he signed up with the A and W Umpires’ Association. Tony initially found the role very challenging but he received a lot of support and quickly became a respected match official. He has since umpired Yorkshire county age-group matches and also Women’s and Girl’s county games. Tony now creates opportunities for others to ‘take up the white coat’ and has organised ‘Young Officials’ courses at five High Schools. This summer is his twenty fourth officiating in the league, making it a total of sixty two years in the local game!
Tony quite recently became a committee member of the Northern Cricket Society but his connections with this organisation, through the Annual Boxing Day match, go back to 1987 when Ralph Middlebrook invited him and others from the Yorkshire Cricket School to take part. He played every year until his retirement, then becoming an umpire for the event so that he has thirty seven years unbroken years of service to the fixture.
Tony’s entry into coaching came mid-way through his playing career, and the first prompt was in unusual circumstances, as he realised he had an inclination for the work whilst trying, as wicket keeper for Leeds Caribbean, to distract two young Meanwood batters in the Barkston Ash competition! It was 1985 and Tony recalls he was offering tips and encouragement to them in a way of attempting to distract them in what he calls ‘Polite Sledging’. I am not sure what the Leeds Caribbean bowlers thought of this as both young men played their best ever innings! Afterwards, the Meanwood captain, the late Peter Langley, who was a coach, thanked Tony for his guidance and asked him if he did some coaching and when he replied no, offered to assist him find a course.
Peter gave Tony the contact details of Ralph Middlebrook, who was then Cricket Development Officer for Leeds. Tony introduced himself and Ralph asked him if he could gather together some other players from Leeds Caribbean for a course. He could indeed and as a result one was held for them at the Nelson Mandela Centre.
Ralph then invited Tony to join the coaching staff for the winter programme at Carnegie Sports Hall where most of the coaches were county first team players, including Phil Carrick and Martyn Moxon. The Yorkshire Cricket School was opened shortly after that, and again Tony was invited to join the team, working during the evenings and at weekends. He subsequently coached locally with Ralph many times over the years and is very grateful for his guidance and support.
Tony’s entry into coaching in Yorkshire soon benefitted St. Kitts as well and ultimately provided links between their cricketing communities. In 1987 he helped coach in local schools on the island and also organised a Cricket Camp. This helped him identify the issues holding back promising young cricketers in the Caribbean, that is lack of opportunity and inadequate practice facilities, and consequently Tony began to initiate a connection between young Caribbean cricketers and leagues in Yorkshire.
The first player to come across was Junie Mitchum from St Kitts who played for Dunnington CC near York, through connections with Colin Graves and club captain Steve Precious. He then went on to represent West Indies at U19's level and had some success in the U19's World Cup. Tony encouraged him to obtain coaching qualifications and as a result Junie is working with Cricket West Indies (CWI).
Over a dozen Caribbean cricketers have followed in Junie’s footsteps over the years, playing for such clubs as Carlton, East Leeds, Horsforth Hall Park and Shadwell, one of whom, Stuart Williams from the Leeward Islands, went on to play for the West Indies. Others have become coaches in the West Indies.
Locally, Tony has worked with Black children at Carr Manor and Harehills schools, providing a constant flow of juniors to the Leeds Caribbean Cricket Club, most of whom have gone on to represent the club at senior level. Cricket Camps were also held on an annual basis which created opportunities for children from the local communities of Chapeltown and Harehills and many of those participants also become part of the Caribbean CC junior section. Additionally, Tony organised umpiring courses at the club’s Scott Hall Oval for former players who wanted to stay involved in the game, as many as thirty three candidates gaining their qualifications.
In 1996, when the ‘Test and County Cricket Board’ (TCCB) became the ‘England and Wales Cricket Board’ (ECB), Cricket Development posts were created and Tony had the chance to apply for his dream job, a full-time coach with the Yorkshire Cricket Board. The prospect of working for the ECB and YCB was a ‘wonderful attraction’ and he was encouraged to apply by Stuart Hodgson (YCB chairman), Philip Ackroyd and Arnie Sidebottom. His managers at the welding company were also supportive. Tony was appointed and he eventually became ‘Cricket Development Manager for West Yorkshire’.
Tony had quickly become a highly regarded coach and offers came in across West Yorkshire for 1 to 1 sessions and from clubs to advise their volunteers. He also became involved in the Scarborough Summer School where he worked alongside very experienced coaches and some of the next generation of county, and in some cases international, players such as Darren Gough, Matthew Hoggard, Joe Root, Adil Rashid and Jonny Bairstow.
Tony took great pleasure in organising a summer coaching course in Leeds for established Caribbean cricketers, which was a challenge as most such courses are in the winter. However, Tony persuaded the ECB that he could summon together enough such players to attend during the English summer, and due to his many contacts, sixteen attended at the Yorkshire Cricket School. Among the candidates, were Ottis Gibson, Jimmy Adams and Clayton Lambert! Jimmy Adams, as we know, went on to captain and later coach the West Indies whilst Ottis Gibson of course became England bowling coach, West Indies head coach, South Africa head coach, Bangladesh bowling coach and, most recently, head coach at Yorkshire CCC.
Tony’s role as Cricket Development Manager for West Yorkshire has seen him involved in many initiatives, including ones with Women and Girls, Ethnic Minorities and even Prisoners and Young Offenders. Today, Tony is President of the West Yorkshire Women And Girls Cricket Association through his long standing work with them. He helped found the organisation in 2002 and identified Menston St. Mary’s School near Leeds as the Hub as there are eight clubs within a radius of three miles.
One of Tony’s many continuing roles is President of the Dewsbury Cricket League and his connection with that competition came about because part of his job description was to ‘Develop Cricket Within The Black And Ethnic Minority Communities’. Tony identified the areas that needed addressing and brought the clubs together to look at what was required, namely indoor and outdoor playing facilities. Tony also became very close friends with the then Dewsbury League chairman, Mr Farid Karolia, who recommended Tony to be the next President.
Tony initiated some very challenging experiences for himself by offering to work in Armley Prison and also at Wetherby Young Offenders Institution, where he delivered coaching programmes. The prison staff were very supportive of the idea and it made a difference to the lives of people under the ‘Giving People A Second Chance Initiative’.
Tony has met some famous people in his life in cricket, none more than Fred Trueman and Brian Close, and on the same day in 2001. Yorkshire had won the County Championship for the first time in thirty three years and Tony’s work involved him taking the trophy around local clubs and schools and also to functions. He was given the task of delivering it to a Sportsman’s Dinner at Bellingham in Northumberland but first had to visit Fred Trueman at his house near Gargrave to collect it. Tony thought he would just be picking up the trophy at the doorway but Fred invited him in and made him feel at home, chatting about his illustrious career over coffee and biscuits. Fred asked Tony about himself and thanked him for the work he and his colleagues were doing to develop the best talent in the county, remarking, "If I had that support in my younger days, I would have taken a lot more wickets". He then spoke about his relationship with the players of the West Indies team and showed Tony a painting of Sir Donald Bradman which was given to Fred by the great batsman himself.
Tony then went on to Northumberland where he sat on the top table with Brian Close, Mike Watkinson and the boxer Glenn McCrory. At the close of proceedings Brian Close announced that in the morning there would be an after breakfast round of golf. Tony said that he had never played golf but Brian just looked at him and said, "If you play cricket you must play golf". I replied that I did not have any clubs but he said, “Don't worry lad”, then had a word with the chef before coming back to me with a set.
The following morning they all went to Bellingham Golf Course and Tony watched in great admiration as everyone took their shot from the 1st Tee. Then it was his turn, and needless to say, when he eventually made contact with the little white ball, it went all along the ground. He then received the first coaching tip from Close. "You're not playing xxxxxxxx cricket now lad, you need to collect the ball and lift it". The instructions continued until Tony finally achieved his goal on the 14th Tee, but then, it landed in a pond. After congratulating Tony, Brian said "You won’t fish that ball out, you need to drop another one". So that was Tony’s introduction to golf which he then started to play and still enjoys playing in his spare time.
Tony is still coaching and is currently investing a lot of his time during the summer months in running cricket camps in the East Leeds area, alongside Collis King and Arnie Sidebottom, where they have been running such sessions since 1994. Also, when the opportunity arises, he goes back to the Caribbean to assist with any cricket development in any way he can, visiting St. Kitts as recently as March of this year.
Tony says he has been lucky to be in the right place at the right time and to have been encouraged and supported by so many good people who saw potential in him He has been delighted to have accepted those opportunities which allowed him to work hard and create the same chances for others so they could also develop and grow as cricketers and people. He says, “Good habits and values play a crucial role in success”.