James Breese has been cricket-mad since the age of six, playing for Aberystwyth and Cardiff Cricket Club, as well as representing Wales at the Over-40s World Cup last year.
Growing up in mid-Wales, James says “in the middle of nowhere, there’s nothing else to do”. The keen batsman, and occasional leg-spin, has found a passion for coaching the game he loves, founding Cricket Matters, where he and his team work with players across all levels to develop their game.
“Cricket Matters was born through a love of cricket,” James told Fen Regis Trophies.
“I’ve always loved cricket, tying in my sports, fitness and rehab stuff into it, and seeing how I can help cricketers make a bigger difference by seeing things differently.”
Growing up in “The Middle of Nowhere”
Raised on a farm in Machynlleth, Wales, James lived an hour’s drive away from the nearest cricket club, Aberystwyth, where he played as a young boy. Without his parents’ willingness to drive him, cricket would have been a non-starter.
To this day, James remains in contact with two of his former coaches at Aberystwyth Cricket Club, Anthony Evans and Robin Varley, who he credits with going above and beyond so he could play cricket.
“Anthony and Robin were two people I started working closely with at a young age,” he said. “They looked after me.
“Because my parents sometimes couldn’t drive me to get there on Saturday, I would travel up on the train on the Friday night and stay at Anthony’s through to Sunday morning.”
James added: “Big shout out to Robin and Anthony, for different reasons, not just in terms of coaching but for helping to look after me as a kid and allowing me to play cricket at such a young age.”
For his services to cricket in Wales, James’ former coach Robin was awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year Honours List for 2024, while Anthony continues to turn out for the club as a bowler.
Returning to Cricket
Away from cricket, James has a passion for travelling – so much so that he lived abroad for years before moving back to Cardiff in 2020, where he originally moved to for university in 2000. During his time travelling the world, living in places such as San Diego in the United States and Melbourne, Australia, James found cricket hard to come by.
Upon his return to Wales, it wasn’t long until he was back playing for Cardiff Cricket Club – though he was more than just a little rusty due to his time away from the crease.
“I couldn’t hold a bat or a ball,” James explained. “I started playing games for the third team at Cardiff. That really bugged me.
“That spurred me to start playing cricket again and motivate myself to get back to playing at a higher standard. I enjoyed the challenge of doing that.
“I kept on playing and I got more involved with Cardiff, I started coaching more and training myself.”
Over-40s Cricket World Cup
Representing your country at a World Cup, for many, is the pinnacle – a level that so few ever reach. James, especially when struggling in Cardiff’s third team, could never have imagined getting to do just that.
“I was playing for a couple of Over-40s teams,” James said. “I was getting better and better, almost back to where I was 20 years ago.
“The Wales Over-50s team asked me to come and do some coaching, and then the Over-40s World Cup came up and I said we need to get a Wales team together, asking if we can find people to set it up.
“We very quickly organised it all together and established the idea of going to the South African World Cup.
“Me, a guy called Nick Morgan, and another guy called Adam Hitchcott were asked to do all these things and it just snowballed from there into an opportunity for us to play and compete at an older age.”
Despite not coming home with what would have been a fine cricket trophy to add to his collection, exiting the tournament with a solitary win over Canada, James looks back fondly on his experience of playing in a World Cup.
“The experience of playing against players I watched on the TV was just fantastic,” he said. “The South African World Cup was incredible.”
Forever in love with cricket, James continues to share his insight, knowledge and passion for the game through Cricket Matters. If you would like some more information on how James and the Cricket Matters team could help your game, head over to their website now.
By Aaron Gratton
