DACO chairman Chris Shelton pays tribute to his friend and colleague Pete Bamber following his death at the age of 63

I first met Pete when Dave Moseby and I were doing umpire training at Marldon Village Hall, in and around 2005/6. We hadn’t got Stage one and two then; it was on the verge of the GL6 etc. changing. 

We regularly had IT problems with our kit, and as neither Dave nor I were skilled in that area, Pete showed his real talent. He was an expert, well as far as we were concerned, he was. He dug us out of various difficulties, and eventually trained up to be a Premier umpire, despite who his trainers were!

Pete loved the game having had a long association with it before he turned to umpiring. Eventually Pete’s IT expertise drew him into being DACO’s appointments officer. In fulfilling this role, he showed his immense skill in dealing with systems, juggling people, as well as great satisfaction in sorting the right appointments out on to the field. 

Pete had a good working relationship with Steve Lavis, our development officer, and his regional team of appointers that helped create DACO’s excellent reputation throughout the county. The DCL and DCB both knew that they could turn to Pete when problems arose, as he would come up with a positive solution. In dealing with these issues, often late acknowledgement of representative matches, he would never complain, just resolve and appoint.

During our 16-plus year association, he became a real friend. My good lady and I shared the occasional meal out with Pete and his good lady Sue. I would ring him every Sunday morning during the season, as well as at least once a week during the year, depending what was going on. 

Pete got great pleasure, in the last couple of years, watching the streamed matches on his laptop, as he did not go out to them as he used to. In our conversations he would never verbally criticise anyone, while acknowledging some ‘problems’ that he had seen, or I talked to him about. 

Pete Bamber was a major asset to DACO and cricket in Devon. To us, Pete managed his health issues, doing his best not to let them affect his role in cricket in Devon. He was my friend, a colleague, someone who had a great deal of skill and patience to fulfil his role, while enjoying the challenges it presented him. Pete was always there to encourage and develop umpires, having positive things to say about everyone. I will miss him, so will DACO and cricket in Devon. I shall miss him a great deal. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sue, his sons, and the rest of his family.