CRICKET - Winter Indoor-League Report . . . from PembrokeshireSport.co.uk

Pembroke County Cricket Club Indoor League

Sponsored by Nick Evans and the Cricket Shop

Week 9:

Venue: Meads Leisure Centre, Milford Haven

Umpire:  Alan Hansen and Les Hastings

Scorers: Joy James (Hook) and John Sheppard (Pembroke Dock)

Dock grab shock win

Whitland ‘B’ (116 for 4) lost

to Pembroke Dock (118 for 4)

Pembroke Dock showed how much they have improved at the indoor game as they gained a surprise, but fully deserved, win over Whitland ‘B’ where they kept their nerve to win off the very last ball of the match as Steve Hartley scored a three when the Dock needed just a single.

Matthew ‘Titch’ Davies was again one of the Whitland batting heroes as he finished on 38 not out alongside skipper Mark Lee (28 not out), a good score in view of the fact that Whitland had inexperienced indoor men like Nico Setaro, Dafydd Evans and Hefin Thomas.

Steve Hartley batted really well to top score on 43 not out for the Dock and Peter Kingdom supported well with an unbeaten 24 as John Camani, Mahmud Khan, Julian Edwards and Jamie White all fielded well in the Dock cause.

Blaxland batting saves Hook

Pembroke Dock (82 for 6)

lost to Hook (86 for 5)

The Dock were unable to maintain their momentum against Hook, however, as they were shot out for 82 since only Khan managed double figures and they had an amazing 40 runs from extras that included 25 wides and 15 leg byes! The highlight of the Hook fielding performance was a superb catch to get rid of Khan by Ross Martin off the bowling of Chris Holder as he fell backwards in pouching the ball off a side wall.

Ben Field scored 19 for Hook in their response but it was left to talented teenager Tom Blaxland (27 not out) to guide them home with an over to spare as Peter Kingdom grabbed 2 for 18 as the best Dock bowler.

‘Titch’ takes runs galore

Whitland ‘B’ (121 for 6)

beat Hook (115 for 5)

Matthew ‘Titch’ Davies again showed he is a top indoor cricketer as he led Whitland ‘B’ back onto the winning trail against Hook by contributing 34 as skipper Lee led the batting with a sparkling 46 in a final tally of 121 for 6 that was boosted by the inclusion of another 20 extras.

Blaxland again batted well for Hook as he scored 26 runs before being run out, with Ross Martin contributing 23. Ben Field had a six in his 32 not out but he ran out of time with seven runs needed to give Whitland victory.

Pembroke County Cricket Club Indoor League

Sponsored by Nick Evans and the Cricket Shop

Week 8:

Venue: Meads Leisure Centre, Milford Haven
Umpire: Alan Hansen and John Williams

Match Three - Neyland win

by a whisker...

Neyland (109 for 4) beat Hook (106 for 5)

Neyland go into their last two matches as one of three teams with an unbeaten tag

As they comfortably accounted for a gritty Fishguard team but then were pushed all the way by a Hook outfit who failed by only four runs to halt their progress.

Neyland and Hook had already beaten Fishguard to set up a nerve-jangling finale where Neyland batted first and amassed a health tally of 109 for 4 thanks to Scott John, undefeated on 31 and Andrew Miller, with 36 not out, after Ashley Sutton (12) and Nick Kooman (14) had also made contributions and the latter was superbly run out by Tom Blaxland.

Blaxland showed what a good all-round indoor player he has become when Hook batted because he reached 25 and retired – and then returned to score a sparkling 52 not out. Ross Martin also scored a hard-hitting 33 and Hook were very much in contention but ran out of overs a tantalising three runs short of a tie to keep Neyland looking for the silverware.

Match One - Hook make a winning start

Fishguard (65 all out) lost to Hook (65 for 4)

Hook started the afternoon well as they put Fishguard into bat and limited Nigel Morgan’s young team to 64 all out as Blaxland grabbed 3 for 10, including a juggling catch and fall to the ground by Martin to get rid of Nigel Morgan, plus a cracking return catch, diving to his right, to shift Vaughan Davies. Rhys Dalling (11) and Chris George (21) were the main contributors to the Fishguard cause but Ross Martin had two straight sixes in his 30 not out and Blaxland chipped in with 18 before he was run out.

Match Two - Neyland cruise to

victory after early shocks

Fishguard (81 for 5) lost to Neyland (82 for 3)

Neyland gained their expected win over Fishguard as they limited the opposition to 81 for 3 but then suffered early shocks before Scott John and Andrew Miller guided them home with a little to spare.

Nigel Morgan (14), Rhys Dalling (20) and Ben Watson (31 not out) were the principal run-getters for Fishguard as Sean Hannon claimed 3 for 15, including a classic return catch off Morgan and a Gregg Miller ‘special’ where he took a one-handed catch off the wall to shift the unfortunate Vaughan Davies.

But Gregg Miller was shot out for a rare ‘golden duck’ to set up a few tremors in the Neyland camp before Andrew Miller showed his brother how it’s done with 32 not out alongside 25 not out from Nick Kooman that guided Neyland to victory.

These results mean that Neyland, Haverfordwest and Whitland ‘A’ will all meet on Week Ten with unbeaten records but if Hook win both their games on Sunday (week Nine) they will have five wins from six starts – and if the top three all win a match on the final day it would mean a four-way tie for the indoor crown!

Pembroke County Cricket Club Indoor League

Sponsored by Nick Evans and the Cricket Shop

Week 7:

Venue: Meads Leisure Centre, Milford Haven
Umpire: Alan Hansen

Whitland ‘A’ move into joint top spot . . .
( . . .and St Florence fail to show for the third time!)

Whitland ‘A’ showed that they will feature in the chase for silverware again this season as they comfortably accounted for their ‘B’ team in an entertaining tussle – but both teams were left frustrated by the non-arrival of St Florence, who sadly have entered the indoor league this campaign but failed to put in a single appearance.

Dai drives his team to joint top Whitland ‘A’ (98 for 4) beat Whitland ‘B’ (85 all out)

Veteran Whitland ‘A’ player Dai Lee showed what a good all-round player he is in this form of the game as he scored 33 not out in their total of 98 for 4 against their ‘B’ team. He also fielded really well against the team skippered by his brother Mark and then grabbed the vital wicket of Matthew ‘Titch’ Davies as he completely tied Davies up in the final over before having him beautifully caught by Carl Smith high above his head near the back wall.
Dai Lee opened the innings with Paul Davies and the pair showed their prowess with some good hitting allied to superbly judged runs. Both retired on the mandatory score of 25 but Lee returned to finish on 33 not out and Davies supported well on 28 not out. Iestyn Scourfield chipped in with an excellent 23 before he was run out having inflicted the same fate on Daniel James and Carl Smith with some kamikaze running! For the ‘B’ team, Kevin Pearce claimed the only wicket as Jonathan Thomas departed early and the pick of the bowling in terms of runs conceded were Matthew Webb and Mark Lee. Matthew Davies and Pearce gave the ‘B’ team a good start as they put on 36 in four overs before Dai Lee was again involved when he caught Pearce off Paul Davies’ bowling for 20, including a straight six and four. But Scourfield grabbed two for 11 and Paul Davies 1 for 18 to leave Matthew Davies stranded on his own and able to build an innings of 42 before he finally fell to Dave Lee trying to reach a target that by then was evidently too much for him.

Pembroke County Cricket Club Indoor League

Sponsored by Nick Evans and the Cricket Shop

Venue: Meads Leisure Centre, Milford Haven

Umpires:  Alan Hansen and John Williams

Participating teams . . .
Fishguard & Goodwick ; Haverfordwest ‘B’ and Haverfordwest ‘A’

Week 6:

Haverfordwest ‘A’ move into top spot

Haverfordwest ‘A’ showed why they are the current champions of the indoor cricket league and recently came second to Swansea in the Welsh Finals after beating Cardiff in the semi-final. Well done the Town lads! In this week’s games they beat their ‘B’ team without losing a wicket and then built such a big score against Fishguard that although Nigel Morgan’s boys batted well they were still 27 runs short of victory at the end of a lively afternoon’s cricket.

Fishguard (99 all out) beat
Haverfordwest ‘B’ (95 for 5)

Fishguard played really well against Haverfordwest ‘B’ to win by four runs but The Town ‘B’ team had a golden chance to win when they needed four runs off the final three balls, but lost two wickets and failed to add even a single as Ben Watson bowled really well for Fishguard.

Nigel Morgan certainly led Fishguard by example as he top scored with 31 (one six and two fours) before he went for one big hit too many and was bowled by John Tooze – whilst Jonathan Strawbridge contributed 25 (two sixes and two fours) before he was run out. Ben Watson chipped in with a late 17 before he was beautifully caught by bowler Richard Davies – and the final total was boosted by 19 runs from ‘Mr Extras’, including 12 in one over! Jasper Holmes (1 for 11), Richard Davies (2 for 14) and Tooze (1 for 12) were the pick of the Town ‘B’ bowling attack.

Holmes and Tooze also batted well with 28 runs apiece but Watson (3 for 14), Nigel Morgan (0 for 10) and Strawbridge (1 for 18) made sure that Fishguard finally edged through in those nervous final deliveries where Tooze was left stranded at the wrong end and unable to put his experience to good effect.

Haverfordwest ‘B’ (56 all out) lost to
Haverfordwest ‘A’ (57 for 0)

This was a one-sided affair as ‘B’ team skipper Nigel Jenkins opted to bat first and saw his side struggle to 56 all out as only Tooze (10) and Josh Wilment (10) stayed long and Mr Extras was the third set of double figures. Dai Davies (1 for 2), Clive Tucker (1 for 15) and Nigel Delaney (1 for 9) all supported Phil Kirkby, who grabbed 2 for 5 from his 12 deliveries, with Adam James taking four cracking catches to confirm his worth in the field.

It was never going to be a target that would pressure on the ‘A’ team as skipper Danny Potter had seven threes in his 26 not out and Nigel Delaney was also undefeated on 20, including six threes – and they strolled home in only six overs.

Haverfordwest ‘A’ (130 for 3) beat Fishguard (104 for 2)

Haverfordwest showed the strength of their batting against Fishguard after being invited to bat first, with Dai Davies finishing on 52 not out as he showed how batting indoors should be undertaken with strong straight driving and good judgement of angles from delicate nudges to accumulate three runs a time.

He retired after he had scored 25 alongside other good batting by Nigel Delaney (28 not out) and Danny Potter (25 not out) but returned to help Potter add 38 runs in the last two overs as his knock included two sixes, two fours and nine threes. The father and son duo of Nigel and Matthew Morgan were the pick of the Fishguard bowling as they bowled a steady line and length.

Fishguard lost Dai Haynes cheaply, bowled by the canny Clive Tucker, but Jonathan Strawbridge blasted two fours and a six in his belligerent 26 not out. Matthew Morgan chipped in with 26 not out whilst dad Nigel scored 13 but was unlucky to be caught off the ceiling by Phil Kirkby off Delaney’s bowling when it might have been a six!

Ben Watson also scored 20 not out (two fours) and although Fishguard never looked likely to reach the required run rate they batted well for their final tally of 104 for two wickets.

Whitland ‘A’ (103 for 4)

beat Pembroke Dock (69 all out)

Whitland blooded several new players to the techniques of indoor league cricket and there were some good all-round performances as they beat Pembroke Dock by 34 runs.
Experienced players Paul Davies (11) and Dai Lee (28) gave them a solid start before Davies was run out and Lee retired on 25 but suffered a similar fate when he returned to the action late on.
Iestyn Scourfield showed that he could be a good all-rounder as the 18 year old scored 25 runs before having to retire, with some nice straight hitting and deft deflections – and Daniel James was another youngster who did well as he scored 16 not out. Wicket-keeper Steve Fraser contributed eight runs before he was bowled by John Camani and Carl Smith added seven runs bust was then well caught but Nick Daley took a good catch off the bowling of Mohammed Khan.
The Dock bowlers gave away only eight extras as Andrew Boyett, Peter Kingdom and Daley joined Khan and Camani tried hard to restrict the free-flowing Whitland batsmen.
Daley and keeper Julian Edwards set the Dock innings in the right direction but then Daley was superbly stumped by Fraser off a leg-side wide when he’s scored nine runs to give Iestyn Scourfield a wicket. Khan was bowled by Dan James for nine runs and Peter Kingdom was bowled for a duck by Dai Lee before Fraser again intervened to stump top scorer Edwards (22) off Carl Smith’s bowling.
Camani chipped in with a neat 16 runs before he was also stumped by Fraser off Lee and when Boyett was run out for five runs the Dock were dismissed for 69 runs as Dai Lee used his experience to good effect in a 2 for 9 spell alongside good bowling by the rest of his team.

Pembroke County
Cricket Club

Indoor League
Sponsored by Nick Evans

and the Cricket Shop

Week 4:

Venue: Meads Leisure Centre, Milford Haven
Umpires:  Alan Hansen & Les Hastings
Scorer: Joy James (Hook)

Hook start well as Saints

fail to show again

Hook (120 all out) beat

Haverfordwest ‘B’ (73 for 4)

Hook made a winning start to indoor cricket as they easily accounted for Haverfordwest ‘B’ but St Florence again failed to turn up and so there was only one match played, to the evident disappointment of both teams in attendance.
Hook batted first against Haverfordwest ‘B’ and were rocked back early on as Matthew Holder departed for a duck, clean bowled by Matthew Holder. But Tom Blaxland (16) and Ross Martin batted well, with a feature of their partnership being their running between the wickets before Martin had to retire at 25 and Blaxland was superbly caught by Chris Phillips, tumbling to take the ball low after it had struck two walls, to give John Tooze a welcome wicket.

Ben Field rapped 28 alongside Andrew Thomas’s 18 (two fours) before Field was well caught by Phillips, this time off the bowling of Richard Davies, but Rhodri Owen blasted a six and Martin returned to finish up on 43 before he was run out having rapped three sixes and a four. There were nine extras to help Hook to a big score of 120 all out which they scored in only nine of their allocated ten overs.
It was always likely to be too challenging a target for The Town, especially after Holder bowled Richard Davies for two runs and Chris Phillips was removed by Andrew Thomas for six runs.
John Tooze battled his way to 26 before he had to retire and Nigel Jenkins contributed 22 before Andrew Thomas did well to hold on to a full-blooded drive to give Ben Field a wicket but Haverfordwest were falling further and further behind the required run rate. Paul Jenkins and Chris Darlington held on at the end but The Town were still 48 runs short of victory at the completion of their ten overs.
Rather than waste the time allocated at The Meads, both teams enjoyed a second friendly match but it is a great pity that St Florence were again unable to field a team because it does disrupt the programme so carefully worked out by Wendy Bradshaw and Alan Hansen.

Pembroke County Cricket Club
Indoor Cricket League –
Sponsored by Nick Evans and the Cricket Shop

Week Three:

Participating teams: Burton, Haverfordwest ‘B’ and Neyland
Venue: The Meads Leisure Centre, Milford Haven
Umpires: Alan Hansen and John Williams

Neyland show why they are favourites

Neyland’s talented indoor cricket team showed just why they are hot favourites to win this season’s competition as they made a cracking start with very easy wins over Haverfordwest ‘B’ and Burton where they only lost one wicket.
Perhaps more importantly, they bowled and fielded superbly and were always on top, earning the praises of both umpires for the way that they opened their programme with such total dominance.

Match One – Haverfordwest

‘B’ versus Neyland

Haverfordwest ‘B’ batted first but Neyland took five catches in reducing them to the rubble of 55 all out, only last man Kieran Cunningham breaking the trend as he was run out for 11 off the last ball of the allocated ten overs. The pick of the catches came from keeper Paul Murray as he stood up to the wicket and pouched an under-edge from Chris Phillips off the bowling of Sean Hannon, who finished with a miserly 1 for 7 from his two overs.
Murray added another two catches alongside good ones from Sean Hannon, to shift Town skipper Andrew Phillips for 8, and Andrew Miller, who caught top scorer Jamie Holmes for 21 off brother Gregg’s bowling, and added a 2 for 7 haul as a bonus. Greg finished with the most expensive figures of 1 for 15, Lee Summons claimed 1 for 10 and Ashley Sutton bowled well without any luck.
Lee Summons scored 26 for Neyland before he retired with a six and four included, and although Chris Phillips caught Ashley Sutton off Cunningham’s bowling for only four runs it was left to Sean Hannon and Gregg Miller to steer Neyland home on 56 for 1 in 6.3 overs, with Miller finishing the game in style with a powerful six-hit.

Match Two – Burton versus Neyland

Burton fared even worse when they batted first against Neyland despite losing Morgan Scale and James Venables cheaply, the former caught by Murray off Gregg Miller and the latter neatly stumped by the in-form keeper. Ross Edwards bludgeoned a speedy 26, including a six and three fours before retiring, and Mark Griffiths contributed 18 before he gave a return catch to Gregg Miller, Murray pouched his third victim in catching James Scale off Andrew Miller for a duck, and Johnny Griffiths was trapped lbw by Summons. It meant Edwards returning to the crease with eight balls remaining but he was immediately caught and bowled by Simmons without adding to his score.
Again Neyland’s attack was immaculate, with only one extra, as Hannon finished with 1 for 3 in two overs alongside Summons (2 for 11) and Gregg Miller (2 for 8). Again a target of 55 to win seemed unlikely to trouble Neyland’s strong batting line-up and that is just the way it turned out as Andrew Miller included two fours in his 27 before retiring, leaving Murray (17 not out) and Gregg Miller (6 not out) to stroll home without the loss of a single wicket in five overs.

Match Three – Burton versus Haverfordwest ‘B’

Burton batted much better against Haverfordwest as they scored 118 for 4 thanks to James Venables’ superb 45 before he was finally run out having smashed no fewer than five sixes, three on the trot when he returned for his second spell at the crease. Edwards had three sixes in his mightily quick 30 and Mark Griffiths reached 13 in helping Burton fly past the three-figure mark.
Andrew Phillips (15) and Holmes (30 not out) gave Haverfordwest a solid start but they were soon behind on the run rate and all the other Town batsmen fell in the pursuit of quick runs. Chris Phillips did well to score 15 not out but they had to settle for 84 for 4 as Morgan Scale was the pick of the Burton bowlers.

The Pembroke County Cricket Indoor League
(Sponsored by Nick Evans and the Cricket Shop)

Week Two:

Wonderful White batting wins it for Dock

Jamie White was the undoubted star in a cracking game between Fishguard and Pembroke Dock in week two of the Pembroke County Club Indoor Cricket League, sponsored by Nick Evans and the Sports Shop – but there was great disappointment at the fact that St Florence, who have only just joined the indoor league, were unable to raise a team and so their two games were conceded.

Good stroke play

White was part of the Dock side whose commitment to indoor cricket has been superb but even he must have felt that his side were down and out as the Dock stood in tatters at 50 for 5 in pursuit of Fishguard’s solid, if unspectacular, 98 for 4. But he knuckled down, played sensible and finished up with his first-ever half century in the indoor game having stroked 14 threes and a four en route to 51 not out. More importantly, it saw the Dock home to victory when anything other than a Fishguard win would have been laughed at, at one stage!
The father and son duo of Nigel and Matthew Morgan set Fishguard on the way to a decent total as they opened the batting and respectively scored 13 and 18 before both were run out seeking quick runs. Matthew Driver and James Wade departed in similar fashion for next to nothing but Vaughan Davies batted well for his 24 not out alongside Chris George (12 not out), both slamming sixes in a final over by the unfortunate Luke Murray which went for 21 runs. The Fishguard total was also boosted by an amazing 27 runs from ‘Mr Extras’ which included eight wides and five no balls alongside 14 leg byes!

Dock struggle

Peter Kingdom managed only eight runs for the Dock but he was well caught by Murray off Matthew Morgan whilst James Edwards scored 15 before he was run out and Steve Hartley supported with 12 until he was bowled by George. The loss of two quick wickets, both to good run outs, had the Dock looking decidedly in trouble – but then White stepped in and he eased the Dock home, aided by ten extras which included seven wides!