Ladies’ Cricket:

 
 

Western Steel Ladies (166 for 6) beat Pembrokeshire ladies (165 for 8) by 4 wickets

 

Pembrokeshire Ladies travelled to Briton Ferry Steel Cricket Club for their opening Premier League match, to take on a team which has seen an amalgamation between Carmarthenshire and Briton Ferry Steel under the new name of ‘Western Steel’, which inevitably saw them with experienced players like Anwen How, Kelsy Hughes, Gemma Puh and Maisie Donne leading the way.
 
County skipper Sam Rossiter certainly led by example for Pembrokeshire as they batted first and built up a score of 166 for 6 from their 40 overs
before they stayed in contention in the field and were only passed with four balls left of an absorbing contest.
 

New young talent gaining great experience

 
Rossiter and her management team have opted for a new set-upset up for the season as they look to establish their own pathway, with established senior players creating an environment for talented younger players to have the chance to play at a higher level.  As a result, in this match they played with six debutants,  with three under 15's in Poppy Price, Martha Bhari and Edie Collie, plus two under 19's in Katie Gibbins and Lois Hughes.
 
So, a final-over defeat, with a great effort in the field, especially from the young bowlers as they fielded the last 20 overs with 10 players, was something of an achievement - the only polish needed being the fact that they conceded 31 extras, 25 of them from wides!
 

Sam stars in batting line-up

 
The county lost a new recruit in Lani Hogben early on but Kacey Arran and Sam Rossuiter batted well until Kacey was caught for 18 to show what an asset she is going to be. Rhiannon Morgan-Evans put her experience to good effect, with three boundaries in her score of 20 as part of a 50 partnership for the fourth wicket and Abbey Price contributed 20 runs (three more fours). Ffion Ashman also looked in good nick but departed for eight runs.
 
But it was skipper Rossiter who contributed the major portion of the final tally as she stroked her way to 73 from 87 balls, including eight fours and two sixes before she was caught by How off Pugh in the inevitable late chase for runs – and there were 15 extras to help the county team to a decent final tally.
 
When Western Steel batted there was a wicket apiece for Poppy Price, Lowis Hughes, and Edie Colley, with Rhiannon Morgan-Evans grabbing 2 for 23 in eight accurate overs as Martha Bhari and Katie Gibbins also gained vital experience.






 
Pembrokeshire Ladies:
Back row: Kacey Arran, Ffion Ashman, Rhiannon Morgan-Evans, Abbey Price, Katie Gibbins
Front row: Edie Colley, Lowis Hughes, Sam Rossiter, Martha Bhari, Poppy Price Lani Hogben not in photo.