Alec Colley Cup Final:

 
 

Alec Colley Cup Final:

 

Carew (95 for 8 and 103 for 8) beat St Ishmaels (64 for 9 and 106 for 8) by 29 runs

Umpires: Allan Hansen and Jonathan Willington
Scorers: Julie Davies and Jane Richards
Venue: Treleet, Pembroke

Man of the Match: Simon Wood (Carew)

Carew Seconds’ potent mixture of experienced former first teams and talented youngsters saw them collect the Alec Colley Cup for the first time since 2000 as they fended off a strong challenge from a competitive St Ishmaels who struggled with the bat in the first innings but never gave up trying and played their full part in an entertaining clash.
 

Carew First Innings (95 for 8):

Asked to bat first by Tish skipper Robbie Thomas, the Rooks struggled to make real headway as they lost Brian Hall to an excellent catch at point by Ieuan Hawkins in Danny Flynn’s first over and lurched to 45 for 6 in the fifteenth over.

But even before that there was drama and a vital miss by Tish as Kevin Bowen bowled the first over of the match and Flynn downed a catch that gave Nick Scourfield a first-ball escape hatch from which he emerged to anchor the innings as he has done so often over the past 30 years to score a vital 45 not out, although he needed a runner for the latter part of his innings after pulling a hamstring.

There was some terrific Tish bowling by Stuart Carpenter, who finished with 4 for 33 alongside Steve Williams (1 for 13 in five economic overs), Bowen (1 for 19) and Flynn (1 for 27).

At one stage Carpenter had 3 for 5 but then was hit for three big sixes by Dai Rees, who came in at No 8 and contributed 24 before Flynn took an excellent catch in the deep – but by then Carew had added 40 runs as Scourfield also chipped in with four of his six boundaries.
 

St Ishmaels First Innings (64 for 9):

It was felt by some pundits that Tish were facing a challenging tally in the prevailing conditions and that is just how it turned out as teenager Tudor Hurle and ageless all-rounder Kerry Waters returned respectively tight five-over stints of 1 for 14 and 1 for 10 alongside Wood’s 1 for 23.

Thomas (12), Steve Williams (16) and Flynn (10) were their only batsmen to reach double figures as key run-makers Bowen and Carpenter departed for ducks as they also limped to 44 for 4 in 15 overs but, unlike Carew, they had no redeeming partnership as Rook’s skipper Barry Evans trundled his left-arm stuff to end with 4 for 13 from his five overs.

He was ably assisted by another teenager in Morgan Grieve, who claimed three neat stumpings as Tish players failed to pick up his slow flight.
 

Carew Second Innings (103 for 8):

It meant that Carew enjoyed a sizeable first-innings lead of 31 and this was soon increased as Grieve was moved up the order alongside Hall and they shared a stand of 28 in five overs before the latter departed to Steve Williams for 16 (two fours and a six).

But Tish are bonny battlers and they clawed their way back after Hall was well caught by 13 year old Thomas Williams off Bowen for 20 so that only eight runs came from the next five-over segment.

Ashley Smith, Haydn Shapcott, Rhys Grigg and Scourfield, batting at No 7 after being unable to field came and went quickly as Bowen 92 for 19) and Steve Williams (3 for 16) bowled their hearts out.

But again Carew found a redeeming partnership as Wood was joined by Rees as Carew scored a vital 40 runs in the last five overs of their innings, the former hitting two boundaries in his 40 not out and ending the innings with a straight six.

Rees again played a terrific supporting role with a hard-hit 16 before he fell to a superb running catch by Karl Rhead and there was a comedic end to the innings as Evans looked to be run out by miles but a Tish error gave him momentary relief until he suffered the same fate a few balls later in a late search for more runs.

St Ishmaels Second Innings (106 for 8):

Tish ere therefor facing a difficult run chase where 135 was needed to win but after reaching 18 they lost Flynn (8), caught by Rhys Grigg to give Wood his first of three wickets but Rhead struck three beautiful boundaries in his 15 to raise hopes before he also fell to Wood from a Dai Rees catch with the score on 32.

Kevin Bowen showed the impact he has made at Tish since his arrival to the village with a hard-hitting 25 (including a four and a six) before he fell to Evans but they lost Carpenter to a run out and the pressure mounted as Wood finished on 3 for 27 and Hurle supported with 2 for 30.

There was a glimmer of hope for Tish as Steve Williams and another talented young player in Ieuan Hawkins added 28 runs but both fell victim to Hurle as Hall claimed a catch in the gully and Ashley Smith took a juggling catch in the outfield.

From there was no real way back for Tish but they grafted until the end, when Steve Hastings hit the last ball of the match to the boundary to highlight his side’s part in an absorbing clash.
 

And finally . . .

County Club chairman Richard Merriman thanked both teams, officials, scorers and especially Pembroke Cricket Club for managing to get the game on after inclement weather. He introduced Martin Jones, the chairman of Neyland Cricket Club, who are new sponsors of the man of the match trophy in memory of the late Martin ‘Ceefax’ Rees, who spoke warmly about why they had decided to pay this tribute. It was decided by umpires Allan Hansen and Jon Willington, who announced that Simon Wood (Carew) had been chosen as the recipient. 
 

SCORECARDS:
 
FIRST INNINGS:

 
Carew Batting:
Brian Hall ct Ieuan Hawkins b Danny Flynn 1
Nick Scourfield not out 45
Ashley Smith ct Steve Williams b Kevin Bowen 13
Simon Wood lbw b Steve Williams 2
Morgan Grieve b Stuart Carpenter 0
Haydn Shapcott b Stuart Carpenter 1
Rhys Grigg st Steve Hastings b Stuart Carpenter 3
Dai Rees ct Danny Flynn b Stuart Carpenter 24
Barry Evans run out o
Tudor Hurle not out 0
Extras
Total (for 8 wickets) 95
 
St Ishmaels Bowling:
Kevin Bowen 5-1-19-1; Danny Flynn 5-0-27-1; Steve Williams 5-0-13-1; Stuart Carpenter 5-0-33-4
 
St Ishmaels Batting:
Karl Rhead lbw b Simon Wood 7
Robbie Thomas st Morgan Grieve b Barry Evans 12
Kevin Bowen ct Kerry Waters b Tudor Hurle 0
Stuart Carpenter run out 0
Ieuan Hawkins b Kerry Waters 6
Steve Williams st Morgan Grieve b Barry Evans 16
Danny Flynn run out 10
Josh Beer st Morgan Grieve b Barry Evans 4
Thomas Williams  ct and b Barry Evans 0
Steve Hastings not out 0
Julian Forster not out 0
Extras 9
Total (for 9 wickets) 64
 
Carew Bowling:
Simon Wood 5-0-23-1; Tudor Hurle 5-1-14-1;  Kerry Waters 5-1-10-1; Barry Evans 5-0-13-4
 

SECOND INNINGS:

 
Carew Batting:
Brian Hall ct Thomas Williams b Kevin Bowen 10
Morgan Grieve b Steve Williams 16
Ashley Smith b Steve Williams 7
Haydn Shapcott run out 0
Simon Wood not out 40
Rhys Grigg ct Stuart Carpenter b Kevin Bowen 0
Nick Scourfield lbw b Steve Williams 0
Dai Rees ct Karl Rhead b Robbie Thomas 16
Barry Evans run out 2
Tudor Hurle not out 3
Extras 9
Total (for 8 wickets) 103
 
St Ishmaels Bowling:
Kevin Bowen 5-1-19-2; Steve Williams 5-1-16-3; Stuart Carpenter 3-0-16-0; Danny Flynn 5-0-34-0; Robbie Thomas 2-0-12-1
 
St Ishmaels Batting:
Karl Rhead ct Dai Rees b Simon Wood 15
Danny Flynn ct Rhys Grigg b Simon Wood 8
Kevin Bowen ct Haydn Shapcott b Barry Evans 25
Stuart Carpenter run out 8
Steve Williams ct Brian Hall b Tudor Hurle 10
Ieuan Hawkins ct Haydn Shapcott b Tudor Hurle 15
Robbie Thomas run out 2
Josh Beer b Simon Wood 4
Thomas Williams not out 2
Steve Hastings not out 6
Extras 11
Total (for 8 wickets) 106
 
Carew Bowling:
Simon Wood 5-0-27-3; Tudor Hurle 5-0-30-2; Barry Evans 5-0-25-1; Karry Waters 5-0-21-0