Harrison-Allen Bowl Final 2013

 

Neyland (159 for 6 & 132 for 4) beat Llangwm (126 for 5 and 169 for 9) by six wickets

 
Man of the Match: Ashley Sutton
Umpires: Trefor Evans and Steve Blowes
Scorers: Janice Brick and John Laugharne (assisted by Janice Webb)
Announcer; Paul Webb
Groundsmen: Denis Chiffi, Phil James and Glyn Cole




For both Neyland and Llangwm, it was a chance to literally reach for the sky.

The 2013 Harrison-Allen Bowl final came with a unique feature attached. The occasion was covered by Sky Sports cameras - with a highlights package later aired that summer during the lunch break of an Ashes test match.

Sky had visited both clubs in the week beforehand and it all added to a build-up which had begun two weeks previously, when the same sides met in the DR Morris final.
 

Neyland started as favourites but due respect shown by skipper Gregg

Neyland had won that day with room to spare and were favourites to do so again – although skipper Gregg Miller remained apprehensive.

“Beating them in the Duggie helped us in terms of confidence,” he told PembrokeshireSport.

“But on the flip side they were now real underdogs, especially since Steve Inward had damaged a hand in the semi-final and this superb batsman was absent in their line-up, so his brother Chris and the rest had a point to prove. I always preferred going into a big game when you were up against it and I thought they would be the same.

“We respected them as a side but I was still particularly concerned with three of their players. William Beresford had a great track record with the bat, Chris Inward could be a destructive all-rounder and Andrew ‘Ackie’ Harries the same.

“So we were very wary of them. In fact for that reason I preferred to be playing them over two innings than one.”
 

Media attention increased excitement and Llangwm early nerves show

But did the extra media attention help or hinder?

“The added spice of Sky Sports helped build it up that little bit more and I loved it to be honest.

“I’d played in finals in 2009 and 2011 but this was my first as captain so I felt real excitement. Up to that point, this was my biggest day in cricket.”

And early on, it went to plan for Miller’s men. He won the toss, opted to field, and then saw Llangwm opener Inward run out cheaply after a mix up with Beresford.

The latter would go on to make 42 and Matthew Kiff steadied the tail with 24 not out, but with Nathan Banner (2-29) helping tie things down the final total of 121-5 was a modest one.

“Chris being run out early on was a boost for us as it stopped them getting a flier.

“Our fielding had been on the money all season and we stopped their big players from firing. To keep them to that score was good for us.”
 

Neyland also start nervously but Sutton shows his class

The reply started nervously though as Paul Murray and Miller himself fell to Harries and Darren Brick respectively, but with the score 28-2, it was Ashley Sutton who then put Neyland firmly in command.

The No 3 struck a superb 102 not out from just 62 balls, sharing a stand of 55 with Andrew Miller (23) along the way.

It helped take Neyland to 159-6, and a significant 38 run lead.

“Ashley had actually been a doubt in the week running up to the final as he was carrying an ankle injury,” Miller recalled.

“But he accelerated his innings so well. He’s always had that ability to take a game away from a side.

“One of our strengths that year though was our middle order. If me or ‘Minty’ (Paul Murray) didn’t come off then you had Ashley, Andrew, Nick Koomen and Nathan Banner to come in behind. The depth of our batting was one area I was confident in.”
 

Expected early finish halted in style by Beresford

That confidence would have grown in Llangwm’s second innings as Banner, Patrick Hannon and Gary Lloyd all took early wickets to restrict Jonathan Twigg’s side to 36-4 in 10 overs – and an early finish seemed on the cards.

Miller’s pre-match fears about Beresford however, were about to ring true.

At that point he was 15 not out and then started swinging at everything. And connecting with everything as it happened.

He smashed 114 in 59 balls, with his second 50 coming in just 20 of those deliveries. It carried his side to 169-9 and from being nigh on down and out, Llangwm were back in the contest.

“I think he hit Andrew for four sixes in one over and then cracked Patrick Hannon for two or three consecutively before eventually he was caught by Paddy Bellerby at long on.

“Just seeing the ball sail over the rope is not a place you want to be in as a captain. But you had to give Beresford credit - he was in form and there wasn’t much we could do about it.”
 

Target of 132 set for Neyland – who reached it with six wickets and 10 balls to spare

For his part, Hannon did finish with a five wicket haul and Neyland’s victory target of 132 was still one Miller would have taken beforehand.

“I remember saying to the boys what had just happened didn’t matter. We would all have accepted this run chase to win the Harrison-Allen Bowl at the start of the day.”

Murray made a brisk 15 before skipper Miller and Sutton took matters to 95-1, only for another bump to appear in the road.

After glorious sunshine all day, a random shower halted proceedings, and when play restarted Miller (32) was bowled neck and crop by Inward - while man of the match Sutton (43) and Andrew Miller (20) also fell.
But they proved mere blips as Banner and Koomen got the job done with 10 balls to spare.

“I thought we were cruising before the delay but we still stayed quite calm afterwards. We didn’t look for heroics in the second innings.

“Although it’s funny saying that as 10 years previously, 132 in 22 overs was a tough chase.”
 

Historic treble for Neyland and relegation for Llangwm to follow

Neyland’s season didn’t finish there. They would of course go on to claim a long awaited league title and an historic treble to boot.

For Llangwm, fortunes would go the opposite way – despite those two final appearances their form faltered badly in the final weeks and they were relegated into Division 2. They did however, bounce back with promotion the following year.

“We knew there was still work to in the weeks coming up but we were still able to enjoy the night,” said Miller.

“After all it was a second Bowl for us in three years after so long without one.

“Weeks earlier I’d been joking with Rob Scourfield and he said if we won and went back to his pub he’d fill the Bowl up for us. So on the bus I told everyone we were stopping off at the Carew Inn which took everyone by surprise.

“But fair play I took the Bowl straight up to him at the bar and he stayed true to his word.”
 

And finally . . .

However, for all the happy memories of Miller’s first Bowl win as captain, there was one aspect he didn’t cherish. Hated it in fact.

“Anyone who knows me will say I’ll talk to anybody.

“But I can’t stand doing speeches. When I had to give one in front of a big crowd afterwards I felt embarrassed.

“I mumbled through it and it was the only bit of the day I didn’t enjoy.”
Luckily for him, the Sky Sports cameramen had seen enough by then....