Indoor Cricket (4^th October 2021):

 

 
Venue: Neyland Hub
Umpires: Rob Bellerby and Allan Hansen
Organisers: Peter Davies and Martin Jones
 
Indoor Cricket has made a welcome return to the Pembrokeshire sporting scene and there could be no better place to hold it than the magnificent Neyland Community Hub, with its splendid sports hall, first class lighting and viewing gallery.
 
Three matches took place on Sunday evening (see below) and the hub will be used almost every Sunday morning and Monday evening for games in both A and B Leagues.
Organiser Peter Davies told PembrokeshireSport.co.uk
 
“It is great to be up and running again and we are obviously delighted by the number of clubs taking part – and the good sportsmanship shown by all six teams in this first session.

“We would also like to thank the umpires, scorers and anyone else involved – and I feel confident we are going to have a great programme of competitive cricket.”



 

Match One:

 

Neyland A (135 for 5) beat Pembroke Dock A (70 all out)

 
Scorer: Callum Power (Neyland)
 
Neyland A’s cricket team started their 2021 season as they have done in so many previous seasons by beating a young Pembroke Dock A quite comfortably as the wide gap in experience was evident from the outset as they accumulated a big score without seeming to have their foot firmly on the pedal and they dismissed The Dock’s talented but raw side.
 
Nick Koomen showed The Dock how to do it as the Neyland opener retired on 26 as early as the third over and although skipper Sean Hannon departed for only nine runs from a Jamie White catch off the wall to a ball bowled by Euan McDonald there was little relaxation in the tempo as Jack John belted two big sixes in his 20 but was then caught by Thomas Grimwood of Rhys Daley for 20.
 
That brought Gregg Miller to the crease and the old master of the indoor game hit two sixes in his effortless 26 before retiring – but not before he’s run out Patrick Hannon like a dog and received a glare from the normally cheerful Mr Hannon!
 
Keiran Arran contributed a useful 15 as the second of the Neyland ‘young guns’ and it marked the return of Messrs Koomen and Miller, who contributed 42 not out and 34, as Grimwood claimed his second catch to give McDonald his second scalp.
 
George Smith and Rhys Daley opened for the Dock but Smith was run out as he misjudged a quick single and Daley was neatly stumped by Miller off Arran after saving a third-ball drop as the keeper made a amends off Arran.
 
Grimwood was superbly caught by Jones off Sean Kannon for a duck before Scott Griffiths hit 25 and retired – and there was 18 from Jamie White but he was caught off Jack John by Patrick Hannon, who also ran out McDonald as the pressure and necessary run rate mounted.

Griffiths returned but was unable to add to his tally and Neyland won by 65 runs – but this Dock side will undoubtedly learn from this experience and will make progress quickly during the course of the campaign.



 
SCORECARD:
 
Neyland Batting:
Nick Koomen not out 42
Sean Hannon ct Jamie White b Euan McDonald 9
Jack John ct Thomas Grimwood b Rhys Daley 20
Gregg Miller ct Jamie White b Euan McDonald 34
Patrick Hannon run out 3
Keiran Arran ct Thomas Grimwood b Jamie White 15
Extras 12
Total (5 wickets) 135
 
 
Pembroke Dock A Bowling:
Jamie White 2-0-25-1; Euan McDonald 20-37-2; George Smith 2-0-28-0; Rhys Daley 1-0-21-1; Thomas Grimwood 2-0-21-0.
 
Pembroke Dock A Batting:
George Smith run out 10
Rhys Daley st Gregg Miller b Keiran Arran 9
Thomas Grimwood ct Jack John b Sean Hannon 0
Scott Griffiths ct Sean Hannon b Keiran Arran 25
Jamie White ct Patrick Hannon b Jack John 18
Euan McDonald run out 2
Extras 6
Total (all out) 70
 
Neyland A Bowling:
Patrick Hannon 2-0-14-0; Jack John 2-0-17-1; Sean Hannon 2-0-15-0; Keiran Arran 1.4-0-16-2; Nick Koomen 1-0-8-0
 

Match Two: 

Narberth (109 for 3) lost to Llanrhian (110 for 2)

 
Scorer: Richard Howell (Narberth)
 
 Narberth must surely have one of the youngest teams in this year’s competition and after batting first against Llanrhian reached a decent score of 109 for 3 but might have had more but for their relative inexperience – and Nigel Delaney’s boys did well to chase down their target in 8.4 overs for the loss of only two wickets.
 
Skipper Jordan Howell lead the Narberth batting as he reached the mandatory 25 retirement figure in the middle of the third over as he hit four boundaries in the process – and co-opener Loui Davies also did well with 19 before he edged a delivery from Llion Williams into Iwan James’ gloves.
 
But Jamie McCormack came and went as Llion Williams took a catch off the side wall to give Delaney a wicket and then Wil Nicholas was run out trying a risky single and Narberth looked a little shaky.
 
But Kyle Williams and Rhodri Dyer steadied the ship but were unable to raise the tempo against accurate bowling from the Llanrhian bowling quintet before Dyer eventually retired with two balls left and Williams was unbeaten on 23 – but skipper Howells was left eager to get out of the hutch and back into the action after his early fireworks.
 
Llanrhian showed their batting strength as openers Jonathan Strawbridge and Delaney set their team well on the road to victory, with Strawbridge blasting a first-ball six and then a four off the final ball of the first over, whilst Delaney is rightly regarded as one of the best indoor players after so many years at Haverfordwest, with excellent judgement between the wickets.
 
Both retired on 26 and Iwan James also retired on 25 so that Narberth struggled for wickets to halt the momentum.- but finally struck when Carl Davies was caught for 14 to give McCormack a wicket and llion Williams was run out for a duck.
 
But by then Llanrhian were a whisker away from winning, which they did with eight balls in hand and with a powerful trio waiting to come back in as Daf Williams saw them home with a single!


 
SCORECARD:
 
Narberth Batting
Jordan Howell not out 26
Loui Davies ct Iwan James b Llion Williams 19
Jamie McCormack ct Llion Williams b Nigel Delaney 3
Wil Nicholas run out 6
Kyle Williams not out 23
Rhodri Dyer retired 26
Extras 6
Total (3 wickets) 109
 
Llanrhian Bowling:
Dafydd Williams 2-0-23-0; Carl Davies 2-0-24-0; Jonathan Strawbridge 2-0-26-0; Llion Williams 2-0-17-1; Nigel Delaney 2-0-18-1.
 
Llanrhian Batting:
Jonathan Strawbridge retired 26
Nigel Delaney retired 26
Iwan James retired 25
Carl Davies ct Kyle Williams b Jamie McCormack 14
Llion Williams run out 0
Dafydd Williams not out 1
Extras 18
Total (2 wickets) 110
 
Narberth Bowling:
Loui Davies 2-0-22-0; Rhodri Dyer 1-0-15-0; Jamie McCormack 2-0-36-1; Jordan Howell 2-0-24-0; Wil Nicholas 1-0-12-0.
 


 

Match Three:

 

Neyland C (98 for 5) lost to Pembroke Dock B (102 for 4)

 
Scorer: John Laugharne (Neyland)
 
Neyland C and Pembroke Dock B started the second division off with an entertaining tussle in the final game of the first night and it was The Dock who eventually came through as they chased down Neyland’s 98 for 5 with 102 for 4 in the final over.
 
Leading the way for Neyland was 16 year old Rhys Power, who joined big brother Callum in opening the innings and retired at scoring 25 and then returned later in the allotted ten overs to finish off with an excellent undefeated 47.
 
Callum departed for 8, caught by Peter Kingdom off another talented youngster in Bowyn Clark, and any hopes that Neyland had of a very big score were dented by three consecutive run outs to Rhys Beavis (5), Sam Laugharne (12) and Nathan Sutton (17) as The Dock kept applying pressure in the field.
 
Kacey Arran was bowled by Peter Kingdom and it was only Rhys Power’s classy knock that gave an air of respectability to Neyland C’s final tally.
 
Pembroke Dock made a solid start in response as Jake Davies hit 25 before retiring and he was supported by Luke Murray, with 24 before he was finally caught by Rhys Beavis off Kacey Arran, the only female playing in the evening and bowling well.
 
Nick Daley was bowled for 13 Rhys Beavis and Peter Kingdom chipped in with 14 before he was run out - and with 10 not out from Adam Phillips the game was done and dusted as The Dock were good value for victory.
 
SCORECARD:
 
Neyland C Batting:
Connor Power ct Peter Kingdom b Bowyn Clarke 8
Rhys Power not out 47
Rhys Beavis run out 3
Sam Laugharne run out 12
Nathan Sutton run out 17
Kacey Arran b Peter Kingdom 0
Extras 11
Total (5 wickets) 98
 
Pembroke Dock B Bowling:
Jake Davies 2-0-15-0; Luke Murray 2-0-21.0; Bowyn Clark 2-0-21-1; Nick Daley 2-0-11-0; Peter Kingdom 2-0-15-1.
 
Pembroke Dock B Batting:
Jake Davies not out 25
Luke Murray ct Rhys Beavis b Kacey Arran 24
Nick Daley b Rhys Beavis 13
Peter Kingdom run out 14
Adam Phillips not out 10
Bowyn Clark ct & b Nathan Sutton 3
Extras 13
Total (4 wickets) 102
 
Neyland C Bowling:
Rhys Power 2-0-20-0; Sam Laugharne 2-0-14-0; Nathan Sutton 2-0-31-1; Kacey Arran 1.5-0-23-1; Rhys Beavis 1-0-6-1.