Pembroke County Cricket Club - Division 1 pre-season preview

 

No doubting the title favourites in Division 1. 

Neyland were champions in both 2018 and 2019, and despite having no league action last year, continued their dominance by capturing the Harrison-Allen Bowl. 

Led by Sean Hannon, they don’t appear to have lost any personnel and now have Brad McDermott-Jenkins in their ranks. General consensus is they’ll take some stopping, although one plus point for the rest is they won’t start the season as well-oiled as they usually are – having been denied their usual winter of indoor cricket. 

Narberth are one of the new teams on Saturday. They were Division 2 champions in 2019 and have long had match winners in their ranks – the Quartermaine brothers, Richie Adams, and Matthew Johns to name but a few. This season they are captained by Ben Hughes and have new additions – and appear intent on re-establishing themselves in the top flight. 

Llechryd came up with them and you suspect survival will also be their main aim, and the form of John Curran could be crucial to that. 

Saundersfoot, St Ishmaels, and Whitland all hovered above the drop zone last time out. None look likely to be in the title picture but you feel the key to all their seasons will be establishing consistency.

The Seasiders have the very talented Tom Mansbridge who you suspect will play a big role this summer, while Tish have reliable and experienced performers with the likes of Peter Bradshaw, Andrew Pawlett, and skipper Phill Cockburn.

It’s a new era for Whitland following the departure of long term captain Matthew Davies, with Jonathan Thomas taking over. 

Lawrenny have added Kyle Marsh since the 2019 league campaign but with McDermott-Jenkins gone, repeating their second placed finish will be tough. Under Joe Kidney they have harboured a great team spirit in recent seasons though, and once again will be a dangerous side. 

Haverfordwest appear to be in a rebuilding stage. They will have to adapt to life without Simon Holliday and for Dai Davies, this represents a first league campaign as captain. Young players have come through at The Town in the past two seasons and I expect that trend to continue, but the availability of Adam James could also be a key factor in how they perform. 

But Pembrokeshire Sport suspects the biggest threat to Neyland could come from Carew or Cresselly.

Unlike 2019, there will be no Tom Davies for The Rooks which represents a big blow, but even without him in last year’s shortened season they showed good form in the Harrison-Allen and in Shaun Whitfield had one of the best performing all-rounders. 

The Doves too should again challenge and have a team of proven performers. Via Iwan Izzard, Simon Cole, Dan Sutton – and others – their top order has the potential to fire. Tom Murphy’s wicket-taking with the ball could be pivotal to their form. 

Like the majority, we’ll tip Neyland, with Carew behind them. 





Champions: Neyland. 
Runners up: Carew.