Cresselly get off to a flier, with single wins for Burton & Llangwm

 
Venue: Neyland Community Hub
 
Umpires: Christian Phillips, Dan Ridge, Jason Phillips
Scorers: Simon Cole, Sam Rossiter, Jo Lewis
 
Cresselly Ladies showed they are again going to be a force to be reckoned with in this year’s competition as they started off their campaign with two wins, one of them against old rivals Burton, who joined Llangwm in winning one of their games, leaving Haverfordwest with two losses but showing in their second match they will quickly raise their tempo.
 





 
 

Match One: Cresselly (81 for 4) beat Llangwm (60 for 5) by 21 runs

 
Cresselly opened their account for 2025 with a 21-run win over Llangwm as they batted first, established a solid score and then bowled and fielded well as only Lilly Thomas batted with real confidence.
 
Leading the way for the Lady Doves was Lucy Johnson, clearly continuing her form of last year, as she top-scored with an unbeaten 32, supported by Meg Arthur alongside 14 extras.
Ruby Arnold, Rosie Thomas and Lilly Thomas bowled well for Llangwm, with Lilly showing what a good all-rounder she has become when she scored two-thirds of their final tally and was still there at the end of the innings.
 
Lucy Johnson again showed her value to Cresselly, with a wicket alongside talented teenager Phoenix Phillips, with Meg Arthur putting her vast experience to good effect with two wickets as reward for her innate ability to maintain a good line and length, ably supported by her team-mates in the field as they announced the fact that they will be one of the front-runners again this season.
 
Cresselly Batting: Lucy Johnson 32*, Meg Arthur 18*, Extras 14
Llangwm Bowling: Lilly Thomas 0-13, Ruby Arnold 0-18, Rosie Thomas 0-15
Llangwm Batting: Lilly Thomas 40*
Cresselly Bowling: Lucy Johnson 1-8, Phoenix Phillips 1-16, Meg Arthur 2-13
 
 
 

Match Two: Cresselly (102 for 0) beat Burton (91 for 2) by 11 runs

 
Cresselly confirmed their overall strength as they took on Burton, once of their oldest rivals in the league, and won in a tight finish where both teams played really well.
 
Cresselly batted first and reached a three-figure final total without losing a wicket as openers Lucy and Phoenix sped to the retirement target and Zoe Minnett chipped in with her neat cameo - and with the Burton bowlers giving the scoreline a boost as the team conceded a massive 30 extras!
 
Olivia James and Rhiannon Morgan were the pick of the Burton bowlers, with Rhiannon joining Becca Barton in a terrific opening stand before retirement, and Olivia also reached double figures, but they ran out of overs whilst still 11 runs short of victory.
 
A big factor in their defeat was the fact thar Cresselly conceded fewer than half the extras in what is becoming a target for coaches to work on - but it was a cracking contest nonetheless!
Cresselly Batting: Lucy Johnson 27*, Phoenix Phillips 26*, Zoe Minnett 17* Extras 30
Burton Bowling: Rhiannon Morgan 0-17, Olivia James 0-22
Burton Batting: Becca Barton 28*, Rhiannon Morgan 28*, Olivia James 11*, Extras 14
Cresselly Bowling: Meg Arthur 1-17, Lucy Johnson 0-12

 
 




 

Match Three: Haverfordwest (44 for 3) lost to Llangwm (47 for 0) by six wickets

 
Haverfordwest and Llangwm started their new campaign with different fortunes as an inexperienced Town Ladies suffered a dramatic set-back early on from which they couldn’t recover and Llangwm’s more experienced team used it to their advantage.
 
Haverfordwest’s first three players departed for ducks, two of them run out, and although Milly Picton and Lois Hughes battled hard to recover, they were always struggling to improve the run-rate so that it was only 21 extras that saw them really advance their score ass Ruby Arnold grabbed a wicket and Natalie White, Millie and Rosie Thomas all conceded just eight runs with support from their fielders.
 
Then Llangwm openers, Pam Asson and Milly, who are very sharp between the wickets, raced to their target in double quick time, using just five of their eight overs - but Haverfordwest will soon improve as they gain experience.
 
Haverfordwest Batting: Millie Picton 15*, Lois Hughes 8*, Extras 21
Llangwm Bowling: Ruby Arnold 1-13, Natalie White 0-8, Milly & Rosie Thomas 0-8
Llangwm Batting: Pam Asson 19*, Lilly Thomas 20*
Haverfordwest Bowling: Millie Pullen 0-5, Kayleigh Vaughan 0-8, Carys Pullen 0-8


 




 

Match Four: Burton (98 for 4) beat Haverfordwest (58 for 5) by 40 runs

 
Burton beat Haverfordwest to round off an enjoyable evening of ladies’ cricket, as they built up a sizeable score and then continued a Haverfordwest team which already showed more of an awareness into the need of the indoor game,
 
Becca and Rhiannon again featured in Burton’s runs along with Olivia and then Chloe Lewis late on, with Kayleigh Vaughan and Lois Hughes enjoying their first wickets of the campaign for Haverfordwest.
 
Alana Lister led the Town Ladies’ response and 16 extras certainly helped but the irrepressible Becca and Rhiannon, plus Chloe Lewis, ensured victory by a comfortable margin for the ladies from Oatfield Park!
 
Burton Batting: Becca Barton 22, Olivia James 15, Rhiannon Morgan 22, Chloe Lewis 10*,         Extras 18
Haverfordwest Bowling: Lois Hughes 1-26, Kayleigh Vaughan 1–5
Haverfordwest Batting: Alana Lister 14*, Extras 16
Burton Bowling: Becca Barton 1-14, Rhiannon Morgan 1-13, Chloe Lewis 1-16