2026 Alec Colley Cup Final:
Cresselly 2nds (137 for 8 & 138 for 4) beat Carew 2nds (132 for 7 & 131 for 7) by 12 runs
Venue: Treleet Ground, Pembroke
Umpires: Trefor Evans & Dave Brandon
Scorers: Jess Lewis & Kate Chandler-Hall
Man of the Match: Tyler James (Cresselly)
Adjudicators: Phil Hay and Ceri Brace (Pembroke)
Presented by: John Coles (Neyland CC)
Carew Seconds’ hopes of a fifth successive Alec Colley Cup Final win were brought to a halt at Treleet as neighbours Cresselly edged them out in an absorbing clash where The Doves were eight runs ahead after a high scoring first half of the game and did well to keep their nerve as The Rooks made a late attempt at emulating their old rivals, who had won the coveted silverware five times on the bounce from 2009 to 2012.
Old timers play an early part
Both teams showed their wealth of young players but it was interesting that old-timers also played an important part, with Simon Cole batting and bowling for Cresselly, and Kerry Waters defying an approaching 60th birthday by grabbing three cheap wickets in each innings, all top-five batsmen, whilst Haydn Shapcott kept wicket and scored runs in both innings.Put in to bat first by Carew skipper Jacob Knox, Cresselly lost a couple of early wickets to leave them at 13 for 2 but then Cole showed his experience over many Harrison-Allen Bowl Finals with a beautifully crafted 46 off 44 balls, including six boundaries as George Davies gave valuable support with 28 runs alongside 21 extras, ensuring a decent score.
Joining Kerry Waters in the wickets column was his son George, who grabbed 3 for 40 as Joel Rhead and skipper Knox also picked up a wicket apiece.
Carew lose too many wickets in a short time
Carew lost opener Dan Heeps early when they started their response but Scott Richards and Ethan Hall took their score to 58 in good time as they shared five boundaries – but then Richards (30) fell to Ollie Arthur, and Ethan Hall, his brother Corey and Jacob Knox all fell to Tyler James in double-quick time to see them in bother at 65 for 4.
Ashley Smith and David Rees did manage to settle things down a little but Smith was run out in a mix-up and Rees was well caught by Rowland to give James his splendid 4 for 21 figures.
Haydn Shapcott did manage to take The Rooks within touching distance as he scrambled a late 20 not out so that Cresselly only led by five runs at the break to set up a fascinating finale.
A mixed bag for Cresselly but Arthur provides the vital late impetus
After a splendid team put out be Leanne Panton, Ginny Davies, Bobbie Neill and other members of Pembroke CC, Cresselly set off to build a big total but lost Rowlands early to Kerry Waters and there was an even bigger blow when Simon Cole was caught by Ashley Smith off Knox
But young skipper Josh Lewis had already started redressing the balance as he blasted six boundaries in his vital 34 runs before he also fell to Waters Senior, with the aid of a good catch by the junior member of the family.
Morgan Lewis, another member of the strong Lewis family involvement, added quick runs but then Kerry Waters took his impressive match figures to 6 for 51 with the aide of a catch by his son.
But Ollie Arthur came to the crease with attack on his mind and his unbeaten 46 included two big sixes and a couple of reverse-sweep boundaries alongside a last over of 12 runs but included three air shots on the trot which saw him flat on his back at one stage!
George Davies provided support at the other end and with 14 extras Cresselly beat their first innings score by a single, thus setting their old rivals the challenge of scoring 144 runs to win.
Ethan battled hard but Lewis and James take Cresselly home
Carew knew they needed to build their innings but the seemingly innocuous medium pacers of Lewis Jones soon had them on the back foot as his 100% approach earned them the key wickets of Richards and Heeps to take Carew to 20 for 2.
But as fortunes ebbed and flowed the Hall brothers, Ethan and Corey, advanced the score to 63 with an ideal mix of good running and punishing of anything loose – only for Corey (12). to depart to another good catch by George Davies of James.
It marked the start of another purge on the Carew batsmen by James as he also shifted Jacob Knox and, most importantly, Ethan Hall for 45 from 35 deliveries to give him excellent figures of 3 for 31.
Ahley Smith got himself run out in a mix-up so that all hope seemed gone for The Rooks but Haydn Shapcott and George Waters upped the ante with some top running between the wickets, but they still needed 20-plus from the final over and Cresselly kept their cool to ease home by 12 runs.
SCORECARDS:
First Innings:
Cresselly Batting:
Ollie Rowlands ct Haydn Shapcott b Kerry Waters 7
Josh Lewis b Kerry Waters 4
Simon Cole ct & b Jacob Knox 46
Morgan Lewis ct Haydn Shapcott b Joel Read 11
Ollie Arthur b Kerry Waters 4
George Davies ct Dan Heaps b George Waters 28
Tyler James ct & b George Waters 9
Corey Lewis hit wkt b George Waters 0
Matthew Lewis not out 9
Lewis Jones not out 3
Extras 21
Total (8 wickets) 137
Carew Bowling:
Kerry Waters 5-0-27-3; Joel Read 5-0-31-1; Corey Hall 2-0-15-0; George Waters 5-0-40-3; Jacob Knox 3-0-14-1
Carew Batting:
Scott Richards ct Simon Cole b Ollie Arthur 30
Dan Heaps ct & b Lewis Jones 8
Ethan Hall b Tyler James 42
Corey Hall ct & b Tyler James 5
Jacob Knox lbw b Tyler James 0
Asher Smith run out 13
Dai Rees ct Ollie Rowlands b Tyler James 4
George Waters not out 4
Haydn Shapcott not out 20
Extras 6
Total (7 overs) 132
Cresselly Bowling:
Lewis Jones 5-0-35-1; Ollie Arthur 5-0-27-1; Tyler James 5-0-21-4; Matthew Lewis 5-0-44-0
Second Innings:
Cresselly Batting:
Ollie Rowlands b Kerry Waters 3
Josh Lewis ct George Waters b Kerry Waters 36
Simon Cole ct Asher Smith b Jacob Knox 9
Morgan Lewis ct George Waters b Kerry Waters 17
Ollie Arthur not out 46
George Davies not out 15
Extras 14
Total (4 wickets) 138
Carew Bowling:
Joel Read 5-0-42-0; Kerry Waters 5-0-24-3; Jacob Knox 5-1-17-1; George Waters 2-0-15-0; Asher Smith 3-0-25-0
Carew Batting:
Scott Richards ct & b Lewis Jones 7
Dan Heaps ct George Davies b Lewis Jones 10
Ethan Hall b Tyler James 45
Corey Hall ct George Davies b Tyler James 12
Jacob Knox ct Morgan Lewis b Tyler James 4
Asher Smith run out 2
Haydn Shapcott not out 10
George Waters not out 14
Extras 9
Total (7 wickets) 131
Cresselly Bowling:
Lewis Jones 5-0-29-2; Ollie Arthur 5-0-24-0; Matthew Lewis 2-0-20-0; Tyler James 5-0-31-3; Simon Cole 3-0-22-2
