Neyland A - Pembrokeshire Champions - Again
Umpires: Chris Stapleton & Allan HansenScorers: Rachel Sandy, Ian Milsom and Kasey Arran
Venue: Neyland Hub Community Centre
Congratulations to Neyland A as they will again fly the county’s flag in the Welsh Finals at Morristown Leisure Centre on Sunday (29.01.23) after comfortably beating their B team and Pembroke Dock A in the play-offs at the Neyland Hub Community Centre on Monday evening.
The games were streamed for viewing by organiser Patrick Hannon for the first time ever on face Book and watched by a good crowd as the games were commented on by Bill Carne, Fraser Watson, Peter Davies and Trevor Evans, with watchers free to contact the event and make comments.
What they saw was Pembroke Dock A comfortably beat Neyland B in the opening match but both teams then found it hard going against Neyland A, who handled a new ball which swung plenty and caused problems, with respective victories by 49 runs and then a massive 72 runs.
Match One
Dock ease home after slow batting start
Neyland B (101 for 4) lost to Pembroke Dock A (103 for 1)
Neyland B made a good start to their opener against The Dock A as Callum Power (19) and Lewis Page (8) as they scored 18 from the first two overs before the latter was a bowled by a beauty from Jake Davies and a little later Power played on against Neil Gregory.
But that brought together Gregg Miller (25) and Steve Murray (26), two very experienced indoor players and they both reached the retirement tally after raising the run rate so that Neyland B moved from a leisurely 39 at the half-way stage of six overs to pass three figures as Sam Laugharne (15) and Ashley Watkins (0) were run out.
It seemed a decent score in the conditions and suddenly seemed to loom larger as Steve Murray had in-form batsman Tom Grimwood caught off the side netting by Ashley Watkins in a maiden first over and it took 10 deliveries before The Dock opened their scoring when skipper Scott Griffiths pulled a Sam Laugharne full toss to the leg side.
Griffiths, one of the best all-rounders in the competition, eventually reached the retirement 25 and so did No 3 Rhys Daley (27) as Neyland B lost their grip in the field and conceded a massive 23 extras, 21 of them wides to take the pressure off for The Dock A.
Jake Davies (13 not out) and George Smith (15 not out) then took The Dock a home with 3.2 overs to spare despite useful bowling from Murray (1 for 16 in three overs) and Neyland B were left to reflect on their disappointing late form after doing well up until then.
Match Two
Neyland A flexes their muscles against their second string
Neyland A (130 for 4) beat Neyland B (81 for 5)
Neyland B knew that they faced a real challenge in trying to curtail their A team’s scoring rate and so it proved as openers Paul Murray and skipper Patrick Bellerby gave the senior side a flowing start so that they reached 56 at the half-way stage with both retiring respectively on 25 and ready to return in a late charge for runs.
Sean Hannon (9) was well caught by Gregg Miller off Laugharne but his twin brother Patrick contributed 19 in 17 balls (run out) and Nathan Banner belted 23 not out (14 balls) before Jack John was run out without scoring and it allowed Messrs Murray and Bellerby to re-enter the fray as The A team added 24 in the last two overs.
Paul Murray had two fours to his name but on 32 there was a loud cheer when he gave a hard-hit caught and bowled chance to his delighted brother Steve Murray which was gratefully pouched - and Bellerby ended up 32 not out as he struck two fours and two sixes alongside 15 from ‘Mr Extras’ that took The A Team to their sizeable score.
Neyland B lost early wickets as Paul Murray superbly stumped Lewis Page (4) off Jack John and Laugharne (5) was caught by Sean Hannon off Nathan Banner - before Gregg Miller scored 25 and retired but on return at the end of the innings was promptly bowled by Bellerby without adding to his total.
Ashley Watkins (7) was well caught by Paul Murray off Sean Hannon and there was another huge cheer, this time from Paul Murray, as his lightning-quick response saw him stump brother Steve to give Bellerby a 2 for 18 analysis and leave the friendly Murray family feud ending all-square!
Callum Power, clearly not impressed by being moved down the order, belted three fours in the B Team’s final over to give him an excellent 33 not out but after only scoring 42 runs from their first six overs they were rarely in contention after that as Jack John (1 for 11) and especially Sean Hannon (1 for 8) joined Nathan Banner (1 for 19 in three very accurate overs) and Patrick Hannon (0 for 20 in his three-over stint) with excellent bowling spells.
Match Three
Neyland A superb in the fielding and bowling stakes
Neyland A (120 for 4) beat Pembroke Dock A (48 all out)
The final tussle between the A teams of Neyland and Pembroke Dock was in effect a straight shoot-out for the title but in reality it was something of a damp squib after Neyland had battled their way to 120 for 4, a strong but not an unobtainable total, and then remorselessly strangled The Dock’s response as they were shot out for only 48 in 9.1 overs.
Patrick Bellerby hit a quick 13 off eight balls but fell to a superb gully catch by George Smith off Scott Griffiths but Paul Murray stroked 27 from 18 deliveries before retiring to let the Hannon twins show their skills running between the wickets - but they still had only mustered 56 at half way and were being made to fight for every run.
Sean eventually departed when he was run out for 23 (17 balls) and Patrick eventually reached the retirement mark of 25 (18 deliveries before Nathan Banner (3) and Jack John (11) were run out - but the Neyland A final tally was taken to 120 for 4, with only one boundary to show how hard the batting was in the 12 overs, but including 27 threes.
The Dock A found it equally tough to score quick runs and after six overs they had only scored 17 runs, with Tom Grimwood (4) unlucky to be caught off the back wall netting by Patrick Hannon off Jack John, who also bowled Rhys Daley (1) in two miserly overs where he only conceded four runs.
Skipper Griffiths survived a stumping scare but from the next ball by Nathan Banner he was adjudged lbw for a single and The Dock A were already in the mire.
It says much for Jake Davies and George Smith that they kept plugging away but always miles behind the required run rate before Smith (15) was run out by some great work by Patrick Hannon, who then trapped Neil Gregory lbw for a duck.
Jake Davies was then caught by Jack John off Sean Hannon with 17 balls still unused and at 48 all out the gulf between the teams was all too evident and Neyland A were again the champions of Pembrokeshire Indoor Cricket for 2023!
Presentation ceremony
Organiser Patrick Hannon opened the presentation part of the evening by thanking all the participating players, umpires (who received special awards for their voluntary work over a lengthy season) and scorers; his predecessor Peter ‘Jack’ Davies for his previous hard work - and Bill Carne, Fraser Watson, Peter Davies and Trevor Evans for their commentary on the live steaming of the play-offs.
He then introduced Trevor Evans, the president of the Pembroke CCC, Richard Merriman, the chairman who conducted the proceedings, and Phil Tallett, from the Pembrokeshire Association of Groundsmen, who sponsored the event.
Mr Merriman thanked PembrokeshireSport.co.uk for its excellent coverage throughout the campaign, James Hemingway (Pembrokeshire Herald) and anyone else who had contributed to the season’s success.
The trophy and medals were presented to Patrick Bellerby and his Neyland A team by Phil Tallett and then Patrick Hannon concluded the evening by presenting the special individual trophies to Paul Murray (most runs), Jack John and Chris Phillips, of Haverfordwest (most wickets) and Scott Griffiths (most dismissals), who also presented a ‘Thank You’ gift to Patrick Hannon on behalf of all 12 teams who have enjoyed the season so much!
And finally . . .
Neyland A will now travel to Morriston Leisure Centre this Sunday, starting at 9.45am where they will join the already-qualified Newport Fugitives (Gwent), Pentyrch (Cardiff) and Ynystawe (Swansea), in the Welsh Finals. They have been drawn in the second semi-final against Pentyrch and hopefully will then take on the winners of Ynystawe v Newport Fugitives in the afternoon.
Then next Monday, 30th January, the Pembrokeshire Men’s Indoor Cricket will finish with the second division play-offs where Pembroke, Burton and Hook will do battle for top spot, and again with live streaming throughout on Facebook.
