Skipper Harries leads Pembroke to silverware success

 
Congratulations to Pembroke on winning the second-division play-offs on the last day of the indoor season as skipper Jack Harries and Jon Rogers played key roles in their beating of Hook and Burton, who finished runners-up after easily accounting for Hook in the opening game of the evening.
 
Harries scored 25 not out against Burton and an undefeated 48 in victory over Hook, whilst Rogers contributed 20 and 35 not out in those matches – and such was the captain’s consistency that he averaged over 200 in the whole series.





 
 

Match One

 

Burton start with a bang

Burton (147 for 6) beat Hook (79 for 6) by 68 runs

 
Burton made a great start to the evening as openers Toby Hayman and Jack Davies helped them to a massive 69 runs half-way through the sixth over before they both had to retire and the team lost some momentum as Richard James (5) gave a return catch to Brad Flood and Harry Owen (1) was bowled by a beauty from Lewis Miller.
 
But Morgan Scale redressed the balance with a clever 27 before he was bowled by Harry Makepeace and Dan Ridge belted two sixes in his 15 before he was run out.
 
Skipper Hayman returned but was soon run out by miles for 29 but Jack Davies reached a classy 50 before he also got himself run out – but Hook conceded 20 extras as the pressure built up and Burton’s final outstanding tally included 20 threes, six fours, three sixes, eight twos but 17 ‘dot balls’.
 
Hook started well enough as Liam Miller and Harry Makepeace scored 20 in two overs but then both departed for respective scores of 15 and 10, caught by Harry Owen off Morgan Scale and bowled by Owen.
 
The middle order of Aled Phelps and Lewis Miller are quality batsmen but both only managed seven runs before Phelps gave a return catch to Hayman and Miller was caught by Morgan Scale from Dan Ridge’s bowling - and Brad Flood managed only a single before he was caught and bowled by Owen.
 
It was left to Dafydd Bowen, the ‘father figure’ of this young team, to show his worth as he reached 27 before he was well caught by keeper Richard James and so Hook were dismissed in nine overs as Ridge (1 for 9), Owen (2 for 17) and Hayman (1 for 15) were the pick of the Burton bowlers in what was an easy success for them to start the evening.
 
 

Match Two

 

Burton battle but Pembroke ease home

Burton (98 for 5) lost to Pembroke (99 for 3)

 
Burton were unable to complete a win double by beating Pembroke in the second match of the evening despite Morgan Scale’s superb 50 not out and a good supporting knock by Dan Ridge - and Pembroke showed their ability to survive pressure periods at key times.
 
Burton made a dreadful start as skipper Hayman was well caught off the side wall by Sam Davies without scoring, from the second ball bowled by Jon Rogers, and Davies repeated the feat to shift Richard James (4) as Andrew Price bowled the second over.
 
Even worse was to follow as ace run-maker Jack Davies (8) was run out in a total mix-up to leave them desperate at 28 for 3 and a low score of 39 at the half way stage of their 12 overs before Scale found a willing ally in Dan Ridge, who contributed a vital 28 before he was caught by Rogers off Sam Davies, to ensure the bowler won the ‘Most Wickets’ award.
 
Jack Harries and Jon Rogers gave Pembroke a very good start so that they were 20 runs ahead on the run rate after six overs despite the latter running himself out for 20.
 
Harries retired on 25 to maintain his remarkable form and Pembroke maintained stead progress via Luke Butler (bowled by Ridge for 14) and Sam Davies (caught by Ridge off Jack Davies for 15) before surviving a quiet period of four overs when they only mustered 21 runs.
 
But their total was boosted by 11 runs from ‘Mr Extras’ and there were not out scores from Charlie Perkins (11) and Price (3) and so they won in 10.4 overs despite not scoring off 24 deliveries.
 

 

Match Three

 

Pembroke ease home to title as Harries and Rogers shine

 

Hook (118 for 3) lost to Pembroke (119 for 4)

 
The run-making skills of Jack Harries and Jon Rogers ensured Pembroke took the silverware as they batted for a second time after earlier retiring and turned a really sticky patch for them into victory over a Hook side who knew that they could still win if they beat the opposition and claimed at least four wickets in the process.
 
It completed a personal triumph for Harries as he has scored over 400 runs in his 12 innings, with only two dismissals, to achieve a remarkable average of over 200!
 
Asked to bat first, Hook lost their ‘Mr Reliable’ in Dafydd Bowen, run out for 7, but Liam Miller and Aled Phelps both reached 25 before retiring after taking their side to a healthy 75 for 1 at the half-way stage.
 
But Pembroke kept their intensity in the field so that through the batting skills of Lewis Miller (15, caught by Jon Rogers off Charlie Perkins), Flood (run out for 12) and Makepeace (9 not out) alongside 14 extras and 35 not out from Liam Miller, the final Hook tally of 118 for 3 was a decent one, but not as high as seemed possible at one time.
 
Rogers and Harries then reached the retirement limit and Pembroke matched Hook’s run rate over six overs until Luke Butler was run out for 14 and was followed in the same fashion by Sam Davies (1) and Perkins (10) at a time when the momentum was drifting away so that only 15 runs came in four overs.
 
But that brought back Harries (48 not out) and Rogers (35 not out) as the runs began to flow freely and they finished with 17 threes, seven fours and two sixes as they completed the task with four balls to spare.



 

And finally . . .

 
At the presentation session afterwards organiser Patrick Hannon thanked all the teams for their brilliant support and congratulated Pembroke on their success after they had led the battle for top spot in the table right up until the play-offs.
 
He also thanked umpires Rob Bellerby and Neill Crawshaw for being involved all season alongside Chris Stapleton, Steve Williams and Allan Hansen, who all received ‘thank you’ tokens from the players - and he also mentioned Kacey Arran, Ginny Davies, Jon Willington and Gregg Miller for their excellent help as scorers on the night.
 
Also praised was The Pembrokeshire Association of Groundsmen for sponsoring the competition, with Phil Tallet there on their behalf; Bill Carne and Fraser Watson for their work in live streaming the finals, and PembrokeshireSport.co.uk for blanket coverage of the entire competition over such a long period.





 
The winners’ medals were presented by Richard Merriman, the chairman of the Pembroke County Cricket Club, and the trophy winners for individual excellence were named by Patrick Hannon - and Pembroke’s contribution to the competition was evident in the fact that four of the five were from the section winners.
They were:
Best Batting: Jack Harries (Pembroke)
Best Bowling: Sam Davies (Pembroke)
Best Fielding: Luke Butler ({Pembroke), Jonathan Rogers (Pembroke) and Harry Owen (Burton).