Simple enough today..three fine wins out of three for our Senior XIs, with some 10/10 performances!!
At Gorseinon, Captain & Senior coach Aneurin Norman lost the toss so it was his 1st XI who took the field first. Our hosts got off to a brisk start on a glorious day for cricket, opening up with a partnership of 54 from 8 overs.
Student cricketer and opening bowler Will Easterfield was bowling a good line at his end on debut, with the reward of the first wicket to fall. 54-1 soon became 72-3 as spinners Jack Straw & Max Phillips joined the party. They shared these two wickets and were working hard to slow the run rate. Gorseinon, however, batted well to take the score to 190 before the 4th wicket fell in the 40th over. 10 overs of their innings left, 6 wickets in hand…hhmmmm!
Well, those present were then treated to a fine example of sticking to the task in hand as 6 wickets fell for 20 runs, after “Gors” had taken their total to 230-4! Will Easterfield was back on..he ended affairs with 5-49, including a hat-trick!! Jack (1-36), Max (1-49), Greg Thomas (1-54) and Jamie Sheldon (2-13 from just 4 overs) provided good support. 250 all out in the 48th over!
So, 5 runs an over to win..interesting!
Alas, the fine opening partnership of last Saturday was not repeated today. Indeed, MCC were precariously placed at 43-4 in the 13th! At the crease were Aneurin, who had not been able to bowl through injury, and all-rounder Max, in such sparkling form with the bat a week ago.
But we needed more than some sparkle now..more a load of sparks!
Seeking initially to stem the flow of wickets, “Noddy” and Max were circumspect at the crease..nice ‘n easy boys, nice ‘n easy does it, eh..please! Aneurin gradually went “up the gears”, as boundaries of both kinds were starting to flow from his beefy bat. Max was chipping in of course – he had to – but for a while it was “The Noddy Norman Show” as he severely beat the Gorseinon attack all over their good-looking ground. The two amigos added 152 in 21 overs, including a magnificent 90 (9 fours & 6 huge sixes) from Aneurin off just 70 balls faced! At this point, Max was 52 not out..195-5.
Two more wickets fell, but Max, who had played in a thrilling hockey cup final this morning, continued where his captain had left off. He finished not out again this week, 95no in fact from 103 balls, with 10 fours & two maximums! Game over in the 46th over..a fine win by any standards!
At Marespool, acting Captain Jaimie Thomas led the 2nd XI against Carmarthen Wanderers, following the promotion of Joe Phillips to the 1st XI after his fine efforts last weekend. JT won the toss, decided to bat..and didn’t last long when he opened the batting! In fact, nobody did, as our boys’ total read 63-6 from 20 overs. However, with experience failing to set an example with the bat today, youth duly took over!
Batting at Number 6, 16 year old Joe Holland was seemingly oblivious to the dire straits his team found itself in, as he finished 85no at tea! His allies were 15 year old Tomos Williams (30) and then Rhys Davies (29) as they each helped rally the cause, to post a total of 190 all out from 42 overs.
After the latest fab tea from Nikki and Ceri, Carmarthen found life hard in reply, so much so that they were bowled out for 136 in the 35th over, with their total including 34 extras. Another debutant in Matt McKinlay did well, especially at the end when he wrapped things up with 4 quick wickets in his second spell. Earlier on, Sam Harris (4-32), Rhys (1-34) and Tomos (1-17) had set things up for this impressive win!
The hat-trick of wins was completed by Eurig Morgan’s ‘A’ XI, as they also found form today!
Visitors Ynystawe were bowled out for 95 in the 33rd over at Murton. Bowlers Kaps (1-19), Luke Edwards (3-28), Rob Steele (1-26), George Lloyd (2-2) and Tony Dowrick (3-7) were the catalysts of this below-par batting performance. In reply, Rob (40no, 3 fours & a six) and Stuart Seaton (35, 6 fours) ensured a smooth road to victory by 9 wickets in the 18th over!
One of the great Saturdays for our Club..well done everyone!
Next Saturday (14th), the 1st XI play Carmarthen at Marespool, the 2nd XI make their way to Ammanford whilst our ‘A’ XI travel to Merthyr. On Sunday (15th), the 1st XI return to Gorseinon for Round 1 of this year’s Welsh Cup competition. The Preliminary Round match v Dafen tomorrow (8th) has been cancelled as our opponents withdrew this evening.