Summary of weather yesterday afternoon? Dry in the east, not dry in the west…now, over to the cricket!
At Chepstow, 1st XI Skipper Aneurin Norman’s first tester was to find an 11th hour replacement for one of his players who failed to show up for his lift! Up stepped pilot Rhys Davies whose car reached en-route speeds in excess of any plane hitherto flown by him!
Second tester, heads or tails! Failed that one, as the home side decided to bowl first on what looked like a good wicket.
It was not in fact that good, as it was difficult for batsmen to really “get in” with some deliveries rising sharply off a length or occasionally not coming on to the bat. Indeed, the scorers had to wait until the 12th over before inking in the first four of the innings! It was already looking good for our bowlers after tea, if only the guys could get a decent total now.
Well, they did! Despite being 2-1 in the second over, MCC were bowled out for 211 off the penultimate ball of the 50-over innings. This total was more than competitive, with Aneurin fit to bowl and the three spinners to call upon!
Partnerships of 45, 59, 14, 43 and 25, plus Eddie Extras’ 38 runs, proved to be enough in the end. Elliott Oates (46, 4 fours), Adam Lewis-Williams (19, 1 four), Greg Thomas (run out for 21, 2 fours), Aneurin (22, 2 fours & caught by a fantastic catch on the mid-off boundary), Max Phillips (40, 6 fours) & Adam Frangakis-Williams (a cool 14no at the end) were the main men for MCC on the day.
After the break, Aneurin, complete with an injection in his “dodgy” shoulder, was superb with the ball in his hand! If the Commonwealth Games had medals for bowling dot balls, “Noddy” would clean up! He bowled his ten overs off the reel, conceding a mere 11 runs from 7 deliveries, including an edged four which flew over the slips.
The maths is simple enough..the other 53 balls bowled by him saw no runs scored, and multi playing ‘n missing by the lads 22 yards away! Chepstow therefore had to now score 201 off the other forty overs to win!
This pressure told on the home batters, who could never really get going as they would have liked or needed to. A first wicket partnership of 45 came from 18 overs but, eleven overs later, the board read 81-4, with off-spinners Max (2-32) and Greg (4-43) taking control. 81-4 did creep up to 112 when the 5th wicket fell in the 34th. 112-5 became 138-9, when the last pair did their very best to get close.
Alas for Chepstow, they fell 34 runs short, as they were finally bowled out for 177 in the 47th over. Following the “offies”, seamers Adam (3-39) and Mike Jarrett (1-6) had seen to that! Mention must be made too, of two especially top-drawer catches held by Adam, which broke the opening stand, & ‘keeper Sean Davies! A fine win by 34 runs!
At Marespool, our 2nd XI scorched to a great win by 7 wickets!
Ynysygerwn batted first and mustered a total of 192 all out in the 40th over. Bowlers shared the spoils, as Luke Brown (1-32), Hugo Lewis (1-37), Alex Davies (3-44), John Blyth (1-32), Gethin Morgan (3-13) and Joe Holland (1-5) set to it.
Rain then meant that the Duckworth/Lewis method of scoring came into play to adjust MCC’s run target from reduced overs. Phil Roche’s lads now had to reach 156 from 20 overs!
Given that, there are few better at “having a go” than Gareth Baglow! Not for the first time this season, “Baggers” was quickly out of the blocks, smashing 11 fours & 3 sixes on his way to an imperious 73! Fellow opener Luke Edwards also played a crucial role with his 38no..their opening partnership of 138, plus Eddie Extras’ second cousin Edgar’s score of 36, saw the 2nd XI home by 7 wickets in the 20th over! Great work, everyone!
The hat-trick of Club wins yesterday came at Murton, as the ‘A’ XI notched a first-class 4 wicket victory over Drefach!
Taking first strike, our visitors, led by Aled Davies (82) & Phil Jones (52), totalled a very respectable 190 from their forty overs. Macs Holland (1-33), Tony Dowrick (2-24), Theo Morris (1-18) plus a late run-out by James Harris took the spoils.
After the break, Stuart Seaton (66), James (39) and Tony (46no) were the main men in the chase as our chaps got home in the last but one over!
Next Saturday, the 1st XI travel to Llanelli, the 2nd XI take on the men from Stradey at Marespool whilst the ‘A’ XI nip over to Llandarcy.