Brecon’s 1st XI, hindered by player availability, travelled to Miskin Manor and bowled first, writes Dan Gee.

Ed Bevan and Dan Witcomb bowled tight enough opening spells, creating chances and reducing the home team to 38-2. A 128-run partnership then swung the momentum back in Miskin’s direction, although Buff Kenchington and Sudhir Chand were fairly economical.

Rhys Pritchard and Matt Haslam were expensive but brought breakthroughs. However, as Miskin put their foot down, the scoreboard rocketed to a challenging 276, including 26 wides.

Kenchington and Dan Bowen began the reply with the task of pinch-hitting but fell cheaply. The effervescent Himal Saud assisted Pritchard, who scored a scintillating 62 off 39 balls before getting out somewhat agriculturally, leaving Brecon 144-4.

The wickets tumbled, but the tail wagged. Witcomb batted well before being sharply stumped, and Haslam gave Brecon a glimmer of hope with a more or less run-a-ball 57, ably assisted by Chand and Barrie Pritchard. Haslam remained unbeaten, but the weight of the total was too much to handle, and the chase fell short by 50 runs.

Brecon’s 2nd XI hosted Christchurch, and stand-in captain Ben Kenchington followed in the footsteps of Nasser Hussain and said, “We’re gonna have a bowl.”

Tom Marshall was economical without reward, and Kenchington bagged a pair of wickets, but the home team were sloppy on the whole, and the visitors amassed an imposing 241 for the loss of just three wickets.

The hosts have struggled with availability in the last few weeks, so much so that Brecon RFC’s co-captain Geraint Workman put his hand up to play for the first time. Kenchington gave him a whirl, and Workman claimed his maiden wicket.

Brecon’s reply never really took off, and Christchurch’s bowlers unearthed a bundle of wickets. Six batters failed to reach double figures, and extras were the joint second-highest scorer on 13.

The bright spot was Workman, who, with no cricketing experience, smashed his way to an entertaining 20 in what was an otherwise poor batting display.

Brecon were 98 all out, and a 143-run thumping was inflicted.