Builth 1sts v Cleobury Mortimer 1sts

AFTER a first day wash-out Builth Cricket kicked off its summer and saw both teams chalk up important wins.

In welcoming newcomers Cleobury Mortimer to Garth Road for the first time Builth gave the Shropshire men first use of a usually batting friendly track. Mike Williams however had other ideas as he removed Nick Griffiths with the opening ball of the Marches League Div 1 season.

Skipper Ed Kemp (28) and debutant Liam Williams rebuilt before Williams cut loose to strike a magnificent 158.Sam Evans (34) supported Williams as he single handedly took to the Builth attack. At 235-5 and with Williams at the crease and 13 overs left Cleobury looked well set for a total in excess of 300 but the home attack stuck to their guns as Aled Powell (4-59) and Steve Fuller (3-40) hit back to leave the visitors 257 all out having taken the last five wickets for just three runs.

In reply Builth started well with Steve Anderson (17) setting the tone. Veteran opener Winston Williams (63) and Aled Powell then set about the target. Powell (82) completed a good all round performance before Tom Childs (25no) and Steve Fuller (34no) eased the Bulls to a comfortable 6 wicket win with 5 overs to spare with the Cleobury attack sharing the spoils.

Skipper Sam Williams delighted with the first day win commented “You never quite know what to expect against a new team for the season opener but we stuck at it with the ball.”He added The batsmen did a great job and in the end we were comfortable winners.

Builth 2nds v Canon Frome 2nds

BUILTH second string got their Division 3 campaign off to the perfect start in a topsy turvy encounter in Canon Frome.

Having been put into bat Builth struggled throughout on a slow pitch. Only debutant Martin Hurst (26) Jonny Curzon (20) and Ezra Tattersall (12) made any inroads as the Canon Frome attack took regular wickets. Adam Matravers (3-12) and Gavin Pugh (3-5) starred for the home side leaving a bedraggled Builth on an under par 103 all out.

Needing early wickets Gareth Sterry (2-17) and Hurst (3-17) broke the back of the Frome batting order leaving Tattersall (2-11) and Colin Jones (3-14) to wrap up the points dismissing the home side for just 66 with no player reaching double figures.

Delighted skipper Stuart Cripps praised his sides comeback. “We were up against it after only getting to 103 but the bowlers were superb.”

The vibrant Bulls 1st XI will head to Garnons 1sts next Saturday, while the resurgent 2nds will host Goodrich 2nds.

Crickhowell v Garnons

WITH the late April fixtures falling foul of the weather, Crickhowell finally got their league season off and running at home against Garnons.

Unfortunately is wasn’t long before the Crickhowell faithful started to curse the sunshine as their team wilted in the heat and succumbed to defeat by 259 runs. Garnons are always a strong outfit and look as if they are going to be challenging for the title again. Crickhowell by contrast, were unable to field a full side and played most of the game with 10 players, two of whom were juniors and a few others carrying long-term injuries. At times it was literally men against boys as the commanding Garnons batsmen piled on the runs. For Crickhowell young Lloyd Francis rose manfully to the challenge of bowling a full quota of 10 overs, and despite conceding a few runs showed his potential by bowling Stockdale for 22. He took a well-judged catch in the deep to dismiss opener Pearson-Gregory off the bowling of Kerrison for 54. The other youngster for Crickhowell, Callum Tew, also fielded well as Garnons amassed 319-4 wickets in their 45 overs. The other wicket takers for Crickhowell were Tim Price who bowled Alun Jones for 10, and Phill Bowker who had Debenham stumped down the leg side by Wallace for 6. These were small scraps of success for Crickhowell against a rampant Garnons, for whom Paul Williams hit an unbeaten 112. He was ably supported by Thomas James who also remained unbeaten on 78. They both showed some clean hitting with the ball disappearing to all quarters. The post office was in the firing line with one shot being delivered to their front door and the castle grounds also being bombarded.

After a marvellous tea prepared by Lawrence Watts, Garnons immediately showed they meant business with fast bowler James troubling Crickhowell’s top order.

He bagged two quick wickets, and with the other opener, Bolton, seeing the back of the experienced Wallace, Crickhowell were quickly reeling on 7-3 after four overs. Nick Kinman managed to show some resistance for a while for his 11 runs but it was young Lloyd Francis, top-scoring with 12, who showed the most application until Garnons brought back their quick bowler James to trap him lbw. James for Garnons had a very good all round game, with three wickets adding to his 78 not out and it was his smart catch that dismissed Wallace. Lewis had 3-2 off 6 overs and it was perhaps fitting that centurion Williams came on at the end to take the last wicket as Crickhowell were all out for a paltry 60 runs in 27 overs! Garnons went home smiling with the maximum of 25 points whilst Crickhowell only mustered two bowling points.

After one game, it already looks like this could be a challenging season for Crickhowell, but hopefully, with a number of players who were unavailable returning next week, the club can at least look forward to being far more competitive. Next week Crickhowell are away to Brockhampton.

SOUTH EAST WALES CRICKET LEAGUE

THE sunshine was a welcome addition to proceedings for the first weekend of cricket action for Brecon Cricket Club.

The 1st team’s home game however was only made possible by hard work on the ground late in the week and on the morning of the game.

The result though did not reward all the work with the 1st team going down to a 33 run defeat in a game sponsored by Redkite Law.

Skipper Matt Williams having won the toss asked visitors Newbridge to bat and then excellent bowling restricted their innings to 136-8 from 50 overs.

The bowling was spearheaded Richard Lovering with 3-22, with support coming from Matt Williams 2-29 and with one wicket each for John Kenchington, James and Iain Mitchell.

The Brecon reply to what seemed a below par total, even bearing the damp conditions in mind, was a complete struggle and fell away to 105 all out. The main contributions coming from Tom Wood with an obdurate 23 runs showing what was possible and all rounder Richard Lovering with 21.

¦ At Blackwood the 2nd team put in a resounding display to defeat the home team by 73 runs. After being asked to bat, in again damp conditions, the Brecon innings initially made slow progress however Rhys Pritchard kept the score moving with a well struck 28. His good work was carried forward by Shaun Waldeck (21) with some powerful strokes and when he was unfortunately run out Rowan Starkey (17) continued to build the total with elegant strokes.

In the later overs the run rush really took off with Steve Kenchington (30), Ben Kenchington (34no) Ryan Morgan (23) and Fin Starkey (10) all going to town with striking that the Indian Premier League would have been proud of to drive the innings to formidable 214-8.

The Blackwood opening pair batted solidly to put on 51 before being separated by skipper John Cooke (2-48). After that Blackwood had few answers to the varied Brecon bowling. The wicket takers were Steve Kenchington (4-21) Ryan Morgan (2-19) Ben Kenchington (2-26) all back up by very safe fielding.

Next week the first team visit Pontypridd whilst the 2nd team entertain Dinas Powys.

Glangrwyney 1sts v

Luctonians 2nds

AFTER the first week wash out, Glangrwyney 1sts travelled to Luctonians 2nds for their opening fixture.

Put in to bat Ryan Sharpe and Mike Devoy put on 45 for the first wicket in good time. Tim Jones joined Devoy and added 168 in 31 overs, and then added 108 with Geoff Holmes, the scoring rate increasing all the time, the total closing on 331-3, with Tim Jones remaining undefeated on an excellent 152. Luctonian’s J Simpson was the pick of their bowlers with 2-44, the rest suffering somewhat, probably down to early season rustiness.

In reply, Glangrwyney’s bowlers displayed similar early season blues, for which Luctonian’s opening pair S Powell and D Foreman took full advantage, both getting into the nineties and were threatening the target set, however, Glangrwyney’s unorthodox in match bowling practice paid dividends, a runout and Jules Hardwick dismissing both openers in quick succession.

Mike Devoy then picked up four wickets and Ryan Sharp two wickets to peg the home side back and see Glangrwyney to a 49 run victory.

Glangrwyney 1sts 331-3 (T Jones 152no, M Devoy 95, J Simpson 2-44). Luctonians 282-8 (S Powell 94, D Foreman 93, M Devoy 4-43, R Sharpe 2-71, J Hardwick 1-50).