Western Telegraph Match Report, 20th June 2007.
Neyland Match Report
Neyland vs Burton. League fixture, Saturday 16th June 2007. Umpires: Huw Davies & Walter Dash.Following a couple of days of very heavy showers, the teams arrived at the Athletic ground to find a predictably damp wicket, but with a warm sun and only the odd cloud interupting the open blue sky, the prospects for a full days play appeared good. Last minute preparations were continuing on the wicket due to the recent poor weather and the failure of the lawn mower used for the square. Patrick Hannon and Paul Murray had collected the repaired mower earlier in the morning, and were diligently cutting the wicket while Gary Lloyd was hastily marking the bowling creases. Neyland skipper Andrew Miller tossed the coin in the air for Burton captain Mike Venables to incorrectly call tails, and Burton were promptly invited to bat.
Neyland took to the field with Gregg Miller inviting Andrew Phillips to open the bowling on his first appearance in a league fixture this season, with Jeremy Charles commencing from the car park end. Burton opened with the experienced Richard Hayman alongside the second of the three Venables brothers, John.
Phillip's rustiness was immediately apparent as Hayman pulled and then cut two short balls for four in the opening over of the match. However, he then settled and bowled his next five overs for only 11 runs, before a lack of match fitness saw him request a break. At the other end Charles delivered an accurate first over but conceded three fours from his second, as Burton raced to 23 for 0 off four overs, with John Venables hitting over mid off, then twice through the leg side. But just as things were beginning to look a little ominous for Neyland on the damp wicket, Hayman drove firmly at a full ball in Charles' third over and picked out Andrew Miller, ten yards deeper than normal at mid off. James Venables then joined his brother at the crease folowing his century the previous week against Narberth, and was immediately looking to play shots. Charles' next over was again costly, going for 11, as both batsmen looked to progress things whenever the bowling strayed.
Following a couple of aerial clips through the leg side a short mid wicket was brought in and this appeared to unsettle James a little. A few balls later Charles found the outside edge of his bat only to watch Gary Lloyd juggle the ball at before gaining control only to spill the ball as he made contact with the ground. However Lloyd was soon able to relax again as James played losely through the off side off Charles and Gregg Miller took an outstanding one handed diving catch in the covers.
Burton still stood on a relatively healthy 54 for 2 off 14 overs when Steve Jones joined John Venables, with Gary Lloyd having replaced Phillips from the football pitch end. Charles then bowled three accurate overs, conceding only four runs, and supporting Lloyd in tying the batsmen down a little before John Venables drove in the air to extra cover where Andrew Miller held a decent catch, leaving Burton 62 for 3 off 19, and Neyland sensing they were now in with a chance of restricting Burton to a reasonable total.
The third Venables brother, Mike, joined Jones at the crease and started fairly cautiously, before top edging Charles for four. Charles completed his 12 over spell with a maiden, finishing with 2 for 42, and 4 maidens. Phil Davies then took over from Charles and in the following over Lloyd trapped Venables lbw for 19, with the ball striking the batsman on the foot without pitching. Two overs later Davies removed J Morgan when he was caught by Phillips for 1, leaving Burton 91 for 5 off 30 overs.
Richard Scriven then strode to the wicket and was almost immediately winding up to play a big shot against Lloyd, but on this occasion he pulled out only to see the ball strike the shoulder of his bat and loop high over slip for a single. Burton then looked to consolidate, and satisfied themselves with pushing the two spinners around for a few singles per over until Lloyd completed his 12 overs, finishing with 2 for 27 and 3 maidens.
Burton progressed modestly to 108 into the 37th over when Patrick Hannon had Scriven caught behind by brother Shaun for 10. D Murphy joined Jones at the wicket and struggled to make much of an impact, surviving a couple of stumping opportunities while finding it difficult to get the ball away. But at the other end Jones had clearly made the decision that it was time to get on with things, and began to go after the bowling. After a few good shots to long off from Davies' spin he then struck Hannon to cow corner for a four and two 2's, but with the leg side field subsequently strengthened he stepped back looking to find the off side boundary only to get under the ball and watch as Phillip held the catch at extra cover.
Lee Summons then held a good catch on the midwicket boundary from Murphy, and M Griffiths was run out by Virgo seeking an extremely risky second. John Scale then hit a Davies full toss for four with the Neyland field closing in to prevent the single before Hannon wrapped up the Burton innings in the final over by bowling Will Scriven for 5. Davies finished with 1 for 36 from 10 overs, and Hannon once again produced impressive figures, this time 4 for 13 from only 4.3 overs.
Neyland opened their reply with Burton old boy Gareth Virgo accompanying Paul Murray, with Murray finally having found some form in recent weeks. Burton opened with John Scale from the car park end, and M Griffiths. Scale opened with two maidens and his unusual action was soon resulting in his trademark inswing, testing the batsmen with consistent big, late swing. At the other end Murray found the boundary in Griffiths' first over, but Virgo was caught behind for just two in Griffiths' second. Andrew Miller joined Murray and soon clipped Scale through the leg side for four. But Scale regained his line and the considerable movement continued to test the batsmen. Two runs came from each of the next 3 overs before Miller was well caught by James Venables off scale for 8, leaving Neyland in a little difficulty at 18 for 2 off 9 overs.
Gregg Miller replaced brother Andrew and Neyland kept he scoreboard ticking over against Griffiths while defending sensibly against Scale. Griffiths (6 overs, 1 for 19) then gave way to D Murphy, who backed up Scale well and was rewarded when Miller was caught by J Morgan for 10, with Neyland 34 for 3 off 18.
Patrick Hannon joined Murray and the Burton bowlers made life extremely difficult for the Neyland batsmen, giving very few lose deliveries, and there followed a period of five maiden overs where no runs were added to the total between the 20th and 25th overs as Scale completed his spell with very impressive figures of 12 overs 8 maidens 1 for 10. The experienced Steve Jones replace Scale and started where Scale had left off, with a maiden, and it was beginning to look as though Burton's total of 140 would be beyond Neyland, who at this stage were only 39 for 3 off 25 overs.
Murphy's following over, the 26th of the innings went for 9 runs, as Murray decided the time had come to get on with things now Scale was safely out of the attack. Murray drove another powerful boundary in Jones' following over, but when Hannon attempted to assist in the run chase he was caught by Morgan off Murphy's bowling for just 2.
Jeremy Charles then joined Murray and the run chase began in ernest. Murray again found the boundary from Murphy's next over, and then really went to town against Jones. Gary Lloyd was overheard telling his wife and daughter that he would protect them and catch the ball if it headed their way, only to jump to his feet the following ball when it had already cleared them by some distance and bouncing between the cars in the middle of the car park. In addition to this big six Murray took another two runs and Charles 3, to give 11 off the over and persuade the Burton captain to end Jones' spell. Neyland were now 72 for 4 off 31 overs, so the target had been reduced to under 5 an over.
Burton decided to make a double change, with James Venables' spin replacing Murphy from the hedge end, and M Griffiths returning from the car park end to replace Jones. But Charles was quickly into his stride and he and Murray took 19 off the following two overs. Murray then brought up his 50, before overstretching on the very next ball from Venables and being neatly stumped by Scriven for an excellent 51, including one 6 and six 4's.
This was the breakthrough that Burton desparately needed, but there was to be no further success for Burton as new batsman Lee Summons joined Charles and the pair took control of the match, comfortably scoring between four and six each over without offering a chance. Within seven overs the target had been reduced to just 13 from the last four overs, with 5 wickets remaining in hand, when Summons lifted Murphy for a big six, clearing the hedge by some distance. The 'Pieterson' hairstyle was clearly working! Charles fittingly finished the match in the following over, the 43rd of the innings, with a boundary off Griffiths, giving Neyland the much needed win. Charles finished the innings on 42 not out, including four 4's and plenty of sharply run 2's, while Summons finished with a well deserved 20 not out.
Following the game Charles indicated that he would be unavailable for the following three weeks due to a very demanding schedule of holidaying and partying to come [mirroring his disappearance following his 88no against Whitland earlier in the season]. Murray welcomed his girlfriend home from holiday and left the Athletic club early for a quiet night in, while Lee Summons was given leave to celebrate the win by accompanying the rest of the Neyland players below the age of 25 into Haverfordwest. Gary Lloyd won the raffle and recounted how in days gone by this would have resulted in the opening of the bottle immediately, and a very sore head the following morning. Fortunately he is a lot older and just a little wiser now.
League table following Neyland's win against Burton:
