Western Telegraph Match Report, 11th July 2007.
Neyland Match Report
Lawrenny vs Neyland. Saturday 7th July 2007. Umpires: Trevor Evans & Richard Merriman.Neyland travelled to Lawrenny for the 12th league fixture of the season, still uncomfortably close to the relegation zone. This was a game that Neyland should really have been targetting, as Lawrenny's good start to the season was now some way behind them, but Neyland were without three key players and a fourth, Phil Davies, pulled out on the morning of the match. Paul Miller declined the invitation to take Phil's place - following a heavy night he was lying on the bathroom floor when contacted at 12:30, so Ashley Sutton was drafted in for his first game for the first eleven.
Lawrenny were without opening bowler Rob Williams, due to a slight strain picked up in a cup match during the week, and Lawrenny skipper Steve Lewis opted to bat first on winning the toss. It was a pleasant day, but the wicket could not be described as firm following the numerous heavy showers during the week, following what had by now been identified as the wettest June since records began.
Lawrenny took to the crease with the familiar paring of Andrew and Simon Cole, while Lee Summons took the new ball for Neyland and was backed up by Henry Durrant. Lawrenny scored four off the first over, but this was followed by four maidens as Summons and Durrant bowled tightly and the Lawrenny batsmen struggled. Given the trouble Summons and Durrant were causing Lawrenny must have considered themselves a little fortunate to reach 26 in the ninth over before the first wicket fell. Andrew Cole advanced a little way down the wicket looking for a big shot, missed, Sean Hannon took the ball cleanly standing up then appeared initially to be oblivious to the potential stumping before finally removing the bails a couple of seconds later to give Summons the breakthrough.
James Buckle joined Simon Cole with this pair having proved the main run gatherers for Lawrenny against Neyland in recent years. They safely negotiated the opening spells of Summons (6-2-12-1) and Durrant (6-2-22-0), both forced to rest due to the age-based bowling restrictions, to leave Lawrenny reasonably well placed on 39 for 1 after 12 overs.
Gary Lloyd replaced Summons at the club house end, and Patrick Hannon replaced Durrant at the other. Lloyd opened well with a maiden, while Hannon's first over went for seven. But Lloyd's following over brought the wicket Neyland needed when Cole was bowled for 22, leaving Lawrenny 46 for 2 in the 15th over.
Christian Phillips then helped Buckle advance the Lawrenny score to 64 before he was caught by Lloyd at slip off Hannon for 9. Steve Lewis then followed with the score on 81 when he could not resist a slow one from Lloyd. He drove the ball high and straight only to watch Andrew Miller run round from deep mid off to take a good catch, removing Lewis for 8.
Huw Griffiths joined Buckle and brought a few light hearted moments to the game, immediately establishing a raport with the umpires, and congratulating himself for not attempting to run a leg by when no shot was played. The umpires responded that he would probably make a far better umpire than a player, and they would book him on a course immediately if that meant they no longer had to watch him bat. Griff stated that he would do a far better job than them. However the umpires had the last laugh when a Neyland fielder asked if he should stay on the boundary, only to be told by the skipper 'there's no need for you to be out there for Griff'. Griff complained that this was unfair play, as his talent was not being given the respect it deserved, but the umpires were too busy laughing to respond.
Lawrenny continued to advance towards thrre figures but with the score on 96 Lloyd took the important wicket of Buckle for 36, with Nicholas Koomen taking the catch. This left the game finely balanced at 96 for 5 in the 29th over, with the top five batsmen all back in the pavillion, and Huw Grittiths and Ian 'Bish' Jenkins at the crease. Jenkins swept a four down the hill off Lloyd and Gareth Virgo was then left out to protect the backward square boundary. Another sweep from Jenkins then found the top egde and the ball looped out to deep square leg. Shouts of 'catch' went out and the Neyland players then watched in silence as Virgo initially swooped confidently round the boundary. However his team mates soon felt far less confident watching Virgo waving his arms in an uncoordinated manner as he approached the ball. Finally he fell to the ground for the ball to land infront of him and bounce into his stomach. Griff remarked 'well I have never seen anything like that before!', and this summed up everyone else's thoughts pretty well too.
However Bish was soon out, caught by Lloyd at slip off the bowling of Patrick Hannon for 5. Ceri Jones replaced Bish, and despite looking and sounding very rough from the previous evening, was soon looking to attack. Despite three fielders protecting the boundary behind the bowler he still cleared them all for a six off Hannon. Hannon finished his twelve over stint with two for 47, while Lloyd proved as reliable as ever, recording an excellent 3 for 30 off his twelve overs. At the end of the 36th over Lawrenny stood at 117 for 6.
Andrew Miller then replaced Lloyd from the clubhouse end, while Durrant returned in place of Hannon. A single was taken from Miller's first over, the 37th, and in the following over Durrant made the ley breakthrough, bowling Jones for 14. Miller then held a sharp return catch to remove Griff for 5 in the 38th over, and Durrant struck again in the 39th over, bowling S.Webb for a duck. Lawrenny were now nine down with only 124 on the board in the 40th over. C Buckle and P Cole then defended their wickets in an attempt to get through to the 45th over. Cole did manage one good boundary over mid on, but when Buckle tried to pull Miller to the boundary he was bowled and Lawrenny were all out for 129 in the 43rd over. Miller finished with 2 for 2 off 3.3 overs, and Durrant 2 for 29 off 9.
The players then enjoyed the teas, particularly the chocolate cake that they had been hearing so much about for the last 45 overs as Durrant recounted the highlight of his morning's work in Tesco. Young Henry had been drewling over one of his customer's trolleys at the checkout in Tesco, only to be told that the cake he was admiring was being purchased for a cricket tea. Durrant's little face lit up each time he told how he then asked which resplendent teas were to be graced with the presence of such a fine chocolate cake, only to be told, yes, wait for it, Lawrenny! This made Henry's morning. In fact, listening to him, it probably made his week.
Following tea, Neyland took to the field in the knowledge that this was a real opportunity to relieve some pressure at the bottom end of the table, but with a low wicket which was offering something for the bowlers, the relatively low score would still pose a challenge. In the absence of Rob Williams Lawrenny opened the bowling with Ceri Jones and Simon Cole, while Neyland opened with Henry Durrant (still smiling about the chocolate cake) and Paul Murray. Murray obviously didn't eat enough cake, as Neyland suffered the worst possible start finding themselves 0-1 as Murray angled a short ball from Cole straight into the hands of James Buckle at gulley.
Andrew Miller then joined Durrant and calmed a few Neyland nerves, as the pair initially saw off the new ball, scoring only 7 from the first 7 overs, but then began finding the boundaries, Miller twice punishing full tosses from Jones and Durrant twice slashing Cole over gulley. But then in the 12th over with the score on 27 Jones bowled Miller for 13. Patrick Hannon joined Durrant and the pair batted sensibly to take the score to 46 for 2 after 20 overs, before Durrant went on the attack, striking three powerful boundaries in one over of off spin from Lawrenny captain Lewis. However just when it looked as though Neyland were beginning to dominate Durrant was caught by Bish in Lewis' following over, leaving Neyland 59 for 3 in the 24th over. Durrant had batted very well and scored an extremely useful 39 runs, including 5 fours, leaving Neyland well placed to push for the win.
Having completed his time at the crease Durrant immediately joined in a game of boundary bowls with the rest of the team, but wearing only a sleaveless cricket jumper and no shirt Henry looked even more Graham Norton than usual. Even his father Tony was heard to say 'I think you look a little too camp today son' to which Henry responded 'you look a little too camper-van dad!', ... allegedly. That may not be completely true (but could have been), but it is completely true to say that they were both rubbish at bowls.
At this point everything was looking pretty good for Neyland, but the position soon reversed completely as on 71 Nicholas Koomen was adjudged lbw to Bish for 3. Patrick Hannon was then bowled the following over by Lewis, with the score still on 71. Only 3 overs later, with the score on 75 Jay Dunsford was adjudged lbw to Lewis, having scored just 1, extending his miserable run of form. And a further 3 overs later Lee Summons was caught and bowled by Bish for 3. So by the 35th over Neyland had collapsed to 79 for 7, with a losing draw still looking to be some way off.
Gareth Virgo, batting at number 8, was then joined by Sean Hannon at number 9, with 12 overs remaining (2 unused by Lawrenny) and a now unlikely 51 required for victory. They played out the next four overs of spin to see off Lewis (12-7-20-3) and Jenkins (12-3-26-2), gathering just 4 runs in the process. Lawrenny then returned to the pacemen with opeing bowler Jones returning to be joined by James Buckle from the club house end. Slowly the scoring rate began to pick up as Virgo and Hannon ran well between the wickets and picked up 4,5,5 and 4 runs off the next four overs respectively. Without any fireworks Virgo and Hannon appeared to be safely avoiding the draw and giving Neyland a good chance of winning the game. Suddenly Lawrenny appeared to be under a bit of pressure to contain the run rate, and Jones was replaced by the other opening bowler Simon Cole. Neyland now required 29 runs off the last 4 overs and it was clear that Virgo and Hannon were not setting their sights on the draw. Cole's first over went for 10 as Hannon struck two excellent boundaries, one flying over mid on as Hannon advanced down the wicket. 19 was now required off 3 and the Neyland team gathered on the boundary below the scorebox to watch the final overs. Only a single came from the bat in the following over, but a leg side delivery was missed by the keeper to give four byes, five off the over and keep Neyland hopes alive. Coles last over of the game went for seven, with two 2's and three singles as Virgo and Hannon ran hard at every opportunity.
Buckle delivered the 47th and last over of the Neyland innings with Neyland requiring 7 to win. Virgo stroked a nice two from the first ball and took a sharp single off the second. Crucially the pressure then told on Buckle who bowled a wide on the third ball. Sharp singles were taken from each of the next three balls and Neyland had a much needed 29 point win.
Both Virgo and Hannon batted excellently, gave Lawrenny no chance of winning and then timed the run chase to perfection, finishing with an unbroken stand of 51 and ending undefeated on 23 and 20 respectively.
League table following Neyland's win over Lawrenny.
