Neyland Match Report
Neyland vs Narberth. League, Saturday 1st May 2010. Umpires: Tony Scourfield & Arthur Brady.The build-up to the first game of the 2010 season had been interesting to say the least. A diesel leak was identified on the roller's fuel tank when conducting the pre-season rolling. The square mower then broke down, and it became apparent that what was initially hoped would be a simple repair turned out to be more troublesome, with a new gearbox required at a cost of £500 with no chance of return before the first game. Thankfully Hook cricket club came to our rescue and allowed us to borrow their Ransom mower (thanks go out to Trevor Green). Even the impressive new outfield mower did not prove trouble free, with an early morning cut of the damp outfield leaving clumps of grass. Fortunately it was also possible to remedy this issue by repeating the job at midday after the grass had dried. Gareth Virgo followed instructions completely, keeping to the edge of the field with the boundary marker, leading to a number of threes being run and an interesting detour around the cricket nets!By the time the opposition arrived at 1pm the pitch was looking in great shape!
Narberth won the toss and obviously elected to bowl first. Sean Hannon began what would be a busy day for him by opening the batting with Paul Murray. This was Sean's first chance to open the innings following the relocation of 2009 opening bat Scot John to North London. Narberth opened their attack with the now customary Ben Quartermaine and Ben Hughes combination.
Murray took two 2's from Quartermaine's opening over, while Huges stared with a maiden to Hannon. Neyland progressed cautiously until Murray got stuck in in the 6th over, striking a two, a boundary and a three from succesive balls, and taking Neyland to a steady 20 for 0 off 6 overs. After 12 overs the opening pair were still together and the score had progressed to 41 without loss, with Murray scoring well and Sean also finding the boundary. Quartermaine made way for Ian Hughes, but a further 10 runs came from the next two overs, and Murray pulled Hughes powerfully for 6 from the final ball of his second over. Ben Hughes finally struck for Narberth in the following over, bowling Hannon for 11, having played a good supportive role in an opening partnership of 62. However, what had looked to be a commanding position for Neyland suddenly looked a little less secure when Andrew Miller was lbw the following ball for a golden duck.
Nicholas Koomen then joined Murray, having looked in fine form in pre-season nets. Koomen got off the mark with a nice boundary, but his best shots seemed to find the fielders. Koomen remained with Murray for the next 10 overs, advancing the score to 87 in the 26th over before he was bowled for 10 by Kyle Quartermaine looking for a big shot. Murray appeared in complete command at the other end, having sailed past 50, and appeared to be advancing towards his century, playing a number of classic shots all around the ground.
But in the 32nd over he too fell to Kyle Quartermaine for an excellent 75. The following over Patrick Bellerby was caught behind by Tom Bevan off Wayne Howells, and the innings reached a crucial stage at 115 for 5, with 12 overs remaining.
However, Neyland needent have feared a collapse as Paul Miller and Patrick Hannon ensured a good total was reached. Paul set about the bowling in customary fashion, getting off the mark by smashing the ball into the Stand wall off one knee for 6. For once bowler Kyle Quartermaine looked a little lost for words. A further three boundaries followed before Miller edged one behind to Tom Bevan off the bowling of Ben Hughes for a very useful 23. Patrick Hannon played a more controlled innings, before picking up the tempo in the final five overs with a number of good cover drives. Phil Davies was sent in to 'have a go' but was caught and bowled, giving Kyle his third wicket. Patrick Hannon was finally run out for 29 in the final push for late runs, while Gareth Virgo swung hard several times without making contact, but eventually finished on 4no, and Andrew Hansen ended 2no. With 7 extras Neyland finished on a healthy 166 for 8.
After tea Phil Davies and Patrick Hannon were tasked with opening the bowling, and both were in miserly mood, tying down the Narberth opening batsmen Wayne Howells and Mike Scale to such a degree that the game soon appeared to be sliding away from Narberth. Patrick removed both opening batsmen, both clean bowled, and also added Mark Hughes to his scalps for the day ending with excellent figures of 3 for 27 off 12 overs.
Davies conceded even fewer runs, with only 20 coming from his 12 over spell as he also picked up the wicket of Narberth captain Richie Adams. With Aaron Keane run out, the top five Narberth batsmen had departed without making any real impact, but the game was to change with the introduction of Kyle Quartermaine at number 6. Kyle looked in excellent touch from the outset, striking the ball hard out of the middle of the bat even when only looking to pick up singles to long on. Gary Lloyd bore the brunt of the punishment as he went for 37 runs in his brief 4 over spell as Quartermaine smashed a series of sixes over long on and midwicket. Quartermaine's runs were coming at such a rate that the game had effectively been turned on it's head within a period of around 6 overs, and suddenly Neyland were under a fair bit of pressure.
Looking for a pace option to replace Lloyd's off spin Neyland turned to wicket keeper Sean Hannon who duly obliged, as a short delivery was smashed to the square leg boundary by Quartermaine where Gary Lloyd took a good low catch. This effectively signalled the end of Narberth's ambitions for victory and the innings drew to a close with Narberth hanging on with 9 wickets down and 31 runs adrift. Sean Hannon finished with excellent figures of 3 for 23 off 6 overs, while at the other end Andrew Miller bowled 11 tidy overs without success for 26 runs.
Though Neyland could look back on a couple of missed stumping opportunities which fell to the replacement keeper, there was a general relief at coming away with the majority of the draw points when at one stage it had looked as though Quartermaine may have taken the game away from Neyland.
A decent start to the 2010 season!
Paul Murray leaves the field to the applause of the crowd following the outstanding innings of the day (though Kyle Quartermaine's rapid fire 61 came close)
