IN their match against Pentyrch Abergavenny CC batted first and made a very respectable 238 all out. Thanks mainly to skipper Will Glen who made a fine century (116) - the fourth by an Abergavenny First X1 player this season.

Aber lost Luke Bowen and Adam Harrison (22) before they reached 50. There were a couple of good partnership between Glen and Burkitt (28) and Glen and Holley (28). Abergavenny were in a very strong position at 206 for four. Unfortunately they lost their last six wickets for a meagre 32 runs with still 15 balls left in their allocation of overs.

In reply there was a ‘copy cat’ innings by Pentyrch opener Lewis Coates who scored 109, steering the Pentyrch X1 to 228 for seven when he was eventually out bowled by Dan Cooke.

The two Clarkes, Harrison and Leach took one wicket each and Dan Cooke and Ben Davies took two as Pentyrch reached their target with two wickets to spare in the 49th over.

Llanarth welcomed old rivals Abergavenny Seconds to the LCG.

Aber were inserted and ex-Llanarth player Gareth Powell opened with Tom Pipe (53), to face Tom Heath and Andrew Spencer.

Powell looked a million dollars and it needed a good ball to remove him. T Heath found one.

Drinks were taken with only one wicket down but Llanarth were content with a run rate below three an over.

Chris Powell was soon into the attack and Pipe showed his liking for some off-spin by exhibiting his proficiency at the sweep shot. No matter what line Powell bowled Pipe was able to middle his sweeps and soon brought up his half-century as Aber looked to accelerate. In attempting that acceleration the batsmen decided to take "one for the arm" to Baxter on the boundary but even the veteran’s remaining half an arm was enough to beat the scampering Pipe home as the youngster was run out to end a useful innings.

The wicket brought hard-hitting Richie Roberts to the crease and when he nearly took Powell’s hand off with a ferocious biff the Trees thought it could be a painful last ten overs in more ways than one. That it wasn’t was a commendation for the Llanarth death bowling that simply refused to give anything away, thwarting the best efforts of Heffernan, who had completed a fine fifty of his own, and Roberts to hit out. Abergavenny had to settle for 175-2 for a fourth batting point and the Trees, whilst preferring more wickets, took a quite excellent tea reasonably content with the total that they had to chase.

Allan Dewfield and Mark Baxter (64) had the task of opening the reply and both were severely tested by the accuracy of Huw Griffiths (2-14) and pace of Ben Morris. Only eighteen runs came from the first ten overs but, at the start of the twelfth over, a wide that went to the boundary and a no-ball thrashed over point by Dewfield gave the Trees ten runs from a net zero balls, helping matters considerably.

Any hopes that that would kick start the innings were dashed in the very next over when Dewfield was palpably lbw to Griffiths and then Lomax was defeated by a nip backer, first ball, to deal a hammer blow to Llanarth’s hopes.

Showing Tyson Fury-like resilience Llanarth climbed off the canvas through the steely determination of Will Heath (27) and the measured blocking of Baxter. W Heath showed his class striking a quartet of early boundaries to keep the score ticking, overtaking his partner’s score to the amusement of teammates.

Baxter and Heath had repaired the damage of the double-wicket over taking drinks at 82-2 but the junior international perished shortly after refreshments courtesy of an outstanding clasp by Roberts. The required run rate was rising to five per over as Sam Michell (26*) joined Baxter at the crease. In keeping with most of his innings this season Baxter took until drinks to get his eye in but now was the time to bring a semblance of aggression to the proceedings and he struck a pair of boundaries in each of a trio of overs in quick sucession, bringing up his fifty in the process. Michell’s response to the run rate was to play hit and run as each of his first eleven scoring strokes were extremely rapid singles. This was fine for the giant personal trainer who could bound twenty-two yards in a couple of strides but felt like a circuit training session to his squat, overweight, aging partner.

The pair put on forty-four in five and a bit overs to slash the required run rate to around three an over before Baxter’s limpet-like effort ended when he got a thick edge to a cut and was superbly caught by keeper Pipe. Any hopes Aber had of a, not unheard of, Llanarth collapse were dashed as Michell added boundaries to his singles. One strike to the ropes an imperious straight drive, on the up, down the ground that must have been shot of the day. Morris was reintroduced for a final burst but with eight needed Christian Dewfield closed the game with back to back boundaries, a pull and on-drive, to bring victory for the Trees by six wickets.

With the local derby game against Glangrwyney falling foul of the weather the previous week, Crickhowell returned to action last week, to entertain visitors Goodrich at the Castle Ground. Goodrich won the toss and had no hesitation in batting with their powerful order capable of putting most sides to the sword. This proved to be the case with Crickhowell’s limited resources coming under some pressure with the visitors eventually amassing 311 for six in their 45 overs. Openers Griffiths [23] and Tookey [20] both got starts, but it was the prolific Jackson [125] supported well by O’Brien [85] that did most of the damage. For Crickhowell, Nick Francis was again the most successful bowler taking 2 wickets for 70 runs but it was Ben Bowker who was the most economical bowler on show, taking 1 for 31 in his ten overs. Sussex [1 for 88 off 10] Bowden [1 for 56 off 7] and Christie [1 for 11 off 1] were the other wicket takers, but the home side could look back on ‘what might have been’ with a number of important catching opportunities again been squandered. Sussex, Parker and Christie however, all managed to hold on to good catches and Wallace in particular, behind the stumps, was as ever, sharp in giving Francis his second wicket. Batting second, and chasing a mammoth total, it was always going to be difficult for Crickhowell, with a number of their top order batsmen unavailable. All the batters on display, though, fought hard and tried to ‘dig in’ and at least bat out their overs to try to squeeze as many points out of the game as possible. Jenkins [14], Sussex [34], and Francis [15] all reached double figures and spent some time at the crease in doing so, but Goodrich, are strong in all departments of the game, and Provis [3 for 20] and Price [3 for 6 off 3 overs] made life very difficult for the Crickhowell batting order. Tookey [1 for 18] Porter [1 for 21] and Lewis [1 for 24] also chipped in, and O’Brien, having a good game with bat and ball, took 2 for 34 off his 10 overs, staking a claim for ‘man of the match’. That honour, in the end though, went to Jackson for his century, and Goodrich [25 points] took the spoils winning by 164 runs with Crickhowell [4 points] eventually being all out for 147 in the 41st over. Next week Crickhowell will be hoping for a better showing against lowly Brockhampton, away.