ABERGAVENNY First X1 sailed to a smart victory over Blackwood CC on the weekend.

After wining the toss and batting first Aber got away to a very good start as Andrew Jones (76) and skipper Will Glenn (35) put on a solid stand for the first wicket.

Morgan Bevans (72) and Lewis Holley (51) replaced Glenn and Jones for another good stand to take Aber to 236-4. Morgan Bevans batted with the late middle order to take the score to 288-6 at the close.

Abergavenny struck very early on in the Blackwood reply and reduced Blackwood to 13-2 and 40-3. Blackwood skipper Andrew Clark batted well and was 52 not out in the 17th over with the score on 67-3.When he was dismissed there followed a mini collapse as they found life difficult against the Abergavenny attack and slumped to 84-6 after 25 overs. Young Ben Morris and Adam Harrison did the damage. Harrison finished his 10 over spell with 3 - 27.

A partnership of 36 for the seventh wicket developed between Neil Reardon and wicket keeper Adam Lusardi but when that was broken the eighth wicket soon followed with the score on 124 with 15 overs remaining. Ben Davies with his left arm spin took two quick wickets, supported by his spin partner Sam Clarke who cleaned up the tail with 3-26. Blackwood were 134 all out with Abergavenny taking 20 points.

The Second X1 were away at Brecon CC and batted first. The top six batsmen all made really good starts but none of them went on to make a big score. Gareth Powell (27), Tom Pipe (13), Gareth Burkitt (28), Lee Fury (34), Steve Brown (36 Not Out) and Matthew Knight (20) eventually reached 188 for the loss of just five wickets in their allotted 45 overs. This score proved to be inadequate as the Brecon Second X1 took a liking to the Abergavenny bowling attack and reached their target for the loss of two wickets in just 29 overs. Matthew Knight and Eoin Shackleton took one wicket apiece.

The Third X1 were at home on the picturesque Crickhowell ground to Monmouth Second X1. They decided to bat and father and son combination Kyle and Alex Holmes opened for Abergavenny. They put on 57 for the first wicket before the junior Holmes was out for 17. Unfortunately the rest of the team could not support the senior Holmes who went on to make 66 as wickets fell around him rapidly. Aber eventually crawled to 119-9 in their 40 overs.

The bowlers attempted to make up for the poor batting display as Monmouth were only slightly better and limped over the line at 122 for nine in their 36th over.

Wickets for Abergavenny fell to Gavin Nash 2-27, Tom Norton 3-28, Craig Lenane 2-12 and Colin Griffiths 1-22.

THE cricketing Gods have not been kind to Crickhowell this season, and their misery was compounded by the Strollers on the weekend, who now play in the picturesque Hereford village of Fownhope.

Events conspired to see Crickhowell only able to muster ten men but their spirit and determination to enjoy their cricket in the face of mounting adversity remained evident.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat first on a dry pitch and things started well for Crickhowell with Ben Bowker removing opener D.Powell for a golden duck.

This brought M.Powell to the crease who managed a top score in the game of 72.

The home side finished with 195.

Apart from Powell no other batsmen really imposed themselves on the game and all the Crickhowell bowlers did well with Nick Francis taking two for 19 in ten overs.

Francis also supported the other bowlers well in the field and took two very good catches in the deep, one off his brother, Justin’s bowling, which saw him finish with a creditable two for 43.

Ben Bowker (2-33) also finished with good figures and Kerrison (2-42) and Phill Bowker (2-29) were the other wicket takers. Ryland Wallace performed miracles again behind the stumps, taking a catch and two stumpings on a wicket that was now becoming increasingly difficult for batsmen and wicketkeepers.

Nonetheless, Crickhowell, at the break were very optimistic that they could chase down the required total.

All the Crickhowell batsmen tried to occupy the crease and accumulate runs, but this is where those cricketing Gods come in, as whereas Crickhowell had dropped a fair quota of chances, Strollers were not dropping any.

Wallace (2) went early, ironically caught behind by his opposite number, but Tew (9), Justin Francis (10) and Lilly (21) saw the side through to 79 for four.

Lilley in particular looked in good nick, but he managed to hit a full toss off the leg spinner Powell, right down the throat of Roberts fielding at deep square leg. Kerrison’s dismissal for 12 had a similar ring to it, and when skipper Nick Francis was also dismissed for 12, giving the leg spinner his third wicket, Crickhowell’s chances of getting anywhere near the required total, also evaporated.

The tail hung around for a while with Price (11) and Phill Bowker (six not out) trying to bat out the overs for extra points, but with the wicket now showing signs of wear and giving variable bounce, and Crickhowell a man short, this was always going to be a difficult task.

As it was, Crickhowell were ‘all out’ for 129 taking six points from the game, with Strollers winning by 66 runs and taking 23 points. Crickhowell’s position at the foot of the table remains hopeless, of course, but the club soldiers on, in good spirit, and next week entertain high flyers Garnons at the Castle Ground.

LLANARTH travelled to Pontnewynydd looking to make up for the disappointment of last week’s result against Radyr.

In complete contrast from the previous week, Llanarth almost had a full squad available giving senior skippers Dennis Heath and Keith Spencer a selection headache.

Pont won the toss and Rhodri Jones opted to bat first on a good-looking wicket. Batsmen Geraint Jones and Joe Matthews looked to put early pressure on Llanarth’s opening pair David Lomax and Tom Heath (3-37) by punishing anything remotely loose. Ponts 50 came up in the ninth over and the run rate showed no sign of abating.

Matthews (27) was dropped at gully off Lomax but he failed to make Llanarth pay as in the following over Heath had him caught behind. Deol soon followed Matthews back to the pavilion which brought the opposition skipper to the wicket. The Jones brothers batted well together with some crunching drives and cuts followed up with some good running between the wickets. The pair had put on 74 in 14 overs before Chris Powell (2-28) bowled the skipper following a loose shot and then bowled Probert for 3.

Captain Heath (2-36) took the big wicket of Geraint Jones for a well-constructed 80 and at 146-5 Llanarth were looking to wrap the innings up quickly. L. Jones had other ideas with some effective if unconventional sweep shots and Heath came up with his very own effective if unconventional plan to dismiss him. After bowling another waist high full toss, Heath introduced his new delivery that he had apparently been working on all winter. The world of cricket has seen many a magical/mystery delivery from the world’s leading leg spinners. Warne had the slider, Muralitharan had the doosra, Kumble the flipper and to that list we can now add Heath with the “Barnes Wallis”. Jones had no answer as he got yorked on the second bounce for 26.

Andrew Spencer (3-23) wrapped up the tail with Pontnewynydd ending up on 189 all out off 43.4 overs.

David Lomax and Allan Dewfield opened the batting against new ball bowlers Geraint Jones (1-17) and L Jones (1-57). Dewfield, who was struggling with a knee injury, found it frustrating and lost patience skying a drive to extra cover and departed with only nine on the board.

Will Heath joined Lomax at the crease and immediately the fielding team closed ranks looking to put the youngest member of the side under pressure. Heath looked calm and confident playing some lovely shots whilst Lomax took advantage of anything short smashing seven boundaries in his first 10 scoring shots.

At that point Pont decided to protect the boundaries and sensible batting saw Llanarth keep the scoreboard ticking with easy singles topped up by numerous No Balls and Wides. Heath fell for 48 when a certain half century was on the cards although he played his part in a superb 140 run partnership in 25 overs.

Sam Michell (12*) joined Lomax at the crease with 41 runs required off 15 overs and six overs later the target of 190 was met with the loss of only two wickets.

Lomax batted sensibly and was never troubled in his innings of 88* playing a major part in Llanarth returning to second in the league prior to the return clash against Lisvane.

Glangrwyney First XI travelled to Luctonians Seconds in expectation of a difficult afternoon as only nine players could be mustered for the trip.

With Mike Devoy taking a break from cricket, new captain Tim Jones succeeded in getting the visitors to bat first on a sunny afternoon.

Disaster struck third ball when ball-watching by batsmen number one left the non-striker stranded and the run out meant new man Tom Gibson did not face a ball on club debut.

Things did not get much better as regular wickets fell. Glangrwyney struggled to 77 for eight despite solid knocks from Kevin Palmer and Paul Waldron down the order. Paul Daniell’s 16 was the highlight of the innings which lasted all of 24 overs.

An immediate turn-around saw Luctonians finish the game off in 11 overs for no wicket but an excellent tea to follow was some consolation. A poor day’s cricket but at least Glangrwyney did not have to field first and see 400 scored against them! Next week the Glang are home to Builth Wells.