Crickhowell dusted off the winter cobwebs and oiled a few rusty joints before heading up to Builth to get their 2017 Marches League Division One season off and running.

It was Builth though, that won the toss and decided to bat on a wicket that was a lot drier than one might expect for an early season game, due to an unusually arid April.

Dry it might have been, but Crickhowell caught a cold in the field and allowed Builth to get off to a flyer with Williams and Powell putting on 94 for the first wicket in just 16 overs.

Bowling was often too short and off line, and a number of catches went down in quick succession. It seemed that the Crickhowell team hadn’t blown away all the cobwebs and a few joints could have done with a bit more oil and perhaps a bit more pre-season practice!

Williams was run out though, with a direct hit from Joseph Bowker but this only brought Roff to the crease who then joined Powell and together they put on 173 for the second wicket.

It was Price that finally got the break through but with the score on 267 for two in the 38th over and plenty of wickets in hand for Builth, Crickhowell stuck to their task and managed to restrict the run rate to around six an over.

It could easily have been much worse, but nonetheless a final score of 316 for 5 saw Builth the much happier team at tea. Powell had gone on to score a fine 141 and Roff was dismissed for 83, which included 13 boundaries. There was little to shout about for the Crickhowell bowlers, who found defending the short boundary difficult to say the least, but Price (2 for 61) and Beatty (2 for 52) showed some persistence and got some reward in the face of the carnage that was on show otherwise.

After the break at least Crickhowell showed some resilience with the bat and Cornock was quick to show that it was a much better wicket to bat on than to bowl. Unfortunately he managed to find Williams in the field and was caught on 46. Kerrison was bowled and Lilley was adjudged LBW which brought Francis to the crease. He seemed to be following in Powell’s footsteps and was not only heading for a century but with partnerships with Joseph Bowker (30) and Tim Price (29) it seemed that Crickhowell could get close to Builth’s earlier formidable score.

Unfortunately, with Crickhowell having to take chances to stay with a mammoth run rate, Francis perished on 92 and the lower middle order showed some fragility especially against the slow but accurate bowling of veteran Wall.

In the end, Crickhowell managed to post 240 which gave them maximum batting points, and Ryland Wallace remained not out on 14. For Builth, Wall finished with figures of three for 20, the best of the day, and De Greeve three for 48. Williams chipped in with two wickets (two for 45) and McPhee and Laurie finished with a wicket a-piece.