Llanarth Cricket Club were able to look back on the 2015 calendar year with satisfaction that much was accomplished both on and off the field.

Prior to the season starting a hardy band of volunteers combined their collective skills to refurbish and redecorate the Llanarth Social Club.

The resulting improvements were outstanding and thanks should be a matter of public record for the team that gave up many hours of their free time to provide a lovely environment for club members, and visitors alike, to come together for a post cricket chat and beverage.

For the 2015 season all teams were able to benefit from brand new playing and training kit following the agreement of multi-year sponsorship deals with Newland Rennie and RDB Isaac Dental Practice.

When the season commenced, the First XI were expecting to challenge towards the top of Welsh Club Cricket Conference (WCCC) Division Two and didn’t disappoint by securing the runners up spot with a won 10 and lost three record - the third consecutive year that the club has been able to add silverware to the trophy cabinet.

Mark Baxter and David Lomax headed up the batting statistics with 759 runs at an average of 75, and 461 runs at 51.22 respectively, the former was able to boast three centuries in his tally. Chris Powell was the star performer with the ball taking a league-leading 35 wickets at an average of 12.11, Raja Banaras and David Lomax also chipped in with 16 and 15 wickets respectively.

The celebrity status of the team was boosted considerably with the occasional appearances of the ‘Voice of Rugby’, Eddie Butler, in the ranks. Although it did prove expensive for him as he was fined considerably for not concentrating on the game when signing autographs or posing for ‘selfies’ for opposition players/spectators.

The club junior section continued to provide encouragement for the future with the Under 11s (U11s) finishing runners-up in their league, losing just a single fixture. The U13s came third in their league and the U9s won a softball festival, that was hosted at Llanarth, and included a terrific win over Newport.

Three of the U11s were rewarded for their skills by representing Gwent, with both Will Heath and Hugo Caldicott going on to attain junior caps for Wales.

As well as hosting the aforementioned U9 softball festival many Gwent junior cricket matches were allocated to the Llanarth Cricket Ground (LCG), along with the WCCC 20/20 Finals Day, in recognition of the excellent ground and facilities.

However the hosting highlight was undoubtedly when the Wales Womens international team used the LCG for a home fixture as their usual base, Glamorgan’s Swalec Stadium, was unavailable due to England playing Australia in a t20 international.

The match was the first to be played at Llanarth with a white ball and black sightscreens, and spectators were rewarded with a thriller as Wales prevailed by one wicket.

Off the field the annual Llanarth Golf Day proved another success in raising funds for the club as an enjoyable day was had by all who participated, and despite damp conditions in November the rain held off on Bonfire Night and Pendragon Fireworks were able to put on a spectacular display for the large crowd in attendance.

Following promotion to WCCC1 the 2016 season promises to be a challenge for Llanarth CC and the club would welcome all newcomers to bolster the playing ranks, at both senior and junior level. The club can be contacted at llanarth.play-cricket.com, via facebook or twitter and would be happy to answer any enquiries.