ABERGAVENNY CC First’s XI match against Sudbrook epitomised the Jekyll and Hyde performances that have dogged their season.

After winning the toss and batting first, Aber had one of those days again. Andrew Jones retired hurt and they went from 57-1 to 79 all out.

Skipper Will Glenn (34) was one of only three Abergavenny players who came to grips with the Sudbrook attack. Will Glenn scored 34 and there was 13 runs each for Adam Harrison and Gareth Powell.

James Hussey and Dean Wallace did the damage with 5-24 and 3-13 respectively. Sudbrook made short work of reaching their target, losing just two wickets as they reached 83-2 in their 18th over.

The whole game only lasted for 45 overs. Dan Cooke and David Clarke took a wicket each for Abergavenny.

The Second XI played their final fixture away at Radyr and sadly suffered a poor loss by 10 wickets. Abergavenny were inserted and lost wickets regularly. They were unable to build any meaningful partnerships and 29 runs for the fifth wicket was the best they could muster.

Skipper Steve Brown top scored and set an example with 33 but only Daniel Bowen (17) and Chai Sanapala (11) were able to get into double figures and Abergavenny finished on 105 all out.

Despite some accurate bowling by the Abergavenny bowlers, Radyr reached their target in the 25th over, finishing on 106 -0.

The Third XI managed to fly the flag for the club with a good victory to finish their campaign away at St Fagan’s whose First XI won the South Wales Premier League this year.

Winning the toss Abergavenny batted first and scored 160 for nine in their allotted 40 overs. The runs came from opener Tom Wood (28) and then after the top order went cheaply. The lower middle order and tail ensured a decent score. Dylan Beaumont-Welsh (36), Mihla Sibanda (52), and skipper for the day Kyle Holmes (17 not out) did the damage. In reply St Fagan’s were 124 all out, thanks to two wickets each for Owain Bradley, Dylan Beaumont-Welsh and Richard James, three wickets from Tom Wood, and one wicket for Colin Griffiths.

Crickhowell’s fairly difficult season finally drew to a close last Saturday, but on a positive note, with a fine win over Brockhampton by 137 runs.

Crickhowell were again without club captain Nick Francis, so stand in skipper Paul Cornock continued to take charge, but this time he lost the toss and the home side was asked to bat first on a wicket holding some moisture from the overnight and early morning showers.

Whilst the playing strip was covered, the outfield was also still damp, so batting proved to be quite difficult early on and very few shots made it to the boundary.

Ryland Wallace (34) played another steady innings alongside Greg Tew (13) putting on 32 for the first wicket after 12 overs.

Jenkins (22) and Wallace then took he score through to 77 for the second wicket, after 23 overs. Wallace was the next to go, being bowled by Kennedy trying to inject some momentum, and in fact when he went in the 31st over, a score of 119 for three didn’t look that menacing. Cricket however, at all levels, is much more about wickets than runs, and if you keep wickets in hand, it can often be very surprising how many runs can be added in a short space of time. This was to be the case for Crickhowell as Brad Sussex now joined Cornock and both were in a position to push things along, with the young Brockhampton bowlers beginning to wilt in the afternoon sun. From 119 in the 31st over the score rattled along to 211 in the 41st over with Cornock the next to go for a well-crafted 60. With Sussex now in full flow a further 50 runs were added in just four overs with Crickhowell finishing on 261 for six.

Sussex finished on 78 not out which included nine boundaries, seven of which were sixes! The Cornock – Sussex partnership was not only characterised by punishing the bad ball, but the two also showed great athleticism with their running between the wickets. Kerrison (4) and Parker (1) went cheaply throwing caution to the wind, and Christie came in to support Sussex at the end, remaining eight not out.

This was a good showing from Crickhowell, taking maximum batting points, and was only the fourth time this season that the team had batted though to scores in excess of 200.

Batting second and being asked to chase a large total can be quite daunting especially for a side containing a number of youngsters and Brockhampton didn’t help themselves by loosing early wickets. Crickhowell though, bowled well and indeed caught very well too, and Brockhampton finally capitulated on 124 all out.

So at least the season for Crickhowell ended on a high note but their position at the foot of the table means that they, along with Glangrwyney and Brockhampton themselves are all relegated to Division Two for next season. Having to cancel three games earlier in the season with 60 points deducted as a penalty, was always going to create problems, but if the truth be told, even allowing for this penalty and factoring in the points that might have been achieved if those games were played, Crickhowell would not have been able to avoid relegation anyway. So the club must now be prepared to take one step back, hopefully to be able to take two steps forward over the coming seasons.