ABERGAVENNY travelled to St Fagans on Saturday with possibly the youngest 1st XI ever selected, boasting an average age of only around 20, reports PAUL SUSSEX.

St Fagans batted first winning the toss on a sunny but blustery afternoon and passed 50 in 10 overs before skipper Sam Clarke came on and trapped Matthew Rogers lbw for 11 (53-1).

Steven Reingold and Jeremy Lawler – both with first class experience – then took the score past 100 before the former holed out to bowler Owen Harris for 44 (102-2).

Glamorgan’s Andy Gorvin and Lawler then put on 72 (174-3) when the former holed out for 42.

And the rest of the batters played freely, helped by 21 wides and a no ball, resulting in St Fagans posting 317-7, with 24 fours and 11 sixes making up over half the total.

Lawler (88) was very impressive but fell 12 short of what would have been a deserved century.

The pick of a sorry bowling display were Sam Clarke 1-28 and Leo Ling 1-38, with Josh Spies and Ben Morris taking wicket braces.

Faced with Gorvin opening the bowling and such a target was always going to be a big challenge, and at 7-3 it looked impossible.

Morgan Bevans (40) and Tom Pipe (45) put on a 93-run fourth-wicket stand in a mature partnership, but Pipe departed soon after the drinks break.

And after that it was a procession, only a brief flourish by Josh Spies (7) and Ben Morris (18) providing a single batting point, before Abergavenny were 144 all out in the 41st over.

With three games left, they are sixth 31 points clear of the South Wales Premier One basement teams.

But the unbeaten table-topping 2nds are already guaranteed promotion fromSouth East Wales 5 after beating Newport 3rds by 10 wickets at home.

Newport were bowled out in 37 overs for 165, with Pawan Nisansala taking 3-29 and two wickets each for Ellis Jones and Shunryu Sheehan, plus single strikes for Lewys Wilkes-McCarthy, Toby Smith and Steve Brown.

Drew Heffernan then fired 84 and skipper Ed Woolcott 64 in a brilliant 170-run unbeaten stand, reaching 170-0 in just 21 overs at better than a run a ball, including 26 fours and a six.

This was their 13th win of the season with two games cancelled, leaving them 41 points clear with three games left against Dinas Powis, Llandaff and Abercynon.

Manuraj Raju snared five wickets for the 3rds away to Blackwood 2nds, but couldn’t prevent a 107-run defeat.

Blackwood rushed to 111 before losing their first wicket, but Raju then secured a splendid 5-30, supported by Marc Morgan with three wickets and one for veteran Andy Timpson as they dismissed the hosts for 212.

But Abergavenny’s top order then fell like a deck of cards to 18-5 before wicket-takers Raju with 20, Morgan 11 and Timpson 15, alongside Dan Bowden with 30, got them to 105 all out in the 25th over.

A remarkably low-scoring game at Crickhowell saw Chepstow 3rds bowled out for 75 in just 16 overs, only for Abergavenny 4ths to be dismissed for 72 in 26 overs.

James Forrester took 4-23, Samuel Corbett 3-10, Tal Edwards 2-10 and Ioan Stepto 1- 22, but only Satish Rohra (10) and Barry French (19) could reach double figures in reply.

Games this Saturday (August 16) include – 1sts v Cardiff, Dinas Powys 1sts v 2nds, 3rds v Bridgend T 3rds, Lisvane 4ths v 4ths.