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PENRHYN ARMS CRICKET CLUB
SPONSORED
BY
CLASSY CLEANING NORTH
WALES
REVIEW OF THE SEASON
After
several enjoyable practice net sessions, The Penrhyn Arms
started their inaugural season in The Gilbert Emery
Evening Cricket League at Bodlondeb, on 30th
April against a young and talented Conwy Colts side.
The
Colts batted first and amassed 161 runs for the loss of
only a single wicket. Inexperience showed in both the
bowling & fielding departments. The Arms, boosted by an
excellent crowd of about 30 supporters, batted and scored
a respectable 79-9 off their 15 overs. Certainly not
disgraced but there was much room for improvement.
After
3 weeks off and a few more net sessions, The Arms visited
St Davids College to face a seasoned Caerhun side. Caerhun
batted first and despite a big improvement in the fielding
& bowling from the first game, they managed to score 106-8
off their 15 overs. Spin twins Tom Barrett & Steve Hurdman
each taking 3 wickets. The Arms scored 83-9 off their 15
overs with Keiron Rigby top scoring with 26. A much
improved effort by everyone.
A
return match with Caerhun two weeks later proved the same
result. The Arms batting first scored 100-9 with Paul
Anderson top scoring with a fine 42. Caerhun soon knocked
off the runs for the loss of only 3 wickets – one of which
was taken by Chris Yates, his first ever competitive
wicket – well done Chris!!
Back
to St Davids College the week later to face the college
side The Arms again batted first, scoring 104-7 with Paul
Anderson again scoring a classy 53 retired. Despite a good
start with the ball and having the college 32-3 at one
stage, again the runs were not quite enough as the college
boys knocked the remaining runs needed for the loss of
only a further wicket.
On 20th
June we travelled to Abergele to play Bodelwyddan Ty Fry
on a damp overcast night where history was to be made. Ty
Fry batted first and the combination of some excellent
bowling, backed up by superb fielding restricted Ty Fry to
52 all out – Tom Barrett taking 3 for 4 and The Nellist
brothers Mark & Bobby taking two wickets apiece. The Arms
batted and wickets fell at regular intervals with no less
than 5 ducks!! When JTB strode to the crease to join Bobby
the score was on 25-8. JTB could see that Bobby had his
eye in and playing a supporting role Bobby guided the team
home by two wickets scoring a magnificent 35 not out which
in the context of the game and play conditions was nothing
short of monumental!!! The Penrhyn Arms had won their
first ever competitive game of cricket – and what a way to
do it!!
It
was hard to say what was the highlight of that game;
Bobby’s excellent knock, JTB’s superb effort at a diving
catch or Spence hitting the umpire on the head with the
ball – I know what mine was!!
Back
to back games against Conwy Celts saw two more defeats,
the latter one being a bad tempered affair because of one
individual – I can still hear the cries “Negative Bowling,
Negative Bowling” – as if...............................
Back
to Bodlondeb for the penultimate game of the season which
turned out to be sweet revenge for our first game against
Conwy Colts. The Colts batted first and some excellent
bowling & fielding saw them restricted to 74 off their 15
overs, with both Nellist brothers again bowling superbly.
A new opening partnership of Will Taylor & Tom Barrett put
on an opening stand of 43 with Tom scoring 33 of them.
Bobby scored the winning run with a cracking 4 through the
covers to see us home by 8 wickets with nearly 5 overs
left. A truly SUPERB performance!!!!
The
last game of the season saw us up against our old Nemesis
Caerhun at The Oval in the semi final of the cup. The team
from down the valley batted first and posted 104-5 off
their 15 overs. After another steady start, The Arms lost
4 quick wickets and despite an excellent partnership in
the middle order by Mark & Bobby, the total was just out
of reach and The Arms finished on 90-8 just 14 runs short.
The
season had now finished.
From
the first ball bowled in the sunshine at Conwy to the last
run scored in the gloom at The Oval, The Penrhyn Arms
cricket team had been on a fantastic cricket journey.
Every
one of you players who pulled on the white shirt to
represent the team should be VERY, VERY proud of
yourselves. Along the way we have made some friends and
some enemies – but hey that’s cricket. What I can say is
that at no time did we disgrace ourselves and every one of
you have benefitted from the experience and become better
cricketers.
From
a personal point of view I would like to say a few thank
yous – to the fantastic loyal supporters including our
very own WAGS, to Steve Hurdman for at least making us
look like cricketers, to John & Sharon for their support,
to Brian Westwood for helping with the scoring but most of
all I would like to thank the 18 lads who have represented
The Penrhyn Arms Cricket Team and helped me make my dream
become reality.
We
will all have our memories from the season – some good –
some bad (my ankles still swollen if anyone is
interested....no?) but they will only serve to make us
better players – roll on next season!!!!
Thanks
again..............................................John
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