Monday 15 August 2011

100% Weekend



The firsts travelled to Blackwood through the driving rain to be greeted with a wicket that held more of a resemblance to a swamp than a cricket pitch. With rain in the air, the start was delayed and a 33 over match scheduled to start at 3 o clock. Sam Docherty won the toss and predictably decided to have a bowl at Blackwood. Penarth’s openers bowled poorly on a seamer-friendly wicket and Blackwood found themselves 50 for no wicket after 9 overs. Spin was introduced in the form of Richard Skone and Mike Provis which started the landslide. Only opener Simon Davies made any runs of note with an aggressive 34 as the home team slumped to 102 all out. The wickets were shared around between Richard Skone and the best left arm bowlers in the league in Mike Provis and leading wicket taker Mark Thomas.

Penarth made very light work of the target with an opening stand of 74 before Matt Thomas was out for 37 having batted majestically. Mike Provis carried his bat for a very fine 54 while Nick Morgan finished proceedings as he registered 12 not out. Penarth won by 9 wickets.

The seconds meanwhile had an even easier time of it at The Athletic Field as the first team witnessed Blackwood’s second team arriving back with their tails between their legs at 17:30! On another wet wicket, Blackwood won the toss and decided to have a bat, which surprised skipper Dave Stevens so much that he felt the need to ask his opposite number why. His repost, “we don’t fancy chasing 300”. Unsurprisingly, Blackwood were bowled out for 88 with Matt Birch doing most of the damage with 10 overs 4 for 20 showing once again that he’s too good to be playing 4th team cricket.

The second half of the contest was just as one-sided with the home team knocking the runs off comfortably. The only wicket to fall was that of Rob Jones for 16 while leading run scorer James Erasmus and the deadly Andrew Sims both finished 37 not out. Penarth replicating the first team with a 9 wicket victory.

The 3rd team played host to Radyr at The Athletic Field which now boasts a fully white pavilion thanks to the able hands of James Davies. Stand-in skipper Steve Newman lost the toss and his team were put in to bat. Amassing 238 was a superb effort thanks mainly to the reliable Conrad Adams who fell for 84. He was supported by the in-form Tom Cole (30) and the newly wed Richard Bromiley (22*) who made his maiden appearance for the Bears this season.

In reply, Radyr looked to be well in control of the game until the irresistible Steve Newman rolled back the years with an imperious spell of bowling which saw him finish with figures of 6 for 38. Zeeshan did the rest with 2 for 34 and Radyr could only manage 216-9 off their allotted overs despite fine performances by Duncan Miller and Phil Haines who scored 75 and 57 respectively. The celebrations went well on into the night at the club with the cocktail and casino night proving to be a success, Tom Sidford and Morgan Humphreys the sharks on the evening, let’s hope they both can transform their form on the roulette table to the cricket field!

There was a feast of cricket Sunday as the Second XI hosted Pentyrch in a league fixture and the elite of the club were professionally representing the club at the St Fagans sixes tournament. At the Athletic field, Dave Stevens maintained his 100% weekend record of losing the toss and more conventionally, the visitors decided to bowl. Penarth finished the innings on 211-9 with Matt Thomas looking good again for his 75, James Erasmus with a watchful 45 and Andrew Sims with a murderous 32.

Pentyrch were the victims of some very useful bowling and never really looked like threatening the required target. The eventually reached 180-9 from their 50 overs with Peter Ingram producing a magnificent spell of 10 overs 4 for 20, Robert Crimp took 3-33 after shaking off the cosmopolitan’s and the very promising Ryan Todd taking 2 for 15, proving that Andy Jones’ youth section is producing the goods for the senior set-up.

Meanwhile, in the land of the goat, Tom Sidford gathered his merry men and were eventually beaten by a very aggressive Pontypridd (who had called upon the services of a celebrity in the form of Alan from The Hangover) in the semi-final. The day started brilliantly with the Bears beating Tondu in swashbuckling fashion. Batting first, Penarth registered 109 from their 5 overs and then bowled out the opposition for a measly 23. Regulation wins against Dinas Powys and St Fagans saw the Bears top the group and were being dubbed as heavy favourites to win the tournament by the neutral spectators. The semi-final draw saw Penarth draw Pontypridd on the first team pitch whilst Tondu and Bridgend caught a taxi to the far pitch to commence battle. Tom Sidford familiarly failed on the big stage with a 2nd ball duck and Penarth could only muster 52. Penarth made a solid start with Gareth Davies’ first over going for just 5, but Andrew Collins took a liking to the bowling and began to pepper Van Os’ famous shed and the damage was done. A great day had by all and evidence that alcohol can have an adverse effect on performance was proven by St Fagans’ profit made from Thatchers Gold.

All the best to the touring party who ascend on Bournemouth this week on what we’re sure will be a quiet couple of days by the seaside.