Pwllheli Cricket Club News

At last - a draw!

After a disappointing last game two weeks ago, and no game last week due to the weather, it was important that Pwllheli gave a better performance and started to collect some points in the league.

Fielding first against Rhewl, the return of opening bat & bowler, Ben Jones, gave the hosts hope and he was soon bowling as if he had never been away.  Coupled with new signing Simon Owens, Pwllheli restricted the Rhewl batsman well, but it was not until the introduction of regular spinners Hughes and Rehman that the wickets begin to tumble.

A stunning catch by Hughes was probably the highlight although the chance of a hat trick when Owens was reintroduced to the attack later on was also up there with the best.  Surprisingly the miserly Rehman only bowled 8 overs (2 wickets for 24 runs) whilst other bowlers were getting a fair bit of tonking.

The final wicket fell in the 48th over and the Rhewl total of 165 was certainly obtainable.

Tea was taken and this poor scribe managed to grab only 2 cakes – the bulk of the tea having already been demolished by the weary travellers!

After much deliberation and bartering, Pwlhelli adopted a radically new batting order.  Regular opening bat Neil Williams was keen to bat at number 11, but finally settled on batting at number 10.  Last weeks top scorer Gower was also dropped a couple of places to number 9 but I guess its not often that we can say that Pwllheli bat down as far as number 10!

Ben Jones continued his good work with the ball to hit a solid 38 well supported by a controlled knock, also of 38, by Umair Aziz.  The latter can count himself very unlucky to be given out LBW as the ball almost brushed his shoulder on the way though to the keeper!  The normally reliable Rehman set about the chase with great gusto, only to be out for 13 possibly playing one big shot too many so early in his innings.

The injured Chris Moore demostrated that you cant keep talent hidden for long with some lovely shots in a quickfire 13 but again, the remaining batsmen failed to make any significant contributions which left Pwllheli slipping behind the required run rate.

By the time the demoted Gower was joined by the very demoted Williams at the crease, Pwllheli still needed over 40 from 10 overs.  There were two choices – go for the runs and risk loosing again, or pick up a few runs here and there and make sure we didn’t loose.  The two demoted batsmen chose the latter and managed to play out the remaining overs despite the inane ramblings on the Rhewl wicketkeeper to ensure the first non defeat of the season.

The points finished 11 - 10 in Rhewl's favour which means that Pwllheli gained a couple of points on their nearest rivals

After the match, during a kick about with 10 year old Jack Gower, Neil Williams managed to collect a severe back injury that now threatens to keep him out of next weeks game.

In the bar afterwards, a thirsty Gower said “at last we haven’t lost.  Lets hope this is the start of our recovery – a much better performance from everyone shows promise for next weeks game.  By the way, mines a pint of San Miguel please!