The Beamer

Pembrokeshire cricketers are used to rain, it usually scuppers their weekend plans but last night’s thunderous downpours may prove more of a blessing than a hinderance to the parched pitches of the county. Imran khan once said the only time he was scared while batting was while facing Michael Holding following a downpour in the Caribbean, the rain making the wicket more like the indoor nets at Neath than a proper pitch curated from loam. A bit of rain can add speed into wickets sometimes making it uncomfortable to bat on but Haverfordwest will just be wanting some pace. Anecdotal evidence suggests the pitch at the Racecourse for their game against Carew last week was as slow and low as could be. It was more like a sub-continental dustbowl than a local wicket which errs on the slow side but still sits up enough to drive through the ball A score of 123-7 off 45 overs would suggest that to be the case and Simon ‘Doc’ Holliday’s innings of 54 is said to have occupied over 30 overs

It’s been a fabulous week for cricket in Pembrokeshire. If last Saturday produced some interesting results the cup games this week made for even more talking points and none more so than the game between Llangwm and Carew in the Duggie Morris cup. The game was decided on a Golden over after the teams’ were tied on 132 apiece following their allotted 20 overs with Carew just snatching it by winning the decider 12 runs to five. The match was a good one for Shaun Whitfield as he smashed a quickfire 32, an innings that was so impressive that it had people speaking highly of his talent. He took 2-18 for good measure too while Tom Davies continued his fine form with 4-28 to followed up his five wickets on Saturday. Llangwm impressed too with James Venables striking a  fluent 64 and Will Beresford and elegant 27. A few miles west at St Ishmaels, the home side gave Haverfordwest a fright by just losing out by two runs, scoring 161 for 4 in reply to the visitor’s 163 in which Ben Field

We’re three league games into the season and already the signs are there that little will change from years gone by. The top four in division one will most probably include Haverfordwest, Neyland, Cresselly and Carew (not in that particular order, that’s just how they came into my head) and the rest will battle it out for who stays up and who goes down. According to one prominent cricketing stalwart who shall remain nameless, the gap between the top four and the rest is bigger than it has ever been although I’m sure they rest will have something to say about that. Kilgetty will be one of them having made a good start to life in the top division after a hiatus of 15 years years or so. It’s incredible to think the club imploded around the time of the Millennium when they were one of the biggest clubs around but they are certainly back with a bang and they will give any club a run for their money. How good is Daniel Sutton too? His innings of 121 not out against the Kingsmoor out