Stats just the way it is
As batting collapses go, Kilgetty’s capitulation against Neyland
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on Saturday ranks right up there.
From a seemingly decent position of 80 odd for two, the remaining batsmen were removed with ease as the hosts were dismissed for 95.
Only Dafydd Bevan with 40 and Ross Hardy with 45 showed any real resistance against the victors who have built up a 30 point lead at the top of division one as they strolled to a nine wicket win.
Being part of a poor batting display is demoralising. At that moment in time, if nothing else is going wrong in your life, you feel it’s the worst.
First your opponents greet every wicket with glee, then mocking humour and then a sense of pity on the rabbits that come in last; annoyed that their not going to get a decent game of cricket in that day.
That wasn’t the case in Burton though as wickets were as scarce there as runs were at Kingsmoor.
In Pembrokeshire cricket, if you score 239 most weeks you feel you have enough in the tank to win the game, unless you’re playing Cresselly of course which was the case for Burton last week.
Toby Hayman with 116 helped Burton post that total against their opponents only to be overshadowed by Dan Cherry who’s unbeaten 103 helped Cresselly to a four wicket win.
Debates often rage against who is the greatest Pembrokeshire cricketer of all time but few arguments are heard about what team had the strongest batting line-up.
By general consensus (especially among my generation and older) the Carew team of the 80’s was the best ever assembled.
Peter Hall, Brian Morgan, Gethin Evans and Martin Cole were among them. Great local cricketers, each and every one of them.
It’s been said if you batted lower than six in that team, you very rarely got to pad up and that must be the case if you are a lower order batsman for Cresselly this year, their top six being so strong that all of them could be classed as modern day great local players.
Surely, they have assembled one of the strongest, if not the strongest batting line-up ever seen in Pembrokeshire?
When you talk about the top batsmen in Pembrokeshire, the majority play for Cresselly.
Dan Sutton, Adam Chandler, Iwan Izzard, Dan Cherry, Sion Cole and all of them backed up by the county’s most destructive hitter when on form, Ryan Lewis.
Poor old Alex Bailey hardly gets a mention and he’s a fine player as is Phil Williams, who last Saturday played for their second team.
Unless you look at statistics that is.
A quick glance at the division one league table and a few calculations later suggests that Cresselly’s batting line-up isn’t as strong as perceptions believe.
Neyland’s is; and they are top for good reason.
They’ve scored fewer runs than Cresselly, just the 922 against Creselly’s 1093 but they’ve lost 21 wickets against Cresselly’s 28, meaning Neyland’s wickets are lost every 43.9 runs and Cresselly’s at 39.
Haverfordwest, third in the table have scored 942, losing 27 at a rate of 34.8 runs per wicket.
They are the only teams to have lost fewer fewer than 30 wickets this season in the first division, the lowest of the others being Lawrenny who have lost 38 with Whitland, sitting happily in fourth place having lost the most with 49.
So, on batting form, Neyland are going to walk to the title and their bowling suggests that could will the case too.
They’ve taken 54 wickets having conceded 652 runs resulting in their bowlers taking a wicket for every 12 runs that come from their opponents’ bats.
Cresselly meanwhile have taken 45 having conceded 932 therefore taking a wicket every 20.7 runs scored against while Haverfordwest, with 56 wickets in the bank and their opponents having struck 794, take theirs every 14.1 runs.
Of course, 80% of statistics only tell half the truth three quarters of the time.
It’s only June 2nd, there are still over three months to run. Things could change. Other teams could make a march on the title and Neyland could falter but there would have to be a major shift in runs per wicket scored and runs per wicket conceded for that to be the case.
Team of the week.
Only Dafydd Bevan with 40 and Ross Hardy with 45 showed any real resistance against the victors who have built up a 30 point lead at the top of division one as they strolled to a nine wicket win.
Being part of a poor batting display is demoralising. At that moment in time, if nothing else is going wrong in your life, you feel it’s the worst.
First your opponents greet every wicket with glee, then mocking humour and then a sense of pity on the rabbits that come in last; annoyed that their not going to get a decent game of cricket in that day.
That wasn’t the case in Burton though as wickets were as scarce there as runs were at Kingsmoor.
In Pembrokeshire cricket, if you score 239 most weeks you feel you have enough in the tank to win the game, unless you’re playing Cresselly of course which was the case for Burton last week.
Toby Hayman with 116 helped Burton post that total against their opponents only to be overshadowed by Dan Cherry who’s unbeaten 103 helped Cresselly to a four wicket win.
Debates often rage against who is the greatest Pembrokeshire cricketer of all time but few arguments are heard about what team had the strongest batting line-up.
By general consensus (especially among my generation and older) the Carew team of the 80’s was the best ever assembled.
Peter Hall, Brian Morgan, Gethin Evans and Martin Cole were among them. Great local cricketers, each and every one of them.
It’s been said if you batted lower than six in that team, you very rarely got to pad up and that must be the case if you are a lower order batsman for Cresselly this year, their top six being so strong that all of them could be classed as modern day great local players.
Surely, they have assembled one of the strongest, if not the strongest batting line-up ever seen in Pembrokeshire?
When you talk about the top batsmen in Pembrokeshire, the majority play for Cresselly.
Dan Sutton, Adam Chandler, Iwan Izzard, Dan Cherry, Sion Cole and all of them backed up by the county’s most destructive hitter when on form, Ryan Lewis.
Poor old Alex Bailey hardly gets a mention and he’s a fine player as is Phil Williams, who last Saturday played for their second team.
Unless you look at statistics that is.
A quick glance at the division one league table and a few calculations later suggests that Cresselly’s batting line-up isn’t as strong as perceptions believe.
Neyland’s is; and they are top for good reason.
They’ve scored fewer runs than Cresselly, just the 922 against Creselly’s 1093 but they’ve lost 21 wickets against Cresselly’s 28, meaning Neyland’s wickets are lost every 43.9 runs and Cresselly’s at 39.
Haverfordwest, third in the table have scored 942, losing 27 at a rate of 34.8 runs per wicket.
They are the only teams to have lost fewer fewer than 30 wickets this season in the first division, the lowest of the others being Lawrenny who have lost 38 with Whitland, sitting happily in fourth place having lost the most with 49.
So, on batting form, Neyland are going to walk to the title and their bowling suggests that could will the case too.
They’ve taken 54 wickets having conceded 652 runs resulting in their bowlers taking a wicket for every 12 runs that come from their opponents’ bats.
Cresselly meanwhile have taken 45 having conceded 932 therefore taking a wicket every 20.7 runs scored against while Haverfordwest, with 56 wickets in the bank and their opponents having struck 794, take theirs every 14.1 runs.
Of course, 80% of statistics only tell half the truth three quarters of the time.
It’s only June 2nd, there are still over three months to run. Things could change. Other teams could make a march on the title and Neyland could falter but there would have to be a major shift in runs per wicket scored and runs per wicket conceded for that to be the case.
Team of the week.
- Toby Hayman (Burton) 116 v Cresselly
- Tim Hicks (Carew) 118 v Hook
- Dan Cherry (Cresselly) 103 not out v Burton
- Jonathan Williams (Hundleton) 101 not out v Crymych
- Chris Inward (Llangwm) 86 & 3-62 v St Ishmaels
- Josh Davies (Stackpole) 85 v Narberth
- Dean John (Herbrandston) 6-12 v Lawreny 2nds
- Tristan Rees (Whitland 3rds) 5-3 & 28 not out v Stackpole 2nds.
- Henry Durant (Neyland) 5-9 v Kilgetty
- Rob Williams (Lawrenny) 5-26 v Johnston
- James Hinchcliffe (Carew) 5-27 v Hook
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