Pembrokeshire Cricket’s U14s side played three games against strong opposition at the Bromsgrove Festival recently and although they lost all three will have learned a great deal.
 

Warwickshire win well

 
The opening fixture was against Warwickshire, who batted first, and James Davies took an early wicket to raise Pembrokeshire’s hopes but fifties from two batsmen soon put Warwickshire in command. At 120 for 1, things were looking bleak, but spirited bowling and some good catching meant the Pembrokeshire boys hauled themselves back into the game, with Warwickshire posting 225 all out, failing to use the last four of their 45 overs as James Davies (2 for 24), Curtis Hicks (3 for 41) and James Thomas (4 for 31) were the wicket takers.
 
In reply, opener Che Thomas scored 29 before being controversially run out, with Billy Kinnear hitting 35 and James Davies 18 in Pembrokeshire’s total of 152, finishing 73 runs short of their target.
 

Isle of Man look solid in the batting stakes

 
The second game was against the Isle of Man, where Pembrokeshire decided to bat and openers Geraint Rees and Che Thomas put on 53 for the first wicket, with Rees falling to a sharp slip catch on 17, whilst Thomas was eventually run out for 30, James Davies made 28, Jacob Lay (a quick-fire 20), Nick Jones 15, Billy Kinnear (18) and Max Brindley (16) in a respectable total of 182. Despite a number of batsmen getting starts, some poor shot choices gave wickets away too easily and the innings fizzled out towards the end.
 
Isle of Man’s reply was much more solid and they cruised past the Pembrokeshire total for the loss of only 3 wickets, with Buxton scoring 53 not out. James Davies (2 for 33) and Harri Dunn (1 for 30) were the wicket takers.

 
Undefeated Norfolk maintain their record

 
The final game was against an undefeated Norfolk side who, despite losing 3 early wickets to Davies and Dunn, went on to score 261 for 8 on a small ground, with a fine 73 from D Arnold.
Pembrokeshire’s wicket takers were James Davies (3 for 31), Harri Dunn (1 for 34), Geraint Rees (1 for 37), Nick Jones (1 for 47) and Dan Llewellyn (1 for 26).
 
Pembrokeshire lost Rees with the score at 22, with Thomas run out the following ball for 16, and Jacob Lay was also caught without the score advancing. This was a real set back and with Jones falling cheaply as well, Pembrokeshire were tottering at 44 for 4. Max Brindley batted well for 41, with good support from Kyle Williams (15) and Billy Kinnear (22) but Pembrokeshire could only muster a total of 121, well short of their target.
 

Lessons learned – and success in another sport!

Coach Andrew Williams hopes that the boys will learn lessons from their experience against some very good cricketers, particularly in being more patient when batting and not to give their wickets away cheaply, through poor choice of shots.
 
Some Pembrokeshire pride was restored, however, as the boys beat both Warwickshire and Holland at football in the evenings, with Ewan Griffiths and Dan Llewellyn scoring goals in both games!
 
Pembrokeshire U14s Squad for Bromsgrove: Max Brindley (Kilgetty), James Davies (Burton), Harri Dunn (Crymych), Ewan Griffiths (Neyland), Curtis Hicks (Burton), Nicholas Jones (Burton), Billy Kinnear (Cresselly), Jacob Lay (Hook), Dan Llewellyn (Burton), Geraint Rees (Neyland), Che Thomas (Whitland), James Thomas (Whitland), Kyle Williams (Narberth).