Ladies’ Cricket:

 

 

Cresselly Ladies (130 for 3 & 103 for 7) beat Hook Ladies (87 for 7 & 103 for 8) by 43 runs

 
Venue: Bosherston & Stackpole Cricket Club
 
Umpires: Huw Simpkins & Allan Hansen
Scorer: Joy James and Helen McMillan
 
Player of the Match: Lucy Johnson (Cresselly)
Adjudicator: John Davies (Pembroke Dock)
 
Cresselly Ladies were deserved winners of the 2024 Clive Huxley Memorial Cup as they comfortable beat off the challenge of their counterparts from Hook and in doing so gained revenge for a heavy defeat in the league when the teams met earlier in the season.
 
But in this rematch, played over two innings per team at Stackpole, where Clive used to play when his family moved here, it was Cresselly who were in a very strong position at tea as they held a 43-run lead after being asked to bat first by Hook captain Sam Rossiter - and with both teams achieving identical totals afterwards it was Chrissie Toy who raised the trophy aloft for Cresselly after receiving it from Kath Adams, who was Clive’s daughter and was playing for Hook after being a regular in men’s cricket at Stackpole for a number of years.
 

Johnson leads Cresselly to a challenging total

 
Cresselly suffered an early set-back when experienced opener Meg Arthur was trapped lbw for a single but with Lucy Johnson in excellent form there were good supporting roles from Jess Gibby, also removed by Kacey Arran in a 2 for 12 four-over stint, one of them a maiden.
 
Ffion Ashman hit two fours before she was run out and Cerys Jones contributed an undefeated 23 as she and Johnson took the total to a very challenging tally of 130 for 3, the latter having batted through the innings and ending on 55, including nine boundaries, alongside the welcome gift of 20 runs from extras.
 

Hook struggle to maintain any momentum

 
Hook knew they needed an equally positive approach but they lost Katie Farr for a single as Kacey Arran, Jemma Phillips and Maisie Davies also departed after looking to build the tempo - and when Rossiter fell for 30 (5 fours) to a ball which kept low they were falling more and more behind the necessary run rate as Cresselly fielded well and bowled straight.
 
Hook only mustered 10 runs in their first five overs and were on 30 at the half way stage, still needing 100 runs to match their opponents, but only Maisie Davies managed double figures, including a six, and with only seven extras conceded the miserly bowling of Meg Arthur, Johnson, and Ava Midgley paid dividends along with a 3 for 12 haul by Ashman.



 

Cresselly maintain their form to set a big score

 
Hook knew they needed to bowl out Cresselly quickly to have any chance of winning and Kacey Arran got them off to a great start with her second outstanding spell of the afternoon. Two of her four overs were maidens and she shifted Arthur and Johnson in fine figures of 2 for 4.
 
But Cresselly gradually regained their equilibrium as they reached 25 in five overs and 47 at half way thanks to solid knocks from Jess Gibby, Cerys Jones, Ashman and Zoe Minnett, despite 2 for 15 by Chloe Lewis.
 
They reached 75 in 15 overs and ended up on 103 for 7, again thanks to 16 extras, leaving Hook with the mammoth task of scoring 147 in the final innings.
 

Hook battle hard – but lose wickets at key times

 
Hook’s hopes suffered a real set-back as Rossiter played on to her stumps after scoring only four runs, bowled my Arthur in her excellent 1 for 10 spell to apply early brakes on Hook’s aims.
 
Katie Farr (30) and Jemma Phillips (37) batted well in a stand of 60 but were already behind the clock at half way – and then lost wickets cheaply as Cerys Jones grabbed two wickets and Ashman pounced for the other.
 
Two run outs put Hook in further trouble as they tried hard to battle back but they could only match their opponents’ second-innings score and so finished up losing by their interval deficit as again there were only seven extras conceded by Cresselly.
 
But both teams can take a great dela of credit for the way they played, a fact recognised by Nick Evans, the long-time president of Ladies Cricket in Pembrokeshire as he told Telegraph Sport,
“We have a great welcome at this lovely Stackpole ground and both teams showed how much the game has improved over the years – and they were all a credit to their clubs and Pembrokeshire!”
 

SCORECARDS:
 
FIRST INNINGS:

 
Cresselly Ladies Batting:
Megan Arthur lbw b Kacey Arran 1
Lucy Johnson not out 55
Jess Gibby b Kacey Arran 14
Ffion Ashman run out 17
Cerys Jones not out 23
Extras 20
Total (3 wickets) 130
 
Hook Ladies Bowling:
Maisie Davies 4-0-31-0; Kacey Arran 4-1-12-2; Kath Adams 4-0-26-0: Chloe Lewis 4-0-18-0;  Elin Miller 2-0-17-0; Freya Griffiths 2-0-23-0
 
Hook Ladies Batting:
Katie Farr b Ava Midgley 1
Sam Rossiter b Ffion Ashman 30
Jemma Phillips ct Lucy Johnson b Caitlin Lewis 9
Kacey Arran run out 7
Maisie Davies not out 13
Elin Miller b Lucy Johnson 7
Maddie Potter ct & b Ffion Ashman 4
Chloe Lewis b Ffion Ashman 0
Extras 7
Total (7 wickets) 87
 
Cresselly Ladies Bowling:
Megan Arthur 4-0-10-0; Ava Midgley 4-0-7-1; Caitlin Lewis 2-0-23-1; Ffion Ashman 4-0-12-3; Lucy Johnson 4-0-12-1; Cerys Jones 2-0-13-0
 
 

SECOND INNINGS:

 
Cresselly Ladies Batting
Meg Arthur b Kacey Arran 1
Lucy Johnson lbw b Kacey Arran 5
Jess Gibby ct Jemma Phillips b Maisie Davies 22
Cerys Jones b Chloe Lewis 14
Ffion Ashman b Chloe Lewis 16
Zoe Minnett ct Jemma Phillips b Maddie Potter 18
Ava Midgley run out 5
Jess Lewis not out 5
Chrissie Toy not out 1
Extras 16
Total (7 wickets) 103
 
Hook Ladies Bowling:
Maisie Davies 4-0-23-1; Kacey Arran 4-0-4-2; Kath Adams 4-0-14-0; Chloe Lewis 4-0-15-2; Elin Miller 2-0-18-0; Maddie Potter 2-0-12-1
 
Hook Ladies Batting:
Katie Farr b Ffion Ashman 30
Sam Rossiter b Meg Arthur 4
Jemma Phillips b Cerys Jones 37
Kacey Arran b Cerys Jones 1
Maisie Davies run out 12
Elin Miller run out 6
Maddie Potter not out 4
Beth Chapman lbw b Lucy Johnson 2
Freya Griffiths run out 0
Chloe Lewis not out 0
Extras 7
Total (8 wickets) 103
 
Cresselly Ladies Bowling:
Meg Arthur 4-0-10-1; Ava Midgley 4-0-28-0; Cerys Jones 4-0-25-2; Ffion Ashman 4-0-16-1; Lucy Johnson 4-0-22-1