PHOTOS: kindly supplied by Brian McKehon....

 

Neyland celebrate victory




Runners up Cresselly


Neyland captain Sean Hannon holds  the Harrison Allen Bowl aloft
Man of match Paul Miller with PCCC President Nick Evans
Nathan Banner smashes the ball for six
Sean Hannon celebrates dismissing  Dan Cherry 

 

Harrison-Allen Bowl Final (Sponsored by Thomas Scourfield & Sons):

 

Neyland (153 for 8 & 213 for 7) beat Cresselly (153 for 9 & 203 for 8) by 10 runs

 
Umpires: Trefor Evans & Tony Scourfield
Scorers: Teagan Cartwright (Cresselly) and John Laugharne (Neyland)
Venue: Cresselly CC
 
Man of the Match: Paul Murray (Neyland)
 

What a magnificent Final!

 
The 2017 Harrison-Allen Bowl big day certainly lived up to its pre-match hype as Neyland and Cresselly produced a classic final where the result was in doubt up until the last few balls, with fortunes flowing first one way and then the other before Neyland prevailed by ten runs.
 
Sixes rained throughout the day, rather than the half-expected bad weather, and everyone in attendance was treated to a terrific contest where every player gave 100% and to quote an old cliché, Pembrokeshire cricket was the ultimate winner!
 

Neyland battle to ‘decent’ score

 
When Cresselly skipper Neilson Cole won the toss he elected to field first but Neyland made a useful start of 25 before Patrick Bellerby departed for 16 (two fours and a six), caught by Alex Bailey at mid-off to give Dan James an early wicket.
Paul Murray smote two mighty sixes over the clubhouse off Sam Harts but was fooled by Mike Shaw's off-spin when he had scored 20, with the score on 51.
 
Ashley Sutton (26) looked in good nick but was run out in a mix-up and Nick Koomen mis-hit a ball from Tom Arthur straight to Dan James on the shortest boundary before he had got out of first gear to leave Neyland on 103 for 4 in the 16th over.
 
Nathan Banner redressed the balance with a typically robust 46 (two fours and three big sixes off 28 balls) as Gregg Miller also managed double figures but wickets fell at regular intervals as Dan Cherry claimed 2 for 13 alongside Ryan Lewis (1 for 13) and Mike Shaw (2 for 40) which limited Neyland to 153 for 8, perhaps 25 runs short of an anticipated par score.
 

Cresselly start well – but have to settle for tea-time equality

 
Cresselly made a cracking start via Adam Chandler, who took 30 runs off Jamie Smith's two overs, including five fours and a six - before Alex Bailey had scored. The latter then belted a six and four before he departed for ten in as many balls, bowled in Nick Koomen's first over with the score already on 50 in the sixth over.
 
Chandler reached 44 from 30 balls before he was removed by Henry Durrant from a return catch - and Koomen struck further vital blows as he bowled Iwan Izzard for 10 runs and had Dan Cherry caught by skipper Sean Hannon for 17.
 
Like Neyland though, Cresselly bat in depth, and Phil Williams contributed 27 in 35 balls (a lovely off-drive for 6 and two fours) before he became one of Nathan Banner's 4 for 39 haul from six overs.
 
Dan James looked the pick of the Cresselly middle order with 30 from 17 deliveries but was successfully pouched by Andrew Miller, who also bowled three miserly overs to stop Cresselly running away with things and with Banner and Koomen (3 for 34) as the main strike bowers for Neyland the interval came with the teams locked on 153 runs each and still all to play for, and Neyland perhaps more pleased about that fact because at one time Cresselly looked as if nearer 200 might be their tally!
 

Hannon’s men survive early traumas . . .

 
Neyland's hopes of setting a challenging score from their second innings suffered three body blows at the start as Dan James shifted three top batsmen in quick succession after a shaky start where he began with a wide and no ball but then had Patrick Bellerby caught in the deep by Iwan Izzard for a duck.
Worse was to follow as Gregg Miller and Ashley Sutton followed in quick succession, well caught respectively by Neilson Cole and Chandler to leave Neyland teetering on 12 for 3 after three overs.
 
But Paul Murray found a willing partner in Nick Koomen and both started runs flowing with some well-taken singles interspersed with huge hitting that saw sixes flying over the boundary rope with some regularity.
 

. . . And set a daunting target

 
It was top quality stuff as Murray reached 50 (five fours and two sixes) off 28 balls in the 11th over and Koomen was almost as quick as his 50 came from 30 deliveries and contained four sixes and four fours.
 
They eased their way to a wonderful partnership of 151 in double quick time before Koomen was bowled by Cherry for 67 (40 balls) - and Murray reached a magnificent 85 from only 45 deliveries before he finally fell to  Mike Shaw via a Cherry catch in the deep, having stroked seven fours and six sixes.
 
Other wickets inevitably fell in the late run chase but Nathan Banner belted a rapid-fire 29 before he was run out last ball which left Neyland with a superb score of 213 for 8.
 

Quick runs come for Cresselly but key wickets lost

 
Quick runs were the order of the day as Cresselly needed over ten runs per over and openers Chandler and Bailey sped to 89 off only eight overs as Tom Arthur and Ryan Lewis in particular faced some howitzer hitting before both departed within the space of a single, Bailey having belted six massive sixes, three off successive balls, but going for another ball out of the ground off Henry Durrant and inevitably finding the safe hands of Bellerby on the fence for a splendid 56 off only 30 balls.
 
Disaster struck almost straight away when the classy Chandler was run out in a mix-up having scored 28 runs but Izzard and Cherry redressed the balance with 41 runs before Izzard departed for 17, bowled around his legs by Andrew Miller having been dropped when he had scored 8.
 
Dan James came and went to a good high catch by Smith, the youngster judging the swirling ball to perfection but as Cherry settled in to his immaculate stroke play Ryan Lewis smashed four sixes in his 28 runs.
 

The pendulum swings again

 
It seemed the pendulum had swung back in Cresselly’s favour as they were back up with the necessary run rate but then Bellerby took an amazing catch to shift Lewis, racing in from the long-on boundary and diving forward to scoop the ball up inches off the ground to give Koomen another wicket.
 
Cherry reached his half century in 29 balls (four fours and two sixes) but picked out Gregg Miller in the deep as Koomen struck again, with the ice-cool Miller also pouching Mike Shaw off Banner to leave Cresselly needing two six-hits to tie the game.
 
Only two singles followed and Neyland were home and dry after a momentous struggle which was of huge credit to skippers Sean Hannon and Neilson Cole, their teams and almost all the supporters in attendance.
 
SCORECARD:
 
FIRST INNINGS:
 
Neyland Batting:
Paul Murray b Mike Shaw 20
Patrick Bellerby ct Alex Bailey b Dan James 16
Ashley Sutton run out 26
Nick Koomen ct Dan James b Tom Arthur 6
Nathan Banner not out 46
Gregg Miller ct Mike Shaw b Ryan Lewis 12
Scott Jones ct Tom Arthur b Mike Shaw 1
Henry Durrant b Dan Cherry 7
Andrew Miller b Dan Cherry 7
Sean Hannon not out 2
Extras 10
Total (8 wickets) 153
 
Cresselly Bowling:
Sam Harts 3-0-32-0; Dan James 4-0-22-1; Tom Arthur 5-0-28-1; Mike Shaw 6-0-40-2; Ryan Lewis 2-0-16-1; Dan Cherry 2-0-13-2
 
Cresselly Batting:
Adam Chandler ct & b Henry Durrant 44
Alex Bailey b Nick Koomen 12
Iwan Izzard b Nick Koomen 10
Dan Cherry ct Sean Hannon b Nick Koomen 17
Phil Williams ct Ashley Sutton b Nathan Banner 27
Dan James ct Andrew Miller b Nathan Banner 30
Ryan Lewis ct Patrick Bellerby b Nathan Banner 2
Mike Shaw ct Patrick Bellerby b Nathan Banner 0
Neilson Cole not out 3
Sam Harts ct Patrick Bellerby b Andrew Miller 1
Tom Arthur not out 0
Extras 7
Total (9 wickets) 153
 
Neyland Bowling:
Nathan Banner 6-0-39-4; Jamie Smith 2-0-30-0; Nick Koomen 6-0-34-3; Henry Durrant 5-0-32-1; Andrew Miller 3-0-16-1
 
SECOND INNINGS:
 
Neyland Batting:
Paul Murray ct Dan Cherry b Mike Shaw 85
Patrick Bellerby ct Iwan Izzard b Dan James 0
Gregg Miller ct Neilson Cole b Dan James 4
Ashley Sutton ct Adam Chandler b Dan James 3
Nick Koomen b Dan Cherry 67
Nathan Banner run out 29
Andrew Miller b Sam Harts 9
Henry Durrant not out 6
Extras 10
Total (7 wickets) 213
 
Cresselly Bowling:
Dan James 5-0-43-3; Sam Harts 5-0-23-1; Tom Arthur 1-0-27-0; Mike Shaw 5-0-45-1; Ryan Lewis 2-0-38-0; Dan Cherry 4-0-33-1
 
Cresselly Batting:
Adam Chandler run out 28
Alex Bailey ct Patrick Bellerby b Henry Durrant 56
Iwan Izzard b Andrew Miller 17
Dan Cherry ct Gregg Miller 54
Dan James ct Jamie Smith b Henry Durrant 1
Ryan Lewis ct Patrick Bellerby b Nick Koomen 28
Mike Shaw ct Gregg Miller b Nathan Banner 5
Phil Williams run out 2
Neilson Cole not out 1
Sam Harts not out 0
Extras 11
Total (8 wickets) 203
 
Neyland Bowling:
Nathan Banner 5-0-36-1; Nick Koomen 5-0-44-2; Andrew Miller 6-0-49-1; Henry Durrant 6-0-61-2