South East Wales Cricket League Division Three (First XI) - Machen CC (160 all out) lost to Monmouth CC (165-2) by eight wickets

MONMOUTH’S First XI returned to winning ways on Saturday with a convincing eight wicket victory away over their hosts Machen.

In fairness Machen were said to be missing some 18 senior players from their squad which meant several Second XI players were forced to step up, but nevertheless Monmouth, sponsored by Bürkert Fluid Control Systems, stuck to their task on a baking hot day at the Machen Welfare Ground.

Upon losing the toss and being asked to field Monmouth struggled early on to contain the hitting power of Rhys Thomas (28) before skipper Adam Roberts stepped up and removed the opener with one that kept a bit low. In fact it was the story of the Machen innings really that several batsman came in and got starts but never really kicked on with fellow opener Nick Hatton (22), the dangerous Mike Fussell (16), Rhys Mellor-Cretney (21) and Sam Clifford (30) all contributing to take the score to a 122-5 at the 30 over mark.

Monmouth’s bow-lers deserve much credit for toiling away in the extreme heat, and in particular Wales under 15 spinner Ben Davies (2-34) and the returning veteran off spinner Aled Jones (1-30) for containing the Machen batsman during the middle overs. Stand out performance though must go to man of the match Alim Hansraj who took 5-25 off eight tight overs to see the hosts slump to a below par-looking 160 all out in the 43rd over. There were also wickets for Paul Swingwood (1-19) and Adam Roberts (1-21). Monmouth stuck to their task well in the field on a sapping day for energy levels, with catches taken by Adam Roberts and Alim Hansraj, not to mention a spectacular one handed grab from Matt Jones, whilst wicket-keeper Jon Despontin also took a stumping.

In reply Monmouth openers Henry Breeze (62) and Matt Jones (56) set off at a lightning pace, running magnificently between the wickets and punishing the all too frequent bad balls from the understrength Machen attack. Breeze hit eight fours and two sixes in his 49-ball knock, whilst Jones hit six fours in his run-a-ball 56 as the two put on 118 for the first wicket in just 15 overs to effectively end the tie at the first drinks break.

There was still time for captain Adam Roberts to hit some lusty blows in his 22 not out and also take a nasty blow to the face whilst attempting a sweep shot but Monmouth finished on 165-2 off 20.4 overs for a comfortably victory.

Most importantly the result saw Monmouth end a run of three defeats (and an abandonment), and also sees them climb to fourth place in the Division Three table, leaving them just 12 points behind Vale CC who they face at home next Saturday in a huge game for the push for promotion places. Play starts at 1pm and all spectators are most welcome.

Anyone interested in playing cricket for Monmouth should contact JDespo@aol.

com