South East Wales Cricket League Division One (Second XI)

YOUNG opening batsman Ryan Scrivens was “the difference” as Chepstow Seconds completed a double over title rivals Newbridge.

Opening the batting, 15-year-old Scrivens scored 83 in a performance praised by his captain, Jon Huws.

“Ryan’s innings was the difference between the two sides for me,” Huws said later.

“He was the only batsman from either side to make scoring look easy on a tricky pitch and this allowed us to post a good score of 215 all out.

“We were short of players like Jamie Rayner and Lewys Jones so I was grateful to have some experienced bowlers like Justin Thornhill, Tim Rees and Jamie Goddard to call on when it came to our turn to bowl.

“We managed to limit their scoring early which allowed us to take wickets later when they had to pick up the pace.”

Although he lost a succession of partners during his innings, Scrivens had the advantage of sharing some of the work with the experienced Alyn Franklin who made 30 with a variety of shots which had Newbridge’s fielders back-pedalling to the boundary and looked set for an even bigger score when he missed a straight delivery and lost his wicket.

“It was a shame. I was feeling good but there’s always next week,” Franklin said later.

Young Scrivens may have to face a difficult decision in the coming year or so as he is also a talented footballer and realises the time is fast approaching when he may need to choose between two sports.

“I would like to see how both sports take me,” he said.

“At the end of this coming football season I could be offered a scholarship at Newport County but if I don’t, I will continue to enjoy playing cricket.”