Ystradgynlais RFC News & Results

Ystrad Cricket Report Week 2

On a blazing afternoon at the Recreation Ground, Ystradgynlais played host to their local rivals; sadly the sun was the only heated moment of the day as the contest turned into a damp squib as the hosts overpowered one of the weakest Ystalyfera sides ever fielded with ease.

Opposing skipper Wayne James won the toss and elected to bat first on a drying wicket after the overnight thunder storms but seemingly had little terror in it.

However, opening bowlers Tom Jones and Luke Owen had other ideas forcing the Fera openers Huw Lewis and Ryland Doyle onto the back foot with a series of deliveries that reared up from just short of a length. Jones was slightly more wayward giving away a number of wides; whilst at the other end Owen did not concede in his first fours overs.

Eventually Lewis was the first to go when trio to hook yet another short delivery he stumbled back onto his stumps and was out hit wicket.

Wickets continued to tumble at a steady pace as the Ystrad bowlers made inroads into the depleted opposition. They even had the luxury of being to drop catches without feeling the pressure of it being at great cost to the side, at least that is what slip fielder Liam Delaney was trying to say in his post match resume of the game after dropping a far easier chance than the one he actually took.

Jones was replaced at the Gurnos end by Bradley Williams who swung the ball with ease but was also occasionally wayward also conceding wides unnecessarily but did take the key wicket of skipper James with a beautiful in-swinging yorker.

The visitors teetered precariously on 45-9 when 13 year old Ashley Parry came to the wicket and offered resolute resistance playing with a straighter bat than most of the recognised batsmen before him. In partnership with O. Jones, the pair put on 28 for the final wicket before Jones called Parry for a ridiculous single and to the youngster’s credit he turned his back in a manner Geoffrey Boycott would have been proud of and Jones was left stranded 15 yards out of his ground.

After the tea interval, Ystrad shuffled their usual batting order in an attempt to give their batsmen some time in the middle. The experimental opening partnership of Daniel Holsgrove and Matthew Phillips took strike and after a slow start made light work of chasing down the total as both punished a succession of wayward deliveries and reached 50 without any scares.

When the score was on 57 Phillips attempted an ambitious hook shot off Mike Penhale and the ball careered straight off his glove and into his face, resulting in some minor damage to his nose. He retired hurt and Bradley Williams came to the wicket and easily knocked off the remaining 17 runs to win the game with some 45 overs to spare.

A comfortable victory for the hosts but there will be far sterner tests ahead and this cannot be considered to be an indication of whether the side will be in contention towards the end of the season.