In the fourth week of looking at the cricket averages for division one clubs last season, Lawrenny and Cresselly come under the spotlight. Lawrenny finished in fourth position in the division one table, but their points total of 274 was 105 points behind third placed Cresselly.
Throughout the season it was a three-horse race between Haverfordwest, Carew and Cresselly, with Haverfordwest finishing in pole position with 413 points and Carew not far behind with 387 points. Lawrenny had three batsmen in the leading 20 batsmen in division one. Andrew Cole senior scored a total of 415 runs at an average of 27.66 and was in 10th position in the top 20. James Buckle scored 405 runs at an average of 33.75 and all-rounder Simon Cole scored 392 runs at an average of 33.66.
The experienced Barry Phillips, who spent most of the season with the second team, showed his value to the club by leading the club averages with a total of 198 runs in seven innings at an average of 39.60.
The Lawrenny batsmen topped the 200 mark on three occasions, were bowled out on five occasions and the Lawrenny bowlers dismissed the opposition five times.
James Buckle, Ian Jenkins and Simon Cole were all in the top 20 bowlers. James Buckle showed his all-round prowess by taking 23 wickets at an average of 19.78, spinner Ian Jenkins took 21 wickets at an average of 15.57 and strike bowler Simon Cole took 20 wickets at an average of 20.80.
Robert Williams with 16 and Steve Lewis with 10 also notched up double figures in the number of wickets taken.
Somewhat surprisingly, Cresselly only had one batsman, the left-handed Simon Cole, in the top 20 list of division one run scorers. Simon Cole was ninth in the list with 416 runs at an average of 46.2.
In the club averages, Adam Chandler scored 324 runs at an average of 32.40, Richard Harris led the club averages with 148 runs at an average of 49.33 and Phil Williams, who missed much of the season through injury, scored 299 runs in 11 visits to the crease at an average of 42.7.
Seven Cresselly batsmen scored more than a 100 runs during the season and six of the batsmen scored more than 200 runs.
Often written off as a bowling attack, the Cresselly bowlers put their hands up with no less than four featuring in the list of top 20 bowlers. Spinner Ryan Lewis was second in the overall list with 37 wickets at an average of exactly 11, whilst all-rounder Richard Harris took 29 wickets at an average of 11.79 with his slow medium deliveries. Huw Neale was 15th in the list with 21 wickets at an average of 17.04 and Stefan Jenkins took 20 wickets at an average of 21.40. Skipper Lyn Richards took 16 wickets at an average of 16.87. For a side recognised for its batting, Cresselly only exceeded a total of 200 once, but very often the Cresselly bowlers had dismissed the opposition for under 200 or held the opposition to a total of under 200. Both teams will have very much the same squad of players this season as last season and Cresselly are likely to feature in the championship race once again.
Lawrenny will be strengthened by the addition of Ceri Jones, who will be joining the club from Narberth. A lively pace bowler, Jones is also a hard- hitting batsman with a particular liking to the Carew bowlers!