15 Sep 2015 | Cricket
Wales' cricket teams continued their impressive run of form by picking up a number of key wins as they looked to finish the season on a strong note.
Wales U17 entered the final part of the season with a tough trip to Bath to play Somerset, and bowled first on a flat surface. Despite Roman Walker's (North East Wales) spell of 2-29, Wales found it hard to take regular wickets, with Somerset hitting 337-4 before declaring. Wales in response staggered to 78-6, with only Adam Keane's (Cardiff and Vale) 32 not out making a considerable score in an ultimately losing cause.
Against Dorset in a 50 over a side game, they fared better, batting first and hitting 167-8. Morgan Murray-Williams's (North East Wales) 46 not out at number 7 was the highest score for Wales, in a batting line-up that mostly struggled to adapt to conditions. In response however, Pembrokeshire's Tom Murphy (3-18) was the pick of the Welsh bowlers with the hosts bowled out for just 149.
Next up for was a trip to play Nottinghamshire who batted first on a surface that gave batsmen plenty of reward for their shots. Wales U17 struggled to make regular inroads and Nottinghamshire's 329-9 was a score Wales failed to replicate, only mustering 211 with West Glamorgan's Tiaan Thomas Wheeler (52) the sole man to pass the half century mark. Nottinghamshire went on to win the match on a superior first innings score.
Wales U17 won their game against Warwickshire in a tightly fought match. Batting first Wales U17 hit 259-8 with Cardiff and Vale's Dafydd Manley's enterprising knock of 65 from 102 balls leading his team to a respectable score. In reply, Warwickshire got to 211-6 before proceedings were brought to a close, with Wales given a victory on highest first innings score.
Wales U11 also enjoyed a successful month, with a number of wins at the Taunton cricket festival held at King's College. After an impressive win against a talented Barbados academy side, Wales U11 also picked up victories against Yorkshire and Buckinghamshire. Nevertheless they were beaten to the title by the former by just 3 points.
Nevertheless Wales U11 finished the season with 9 wins from 18 games, with keeper-batsman Alex Horton (Gwent) scoring a total of 1006 runs with 12 catches and 10 stumpings behind the wickets - a record for an U11 keeper.
Overall it has been a very successful season for our age-group teams, said Cricket Wales performance director, John Derrick. We have seen some excellent performances throughout the season. We will be looking to build on this through the winter, and aim for further improvement in 2016.