Vincent shines in battle of the sexes (From Western Telegraph)

Vincent shines in battle of the sexes

Lawrenny (200 for 6) beat England Ladies (125 for 9)

Umpires: Maurice Cole and Geordie Fraser Scorers: Joe Dring and Pauline Siderfin

Lawrenny added another impressive scalp to their success of this season as they played host to the England Ladies XI and gained a comfortable win over a youthful opposition, held together by experienced regulars, who had travelled from as far afield as Yorkshire, Essex, Somerset and Thames Valley.

Lawrenny paid the opposition the compliment of fielding a full-strength first team and it was just as well they did because the England ladies bowled really well overall, fielded very competently in slippery conditions and batted competently despite finding it hard to get the ball away in dampish conditions.

That the match took place at all was a tribute to the hard work of the Lawrenny ground staff and the club was congratulated by visiting skipper Kathryn Wilkins for the way that her team was feted the previous evening, stopping overnight at the Lawrenny Village Hall and Youth Hostel, and having breakfast provided by the ladies of the Lawrenny Club at the ground, plus a superb lunch and tea.

Batting first, the Lawrenny total of 200 for 6 in a reduced 40 overs owed a great deal to the batting prowess of Chris Vincent, who scored his fourth century of the season with his usual array of strokes which gave him 12 fours and five sixes in carrying his bat for 117, made from only 113 balls.

Adi Harries joined him as opener but managed only five runs before he chipped a catch to Sarah Collier, who had played for England against Australia this season, off the bowling of Yorkshire left arm fast bowler Laura Spragg.

Simon Cole added 34 in a second-wicket stand of 70 before he was bowled by skipper Wilkins right-arm spin - and Sarah Collier, who also played against Australia, grabbed three wickets as she removed Simon Webb, Ian Jenkins and James Buckle in quick succession, assisted by a neat stumping of Buckle by Linda Joyce.

Steve Lewis chipped a six and four late on and a score of 200 for 6 was a good one in the conditions - as was proved when the Ladies came out to bat and found it quite hard going against Simon Cole and Rob Williams. They lost Sarah Collier with the score at 18 and Cole completed a wicket double as he also removed Jan Goodman, who had once scored a century against New Zealand.

Williams bowled Kate Oakenfield and opener Hannah Lloyd, daughter of former Glamorgan off-spinner Barry, was fourth out at 37, having compiled a classy-looking 21.

Laura Harper (16) and Wilkins started to rebuild after Jackie Hawker had also departed, with Wilkins smashing two big sixes off Steve Rees, who was despatched for 35 in his four overs.

But Wilkins was unfortunately run out for 15 and it was left to Laura Spragg to add respectability to the score with a hard-hitting 33 (five fours) before she was caught by James Buckle off the occasional bowling of Christian Phillips, leaving last pair Linda Joyce and Lisa Padgett to bat out time.

There was a special presentation to the Lawrenny Club for their hospitality afterwards, with Chris Vincent receiving a mini-bat as a memento to mark his century, with club chairman Chris Williams receiving a mini-bat for the club and president David Lort-Phillips receiving an autographed England Ladies shirt for the clubhouse.

lThere is another special match at Lawrenny this Sunday as the first team play a Sue Jenkins XI in a match which traditionally raised funds for The Primary Club, an organisation which uses cricket as a means of raising funds to help provide sporting and recreational facilities for schools and clubs for the visually impaired.

It is a worthwhile cause so why not get along and watch a good game while also helping raise much-needed funds for charity.

LAWRENNY A. Harries c S. Collierb L. Spragg 5 C. Vincent not out 116 S. Cole b K. Williams 34 C. Phillips lbw b S. White 0 S. Webb b S. Collier 10 I. Jenkins lbw b S. Collier 4 J. Buckle st L. Joyceb S. Collier 1 S. Lewis not out 10 Extras 20 Total (for 6 wkts) 200

Bowling: K. Oakenfield 5-1-8-0; L. Spragg 7-3-12-1; K. Wilkins 9-1-34-1; H. Lloyd 4-0-17-0; S. White 3-0-30-1; S. Collier 6-0-36-3; J. Hawkins 3-0-28-0; N. Harper 3-0-20-0.

ENGLAND LADIES XI S. Collier b S. Cole 8 H. Lloyd c J. Buckle b J. Fuller 21 J. Goodman b S. Cole 4 K. Oakenfield b R. Williams 0 L. Harper c&b A. Harries 16 J. Hawker b S. Webb 2 K. Williams run out 15 L. Spragg c J. Buckle b c. Phillips 33 S. White b S. Lewis 8 L. Joyce not out 6 L. Padgett not out 0 Extras 12 Total (for 9 wkts) 125

Bowling: S. Cole 8-2-21-2; R. Williams 7-3-12-1; J. Fuller 4-2-12-1; S. Webb 4-2-2-1; S. Rees 4-0-35-0; I. Jenkins 4-0-17-0; A. Harries 1-0-7-1; S. Lewis 4-0-13-1; C. Phillips 3-0-10-1.