Carew crushed by England (From Western Telegraph)

Carew crushed by England

Lamphey (138 all out) beat Carew (126 all out)

Umpires: David Loosemore and Dave Brandon Scorers: Helen Hodges and Martin Cole

Greg England was the toast of his Lamphey colleagues on Saturday evening as the all-rounder showed his bowling skills with a superb 6 for 26 spell which helped the current champs gain a morale-boosting win over a Carew side widely tipped as the favourites to take over the crown.

It certainly looked that way as Lamphey skipper Hywel Gibbs lost his sixth successive toss and they were restricted to a total of 138 all out on their splendidly manicured pitch - but after Carew had looked quite strong at 99 for 4 they lost three wickets to England at that total and slumped to their first defeat of the season as Lamphey were delighted to claim their first success.

The home side had lost Daniel Sutton early in their innings before Peter Hall (24) and Rob Mathias (35) put on a vital 60 runs - but they were never able to take the bowling by the scruff of the neck as Tim Hicks came on as fifth bowler and grabbed 5 for 19 that reduced Lamphey from 106 for 4 to their final tally as Mark Yea (20) and Greg England (17) were the only others able to manage double figures.

Simon Wood gave Hicks support with 3 for 27 but didnt fare so well with the bat after Carew had been given a steady start through Nick Scourfield and Iain Sefton.

They put on 25 for the first wicket but then Scourfield was run out by a direct throw from Rob Mathias, Wood following at the same total for a duck as he was bowled by Gibbs.

Tim Haggar shifted Sefton for 21 with the aid of a Mathias catch and then England came into his own after Steve Cole had scored 21 and Tim Hicks 17. He shifted them both to set up the collapse which saw wickets tumble and he only narrowly missed a hat-trick as only Phil Jones stood firm for Carew.

Haggar grabbed his second wicket as Lamphey sensed the chance of victory and England picked up his sixth wicket as he bowled Jones for 28 to end the match with Carew still 13 runs short.

It was a superb come-back for Lamphey against a seemingly very strong Carew batting line-up, and the post-match celebrations showed just how much they were delighted by their first win of the campaign.

LAMPHEY P. Hall c R. Scourfield b S. Wood 24 D. Sutton c D. Thomas b J. Owen 7 P. Mathias c B. Hall b S. Wood 35 M. Yea c B. Ansell b T. Hicks 20 H. Gibbs c P. Jones b T. Hicks 7 G. England c D. Thomas b T. Hicks 17 I. Kerrison b S. Wood 2 N. Shelmerdine b T. Hicks 3 T. Haggar b T. Hicks 0 A. Lewis run out 7 S. Vale not out 0 Extras 16 Total (for 10 wkts) 138 Bowling: D. Thomas 7-1-26-0; J. Owen 10-3-22-1; R. Scourfield 10-0-44-0; S. Wood 12-3-27-3; T. Hicks 5.3-0-19-5.

CAREW I. Sefton c R. Mathias b T. Haggar 21 N. Scourfield run out 16 S. Wood b H. Gibbs 0 S. Cole lbw b G. England 21 T. Hicks b G. England 17 P. Jones b G. England 28 B. Ansell c A. Lewis b G. England 0 B. Hall lbw b G. England 0 D. Thomas c H. Gibbs b G. England 0 J. Owen lbw b T. Haggar 1 R. Scourfield not out 0 Extras 21 Total (for 10 wkts) 126 Bowling: H. Gibbs 12-4-35-1; T. Haggar 11-1-40-2; S. Vale 5-0-15-0; G. England 11.2-3-25-6.