Camrose (109 all out) lost to Cresselly 2nds (274 for 2) by 165 runs

RECENTLY-promoted Camrose discovered how hard cricket can be a division higher as they entertained a Cresselly seconds team in good form and were slammed by 163 runs, and find themselves firmly rooted at the foot of the table.

Cresselly were on top from the outset as openers Rhydian Rees and Scott Arthur plundered runs before Rees was dismissed for a typically robust 58.

But their hopes of a quick breakthrough were ruined when Alex Bayley joined Arthur at No 4 and struck a speedy 51 – and Arthur was at his most powerful with a boundary-laden 132 that launched his side to their mammoth score of 274 for 2.

Things went from bad to worse after tea, however, since only Camrose’s most consistent batsmen, Jon Venables (37) and Dan Wilks (26) ever stayed long as newcomer Matthew Webb (2 for 28) and Cresselly skipper Richard Harries (2 for 29) made early inroads before Matthew Lewis’s unique slow stuff so bamboozled the Camrose players that he returned fine figures of 6 for 14.

Umpires: Rob Cousins & Glyn Pawlett.

Scorer: Des Brace (Cresselly).