Pembroke County Cricket Club (232 all out) lost to Wales Under 17s (294 for 4) by 62 runs

The talented young cricketers of Pembrokeshire gained valuable experience against the best under 17s players across Wales as the county club took on that particular age group at a Carew ground that looked a picture.

The county selectors had chosen to use this fixture to allow our young players to savour what selection for Pembrokeshire means and it proved to be very successful because although the county club lost they pushed their opponents all the way and might have been a lot closer but for the fact that they were unable to make use of ten of their 50 overs and so paid the price.

The Welsh innings opened with a solid opening stand between Connor Davies (26) and James Archer (22) before the latter was run out for 22 and Davies was well caught by Kurtis Marsh off the bowling of Jamie Smith.

Tom Bevan chipped in with 20 before he also departed as Noah Davies caught him off Kieran O'Connor's spin bowling so that at 76 for 3 the county could sense a chink in the Welsh armour.

But then Abergavenny's Morgan Bevans joined forces with Scott O'Leary (Sudbrook) in a terrific partnership of 167 before O'Leary was bowled by Pembrokeshire's skipper Ceri Brace for a powerful 71 than included three fours and three sixes.

Bevans made the county regret an early dropped catch as he plundered ten fours and a six in his classy 116 before he departed to a catch by O'Connor, with Noah Davies as the bowler, in a late chase for more runs.

Greg Thomas (Swansea Civil Service) chipped in with a late 20 not out and so the Welsh Under 17s ended up with 299 for 4 from their allotted 50 overs, their final tally boosted by 24 extras.

Pembrokeshire made an excellent start to their response as openers Kurtis Marsh and Nikhil Mathias looked quite at home against Wales' early pace attack as they moved comfortably to 110 without loss before Mathias was bowled by James Meggitt for 23 - and as so often happens after a big partnership, the vital wicket of Marsh fell seven runs later as he gave a return catch to Tom Bevan, having stroked 11 fours in his peerless 65.

The arrival of 'spin twins' Greg Thomas and Anush Patel (Cardiff) into the Welsh attack caused more problems for the county batsmen, who built solid starts via Iwan Izzard (19), Tom Scourfield (13) and Noah Davies (30) but were unable to find a more substantial score to really stiffen the innings.

Shaun Whitfield belted two sixes in a typically quick-fire 18 but wickets fell cheaply at the other end as Patel (4 for 40) and Thomas (3 for 46) were supported by very tight fielding.

Only John Mansbridge ever looked comfortable in the lower order as he came in at No 9 and struck three sixes in his undefeated 25 and there were 30 extras as a bonus but the county wasted those overs and paid the price - but it was a cracking game of cricket in which the young players of Pembrokeshire certainly played their part!

Wales Under 17s Batting:

Connor Davies ct Kurtis Marsh b Jamie Smith 26

James Archer run out 22

Tom Bevan ct Noah Davies b Kieran O’Connor 20

Morgan Bevans ct Kieran O’Connor b Shaun Whitfield 116

Scott O’Leary b Ceri Brace 71

Greg Thomas not out 20

Anush Patel not out 2

Extras 24

Total (4 wickets) 299

Pembroke CCC Bowling:

Johnny White 8-0-66-0; Jamie Smith 8-0-67-1; Shaun Whitfield 10-0-39-1; Kieran O’Connor 10-1-35-1; Ceri Brace 7-0-31-1; Noah Davies 7-0-31-0

Pembroke CCC Batting:

Kurtis Marsh (Kilgetty) ct & b Tom Bevan 65

Nikhil Mathias (Haverfordwest) b James Meggitt 23

Iwan Izzard (Cresselly) ct Tom Bevan b Tomos Jones 19

Tom Scourfield (Carew) ct Greg Thomas b Anush Patel 13

Noah Davies (Llangwm) ct Morgan Bevans b Anush Patel 30

Ceri Brace (Carew) b Greg Thomas 2

Shaun Whitfield (Carew) ct Anush Patel b Greg Thomas 18

Kieran O’Connor (Haverfordwest) ct Scott O’Leary b Anush Patel 2

John Mansbridge (Saundersfoot) not out 25

Jamie Smith (Neyland) ct James Archer b Anush Patel 0

Johnny White (Haverfordwest) ct Scott O’Leary b Greg Thomas 0

Extras 30

Total (all out) 232

Wales Under 17s Bowling: Elliott Rees 6-0-23-0; Thomas Jones 7-1-26-1; James Meggitt 7-0-41-1; Tom Bevan 4-0-43-1; Greg Thomas 7-0-46-3; Anush Pate 6-0-40-4.

Umpires: Dave Brandon and Denis Chiffi.

Scorer: John Laugharne.