Scorecard

Berkhamstead IV v Aldenham Cricket Club on Sat 30 Jul 2016 at 1300
Aldenham Cricket Club Won by 8 wickets

Match report ALDENHAM TACKLE BERKHAMSTED IVs

A bright afternoon of weather and sport saw the mighty parish take on the latest opposition seeking to knock the 100% record. A pitch, blessed with the undulations of the Himalayan foothills, greeted the Aldenham XI but the wicket itself was hard. The skipper lost the toss and Berkhamsted, somewhat surprisingly, decided to bat. Tim Hale opened down the hill working up a decent head of steam descending down the hill. James Bazeley drew the short straw and got the uphill slog. Both openers delivered impressively tidy spells with Berkhamsted losing a couple of wickets and scoring kept to a modest tempo. Berkhamsted included the traditional Regional C West construct of junior players, looking to make their way in League cricket, and some more experienced souls who, while passed their prime, utilised old age, experience and cunning – and in the case of the No4 Left hander, a savage determination to batter the ball to within an inch of its life.

But a goodly mix of youth and experience that went about their business in a sound fashion but were constrained by tight bowling and tidy fielding (with the exception of yours truly who, on his first return to cricket for 2 years, shelled a diving stinger low to his left!!!) But to sum up the Berkhamsted effort concluded after about 38 overs for a modest 103 all out. Now I have no figures to go on so I am going from memory and judgement so if the bowlers feel they have been poorly represented just “suck it up”: But in my estimation the bowling figures probably look something like this: Tim Hale 9 overs 2 for about 20, James Bazeley 8 overs 1 for 7, Nic Hale 5 overs 1 for 35, Amit 7 overs 3 for 15, Basil Letts 3 overs 1 for 15, Chris Munroe 6 overs 2 for 25. A couple of nice catches from Amit and Tim.

After a very good tea and an enjoyable half hour watching the Berkhamsted 1st XI engaging in a top of the table struggle in Division 3 (only 11 years until we get there chaps!!!) Aldenham began their response. In the traditional steady opening partnership between Simon Letts and Robin Russell things started poorly as Robin chipped a leading edge up and fell for 0. Yours truly then re-entered the field for his first confrontation with a bowler since September 2014. To say things felt a bit clunky would be something of an understatement – it was like batting in slow motion while the ball is moving at normal speed. However, I was assured by Simon’s welcome suggestion of “no quick singles” only to be undone when he then hit the ball just wide of the mid-off and called a quick single as the fielder leapt to his right and returned the ball to the keeper with me some distance short. Thankfully the keeper made, just about his only mistake of the day, and fumbled the ball allowing me to hobble home. However, just a few runs later I skied a quickie coming down the hill and the wicket keeper didn’t let me off twice!! With Aldenham on about 40 for 2, Tanios took to the field. This was about the time that the tall pacey Berkhamsted bowler coming down the hill found both his 6th and 7th gears and decided that Simon would look good covered in circular red bruises and without a functioning ribcage. Slowly Tanios and Simon progressed towards the target. Tanios noticeably harvesting the bowling coming up the hill while Simon fended and nurddled the vicious, pacier stuff coming down the hill. Tanios wrapping things up with a sumptuous drive through the covers to seal Aldenham’s latest victory.

Good win all round and a deserving MOTM for Simon for sticking it out in the face of some, not very, Regional C West, quality bowling for a decent 45.

Berkhamstead IV Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
5w 2b 7lb 
for 10 wickets
14
102 (38.4 overs)		     
Crispin b  Chakrawarti 15
Todd b  T. Hale 0
Mackie b  J. Bazeley 10
Putman ct  Chakrawarti b B Letts 30
Brierley b  Chakrawarti 0
Crispin ct  T Hale b Chakrawarti 0
Naik ct  T Hale b N Hale 0
Campbell b  T Hale 23
Dight ct  Chakrawarti b Chris Munroe 1
Mortimer Not Out  10
Klosterman b  T Hale 0

Aldenham Cricket Club Aldenham Cricket Club Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Tim Hale7.422438.003.13
James Bazeley8.05717.000.87
Amit Chakrawarti7.05732.331.00
Nic Hale5.0126126.005.20
Basil Letts6.0017117.002.83
Chris Munroe5.0013113.002.60

Aldenham Cricket Club Aldenham Cricket Club Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 23w 4b  
for 2 wickets
29
106		        
Simon Letts Not Out  42 71 7 59.15
Robin Russell ct  b Dyke 0 5 0
Matt Bazeley ct  b Mackie 10 26 1 38.46
Tanios Watfa Not Out  25 28 5 89.29
Amit Chakrawarti   2
Tim Hale   2
Nic Hale  
Charlie Munroe  
Chris Munroe  
Basil Letts  
James Bazeley  

Berkhamstead IV Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Dyke4.0013113.003.25
Naik5.001500.003.00
Mackie6.0214114.002.33
Mortimore5.203000.005.63
Klosterman1.00500.005.00