Scorecard

Aldenham Cricket Club v Watford Town III on Sat 04 Jun 2022 at 13.00
Aldenham Cricket Club Won by 28 runs

Match report This match report begins in a non-traditional manner with a haiku. The non-traditional opening is at least traditional in its format as it veers away from more modern adaptations to favour a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.

Covers repel rain
Toss lost, batting a struggle
Tricky for them, too

As with all poetry, there is lots of meaning hidden within these words. The opening line ‘Covers repel rain’ alludes to a momentous effort from Aldenham legend Dave ‘Vintage’ Whitehead who managed to prepare a pitch at Edge Grove with very little notice and then protect it from a very wet Saturday morning. There were various ACC members suggesting an early cancellation but, by the time the match started, the pitch was dry, and the sun was out – where would you rather be? Vintage’s contribution to our club is impossible to overstate. It’s one thing to do jobs around the club when you then benefit from playing at the weekend, but to tirelessly work on our facilities without enjoying the fruits of the labour is a very different thing. Vintage is a legend, and we are very lucky to have him.
Having lost the toss, ACC were inserted, and batting was hard work. Credit to our opposition who bowled tidily and gave very few freebies. The pitch had a green tinge and was providing some assistance for the seamers. No-one really looked convincing, but Ubaid Khaliq dug in for an important 31 and there were a few lusty blows from runner-up Tim Hale and newly crowned MCC member (ask Chris) James Bazeley to take ACC to 131 all out. There were no major discipline issues from any ACC batsman after the final wicket fell to a questionable LBW decision. With the pitch doing a bit, this felt close to a respectable total although there was a feeling that we were just behind the game at the interval.
The Watford reply was full of action. ACC bowled some very good balls to keep taking wickets but were also guilty of a few more boundary balls. Early wickets fell to a snorting Bazeley yorker, a bit of Mary Poppins from Tim and a stunning catch from Itty to give James his second wicket. A dangerous 1st change pair of Char Munroe and Amit continued to apply pressure with Char’s variation proving particularly effective. Bowling 8 overs on the spin, Char took 3 crucial middle order wickets whilst Amit removed the oppositions most dangerous player courtesy of a solid catch from the skipper at long off. With the score at 80-7, ACC were in a strong position, but the Watford captain was still at the crease and there was no issue with the run rate. Fortunately, we had a strong 5th bowler in Mike Ward who snapped up a pair of wickets himself. The second of these thanks to a stunning catch from Charlie who raced in from long-on and dived forwards to snaffle the ball inches from the turf. Most of us would have just jogged in and tossed the ball back for a single but Charlie is a fine athlete and a great judger of the high ball. This wicket finally killed the game as a contest and, shortly afterwards, Tim returned to claim the last wicket and send a delirious ACC back to the social club top of the league (pending other results).

Aldenham Cricket Club Aldenham Cricket Club Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
4w 1b 3lb 
for 10 wickets
8
131		        
Chris Munroe ct Javid 15 27 1 55.56 1
Basil Letts ct Jan 20 43 46.51
Dan Knight ct Canning 11 20 1 55.00
Ubaid Khaliq Run out  31 56 1 55.36 1
Andy Jackson Run out  6 27 22.22
Charlie Munroe b Patel 3 11 27.27 2
James Bazeley b Jan 21 34 2 1 61.76
Itty Haque ct Zirak 2 5 40.0 2
Amit Chakrawarti lbw Jan 2 3 66.67
Tim Hale Not Out  12 7 1 171.43
Michael Ward lbw Jan 0 1 0

Watford Town III Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Javid8.0226126.003.25
Zirak8.0219119.002.37
Canning5.0018118.003.60
Jan7.102446.003.35
Sajjad6.012800.004.67
Patel5.0012112.002.40

Watford Town III Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
7nb 5w 4b 3lb 
for 10 wickets
19
103 (33.4 overs)		     
Abaypal b Bazeley 8
Khan ct Haque b Bazeley 0
Preest ct Cha. Munroe b Hale 11
Jan ct Chr. Munroe b Chakrawarti 29
Paul lbw b Cha. Munroe 2
Hutchinson ct Cha. Munroe b Ward 10
Sajjad b Cha. Munroe 2
Zirak ct Khaliq b Cha. Munroe 9
Javid lbw Ward 10
Patel ct Haque b Hale 3
Canning Not Out  0

Aldenham Cricket Club Aldenham Cricket Club Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Tim Hale5.411929.503.35
James Bazeley8.0034217.004.25
Charlie Munroe8.031334.331.62
Amit Chakrawarti8.0319119.002.37
Michael Ward4.011125.502.75