Scorecard

St Albans III v Aldenham Cricket Club on Sat 03 Jul 2021 at 12:00
Aldenham Cricket Club Lost by 159 runs

Match report Match Report - 3rd July. ACC v St Albans III

Disclaimer - the exact events of the day may be distorted and some even conjured since the baker might have been baked writing this memoir!

The New Batsman Kuzza, came to the crease, and in his last game he did so badly that the ACC crowd began to slow hand-clap and barrack him. Things got worse. The language got more and more abusive, his play-more inept, and finally he was out. As he dashed for the pavilion, fruit and eggs were thrown at him, but he managed to gain the safety of the dressing-room, where captain Sidehats was waiting for him. 'Blimey!' panted Kuzza, 'they don't like that umpire, do they?

Apologies, that’s my match report for next week! Coming back to this week .. with half the season over, the mighty A’s were sat top of the table & arrived at the St. Albans Grounds (not the pretty one) to keep it that way. Although a last minute Covid scare had the chief selector Mikey scurrying for last minute replacements & tetanus shots - literally so last-minute AJ still doesn’t know if he was meant to play that day.

A lot of miles were covered to get a team out with the Senior Munroe & when in “Needs” driving straight from looting a Liverpool casino & a surprise inclusion of an ACC legend giving up the comforts of his Norfolk beach life and putting on hold his plans to watch the Ind v NZ semi final, just to ensure the A’s had some middle order stability.

The Saudi Prince SDL was first to arrive at the ground only to let everyone know he was the first proud owner of the Sleek new Kookabura kitbag which he traded one of his oil barrels earlier in exchange for and not Ebay who had clicked & collected the same one too! Slaque cabs operating a generous 0.0 surcharge ensured he got his deliveries in before the meet time. Next came the Crouching Tiger making his first trip from Crouch End, looking rough & knackered from all the sofa lifting the day before ! When’s the house warming you posh bastard?


Teams having arrived, tosses done, the A’s were bowling first! A rather uphill task for the Captain with limited bowling options, the Crouch End Tiger Timothy (9-25-0) & the Hidden Dragon Vik (9- 33-1) started proceedings causing trouble for the openers right from the start. A peach of a delivery by Timothy caught a thick edge only to be turned down by the umpire & the batsman unwilling to walk, the A’s realised St. Alban’s wasn’t getting any Fair Play points!

After a steady partnership, Ebay (9-31-1) finally picked up the first wicket of the day, (not before throwing his toys out the pram) bringing in the muscles of the oppo. who along with the unskilled & integrity-less opener made the bowlers sweat until he was bowled by Vik (in his 6th spell). A special mention to Lewis & Ebay for some brilliant fielding and thanks to Slaquey for putting his throat on the line to save 4 byes!

The end overs saw a long levered Asian dude slog anything and everything the spinners Sidehats (9-80-1) and Dicky D (9-75-0) had to offer. With Dicky D mid spell heard complaining, they don’t make tracks for spinners anymore & reminiscing the glory days! The late onslaught saw the Oppo post a formidable 249-3 of their allotted 45 overs.

Sandwiches eaten, Lucozade’s drunk & cigarettes smoked, the A’s were ready to show why they sat top of the table. In walked the openers, SDL and the man you may have frequently seen on TV, Sacho the Panama hat specialist.

Spirits high as SDL pulled a pacey bouncer to the ropes, the A’s were eager to make a meal of the total. Unfortunately that high lasted shorter than one of Vik’s space cakes as both openers fell cheaply bringing in the Man the A’s needed.. ‘Needs’ came in, ‘Needs’ went. No exploits with the bat for the Captain either this time unfortunately as he was done in by some brilliant slip catching by the oppo. Both of them back in the pavilion eager to count their loot from the casino heist the night before.

The voiceless Keeper promoted to no 3. kept the runs ticking from one end, was joined by Tan sporting a beard resembling his idol Kane Williamson, 4 years since his last bat but did show exquisite timing during his stay at the crease! The tail did not wag for the A’s this time as the Oppo quickly finished the lower order, ending the day's struggle for the A’s. A paltry total of 90 meant no bonus points, a drop to no.2 and what made it worse was their favourite team in the league the LBS overtaking them to the coveted Top spot.

All in all it would have been a pretty disappointing day for the mighty parish had their woes not been washed away with jugs of beers watching England beat Italy 2-1 at Wembley to finally bring it Home!

Ps - Never get high on your own supply !

St Albans III Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
14w 4b 1lb 
for 3 wickets
19
249 (45.0 overs)		     
  ct  Letts b Munroe 66
  ct  & b Khaliq 20
  b  Chudasama 62
  Not Out  37
  Not Out  45
   
   
   
   
   
   

Aldenham Cricket Club Aldenham Cricket Club Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Tim Hale9.032500.002.78
Vikram Chudasama9.0035135.003.89
Ubaid Khaliq9.0031131.003.44
Richard Doughty9.007500.008.33
Chris Munroe9.0080180.008.89

Aldenham Cricket Club Aldenham Cricket Club Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 13w 6b 3lb 
for 10 wickets
23
90		        
Simon Letts b  Smith 6 12 1 50.0 1
Sachin Sanghvi b  Curran 1 21 4.76
Itty Haque ct  Winfield 36 52 7 69.23
Mark Needham ct  Curran 0 1 0
Chris Munroe ct  Curran 0 8 0
Tanios Watfa ct  & b Malik 11 17 2 64.71
Tim Hale lbw  Winfield 5 12 1 41.67
Ubaid Khaliq ct  & b Winfield 5 18 1 27.78 1
Vikram Chudasama Not Out  1 10 10.0
Lewis Grant b  Winfield 0 1 0
Richard Doughty b  Winfield 0 3 0

St Albans III Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Curran7.011936.332.71
Smith6.0032132.005.33
Winfield6.312655.204.00
Malik6.03414.000.67