Scorecard

Greenwood Park v St Albans Cricket Club 3XI on Sat 25 Aug 2018 at 1pm
St Albans Cricket Club Lost by 138 runs

Match report The IIIs were distinctly second best in this cross town fixture against Greenwood Park, yet achieved their goal of 8 bonus points to ensure they will continue in Division 8A for another season.

The host’s skipper won the toss and chose to bat, which suited St Albans perfectly. League rules bias towards bowling as the most expedient route to bonus points, with pragmatism suggesting a win against the ladder leaders would be a big ask with a reconstructed Third XI, courtesy of the bank holiday weekend getaway.

Hay and O’Grady opened up, the former failing to find his lengths as Greenwood Park got off to a flyer. O'Grady quickly latched on to a full length and in his first game of 50 over cricket bowled straight through for the fine figures of 10/3/9/2. After the quick start, Price and Mulvaney bowled well, too - youngster Mulvaney enjoying a good day out with his off spin to take 2/34.

With the run rate little more than 3 per over, and six wickets down, Greenwood Park lifted the tempo. Numerous chances went to hand, but most were spilled. Winfield particularly suffered at the hands of the clumsy fieldsmen, while also having some excellent LBW shouts denied.

Hussain, batting at 8, was determined to have a go, advancing down the track whenever possible to smash 49. With the skipper ailing, bowling options were limited with Hay taking plenty of punishment while on his way to four wickets. Parkinson nipped in for a wicket on his return to the bowling crease and the hosts finished on 212.

Sloppy fielding (though an honourable exception in keeper Cunnington must be noted) and that poor catching had allowed Greenwood Park to add 50 more than they might have. But with 10 wickets taken, Saints had accrued 10 points and so assured themselves of safety with a match to go.

Notwithstanding this achievement, there was a subdued mood as we munched our tea break chicken biryani. Momentum had left Saints on the back foot with plenty to do.

Unfortunately, a wicket was lost in the first over and Greenwood Park bowled tightly making life difficult before Jones was harshly given LBW. Price worked hard but fell, too, bringing together the experienced pair of Eames and O’Toole.

Having snapped his glasses in half before play, and enlisting a passer-by (one Nick Kirwan) in the restoration effort as Saints fielded, Tooley’s ad hoc repairs lasted all of two deliveries before they fell from his face. Rather than hamper him, this reduced vision elicited a more attacking approach that yielded a string of boundaries. The hosts knew they had a contest now.

However, Eames was run out and O’Toole fell victim to a piece of lower grade umpiring. The game was up with that, none of the remaining batsmen coming to grips with a solid attack. With Walker electing not to bat himself, the innings ended on just 74.

Credit must go to Greenwood Park, a decent all round unit, but this demise was humbling.

Still, to secure safety with a match in hand - something that seemed impossible just a month before - brought some satisfaction on a tough day out.

Greenwood Park Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2w 7b 3lb 
for 10 wickets
12
212 (49.5 overs)		     
Otter b  O'Grady 24
Pujari b  Hay 24
Kent ct  O'Grady b Mulvaney 16
S. Hussain b  O'Grady 0
Arora lbw  b Winfield 31
Khan ct  Eames b Mulvaney 13
Nash b  Hay 22
A. Hussain b  Hay 49
Palai ct  Jones b Hay 21
Shetty ct  & b Parkinson 0
Petchey Not Out  0

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Christian Hay7.5071417.759.06
Glenn O'Grady10.03924.500.90
Amy Price10.013900.003.90
Joshua Mulvaney10.0134217.003.40
Tim Winfield10.0142142.004.20
Charlie Parkinson2.00818.004.00

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 1w 5b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
9
74		        
Michael Eames Run out  7 1 1
Charlie Parkinson b  Petchey 0 1
Aaron Jones lbw  b A. Hussain 6 1
Amy Price ct  - b Petchy 4 1
Richard O'Toole lbw  b S. Hussain 32 7
Joshua Mulvaney b  Palai 0
Christian Hay b  S. Hussain 4 1
Tim Winfield b  Palai 0
Marcus Cunnington b  Shetty 7 1
Glenn O'Grady Not Out  0 1
Andrew Walker  

Greenwood Park Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Petchey9.0225212.502.78
A Hussain8.0427213.503.38
S. Hussain3.02422.001.33
Palai4.02723.501.75
Shetty1.41010.000.00
 
Photos and video of Greenwood Park v St Albans Cricket Club 3XI on Sat 25 Aug 2018 at 1pm

25/8/2018, Greenwood Park v St Albans III - St Albans innings

25/8/2018, Greenwood Park v St Albans III - Greenwood Park innings