Scorecard

Old Albanian 1 v St Albans Cricket Club 1XI on Sat 13 Aug 2022 at 12:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 6 wickets

Match report On a day that was far too hot for sensible cricket, the second local derby of the season awaited the 1st XI. The two teams, separated by just 3 miles but almost 300 league points, were undoubtedly aware of the high stakes involved in such a fixture, the business end of the season well and truly underway.

Two disastrous heat-affected attempts at a warm-up preceded the toss and, once such attempts were abandoned, skipper Regan was the centre of attention; a deafening silence echoed from the balcony as the coin settled on a barren Woollams pitch. Regan, undoubtedly keen to not only guard against complacency but to further test his useful side, deliberately lost the toss and, before long, Saints were donning whites and sun cream with minimum efficiency.

OA’s opening pair were now tasked with the fearsome bowling duo of Hammer and Jamie, the heat exhaustion of the latter seemingly setting in rather prematurely. OAs proceeded to treat Hammer with a level of respect far below what is required, striking two early boundaries before an agricultural Capaldi-inspired gub found the hands of Pingu Mulvaney on the fence, the phrase “here for a good time not a long time” has never been so relevant.

The tone had been set for the batting to come, Hammer recording a three-fer in about as many overs. Eager not to miss out, and to join the party before he inevitably collapsed from sunstroke, Jamie removed the opposition skipper from the other end for 0 and OAs were in trouble. No stranger to a batting collapse, OAs continued to struggle on a day that very much favoured the batter, as wickets fell (despite Jamie’s best efforts at slip) to Sammy, Josh, and Hammer (4-25) once more.

While the execution may need attention, the attacking intent of the OAs line-up cannot go unrecognised, commendably swinging from the hip regardless of their perilous situation. Such an approach to batting did reap some reward towards the culmination of the innings but OAs could only scramble to a total of 107, bowled out in the 32nd over. The players hastily retreated to the safety of the shade confident of the chase ahead, the returning Steve Perrin exclaiming through a smile that he may make it to Kenilworth Road for the 3pm kick-off. A smiling Saucy blissfully unaware of the torrid fate that would follow…

A lengthy tea break, characterised by cold showers and complimentary Lucozade water bottles, was cut short as the opening partnership of weeks gone by made a return. Jamie, rekindling hopes of an early finish, began proceedings with a series of exemplary drives through the covers and looked in commanding form. Perrin, at the other end, kept the OAs attack interested until a tidy flick off his pads settled his 2nd debut nerves. Jamie then departed for a swift 19 as one off-side drive too many proved his downfall, caught at mid-off to bring promoted Chris Mude to the crease. Unfortunately, at the other end, Saucy’s fortunes were not to turn for the better as an inswinging delivery clocked him in the box with devastating accuracy. The groans, rumoured to have been heard in both Harpenden and St Albans, failed to subside for a number of minutes and talks of medical attention being required began; unsurprisingly the queue of first-aid volunteers was minimal. Turning down the opportunity of retiring hurt in pursuit of a “red inker”, a cross-eyed and pale faced Steve Perrin faced up once more. Iron man Mude, wiping his nosebleed from his upper lip, shifted the attention back to batting with some shots of his own, notably a back foot punch through mid-on to earn the Abbey Aquatics Shot of the Day. As Chris motored and Perrin tried not to vomit, an unlikely partnership looked to be building until the latter was put out of his misery, departing for an eventful 6.

Joined by Sims, Chris Mude continued his demolition job of the OAs bowling attack, akin to the simultaneous dismantling of his beloved Leicester City. Sims came and went, attempting to clear extra cover from the first ball of a new bowler’s spell; blatant disregard for set-batsman Mude’s sensible advice meaning he trudged off with egg on his face.

Another supporting role for the dominant Mude came in the form of last-weeks hero Krish, who ably supported Chris until he became the fourth St Alban’s batter to be caught in the off-side.

However, rather fittingly it was Chris Mude who, having reached 50 and celebrated emphatically, struck the winning runs to secure the 30 points. His celebration for such a victory dwarfed by the outrageous fist pump and roar exhibited for his half-century, evidently the team comes second in salad man’s priorities .

Nevertheless, an important 30 points was secured on the road and an early-finish was achieved as the 1st XI returned to CP to cheer the 2s on to a victory of their own.


Old Albanian 1 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
7w 1lb 
for 10 wickets
8
107 (31.5 overs)		     
Kashif Bilal ct  J Mulvaney b A Hounslow 10 11 2 90.91
James Barwick ct  J Regan b A Hounslow 7 16 43.75
Mustafa Haroon lbw  A Hounslow 5 26 19.23
Ben Westhead lbw  J Regan 0 5 0
Samir Jordan ct  C Mude b J Mulvaney 2 13 15.38
Mohammed Haroon ct  M Capaldi b A Hounslow 4 7 1 57.14
Ben Scott ct  C Mude b S Kumar 20 31 4 64.52
Tom Burman ct  T O’Toole b S Kumar 5 14 35.71
Haseeb Fariad Not Out  27 40 4 67.50
Zonaib Ali ct  T O’Toole b J Mulvaney 13 13 2 100
Josh Goodier b  S Kumar 6 15 1 40.0

St Albans Cricket Club 1XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Adam Hounslow10.012546.252.50
Jamie Regan4.0010110.002.50
Sammy Kumar7.512939.673.70
Joshua Mulvaney10.0142221.004.20

St Albans Cricket Club 1XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1w 1lb 
for 4 wickets
2
108		        
Jamie Regan ct  K Bilal b M Haroon 19 14 4 135.71 1
Steven Perrin ct  K Bilal b Z Ali 6 16 1 37.50
Chris Mude Not Out  52 57 9 91.23 2
George Sims ct  J Barwick b K Bilal 16 17 3 94.12
Krish Dhanuka ct  Z Ali b S Jordan 13 26 50.0
Joshua Mulvaney Not Out  0 1
Adam Hounslow  
Sammy Kumar  
Max Capaldi   1
Tom O'Toole   2
Joe Regan  

Old Albanian 1 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Kashif Bilal4.0014114.003.50
Mohammed Haroon4.0033133.008.25
James Barwick5.012000.004.00
Samir Jordan1.4013113.007.80
Josh Goodier1.00500.005.00