Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Markyate CC 1st XI on Sat 24 May 2025 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 2 wickets

Match report With the 3XI hoping to build some momentum in their journey up the Div 7 West table, there was some unwelcome news to start off the week following a well fought win against Radlett. A *minor* points deduction saw us afoot the table, but with plenty of games to play this year, and an immediate opportunity to make good ground on the league pacesetters Markyate, things weren’t all bad.
Selection was also kind to the 3XI, with a spurt of availability seeing a team resembling the strength of the famed 2023 season. With 1782 SACC games played amongst the 11 selected (thanks to OptaOli’s pointless midweek stat work), this was also a team full of experience, including club stalwart Howeson who had managed to evade a midweek call up back to 2s for the umpteenth time after being dropped to the 3s.

West was leaving no stone unturned in the admin department following his midweek humbling by the league bigwigs. Covers on overnight at SLCG with rain forecasted. Although not as wet as first feared, there was enough in the conditions to prompt a decision to bowl first at the toss.
10 overs in, this didn’t look a particularly good call. The 3s found themselves in a very similar position to the previous week, with Markyate cruising at 70-0 thanks to a mixture of good batting, friendly bowling, and a dropped catch on the 3rd ball of the day.

West was forced into playing his trump card early, with ROT summoned to turn the tide of the game. Of course, he did just that – a double wicket maiden first up proving quite useful. The first of which thanks to very sharp glovework from Biceps Hingston. Vibesman JC then proceeded to laud the experienced campaigner Tooley between every ball, stating it was an honour to share the field with him. Can’t argue with that.

A few overs later, West castled their other opener who had used up too much good fortune for his liking during his 34 run knock. An almighty and borderline inappropriate send-off later to probably the nicest chap in Markyate’s team, the 3XI was fired up heading into drinks, with the score poised at 100-3.

Unknown to Markyate’s skipper, there proved to be an undercover agent in his midst, as the no.5 Hameed proceeded to claim the first of his 3 run out victims straight after drinks. Two batters ending up at one end is disastrous to see, but for it to happen twice is pretty damning evidence of foul play. Westy will be keeping a keen eye on his inbox early this week to see an inevitable points deduction for registering 12 players for one game. Plaudits must also go to Howeson for palming a chance down at gully to keep the undercover asset in play.

The lesser seen bowling partnership of JLaw and Howeson then took the stage, with the former blaming the excessive wind on his 3 over cameo which somehow claimed a scalp. At the other end however, Howeson was causing many problems with his dibbly dobblies, no wickets claimed but the second of the three comical run outs inevitably caused by the pressure he created. Examining the scorecard, one has to argue that he should have bowled his full allocation, but West was perhaps too wary of the strain he was placing on the body of his gun all-rounder.
Talking of gun all-rounders, last week’s hero Ash soon had the ball in hand, bowling a very well controlled spell, and with Ethan returning at the other end they saw us to the close with Markyate posting what was thought a slightly below par 189. A good recovery given the situation 10 overs in, but with work still to do in the chase.

Vibesman JC forced Westy down the order with some scathing remarks at tea, and this allowed Deb the chance to open alongside Rudlin. 2 balls in, Rudders sent one to the fence which meant he could sit tight for 5 overs. Both looked in good touch, solid in defence, running well, and sending the occasional bad ball to the fence.

Rudders was the first to fall, with Howeson and Deb partnering well to keep the scoreboard ticking until the former showed his lack of SLCG experience as he went back to one. Deb followed him in a few overs later, but his contribution of 39 at the top can’t be understated. The platform was set for the middle order to see the game home following drinks, with a little over 100 required.

West had a brief scare after his halftime squash, as a slightly mishit effort sailed towards long on. The fielder standing underneath it seemed cool as you like, having time to remove his cap, style his hair, and then place back on his cap all before sticking one hand in the air and taking an outrageous catch. Thankfully for West and the 3XI, he was standing 3 yards over the rope… phew.

The skipper and Lawrence took charge after Ash’s dismissal, with a combination of good running and spurts of power hitting keeping the game in their control. Lawrence made way for Hingston after a key contribution of 26, with 6 overs remaining and 26 runs required. West then decided to try his luck on a tight 2, but his dive fell short. Markyate very much giving it large, not knowing what Hingston had in store for them in the next over.

Three 4s on the trot, and the Markyate morale in tatters – big cojones as well as biceps from Ben. The 3XI saw fit to make it semi-interesting as a few quick wickets then fell, but Altaf and Tooley saw the 3s machine home with balls to spare. A very well fought win against a team who haven’t been that used to losing these last few years as they’ve climbed the Herts regional leagues. On to next week to keep the 3s machine churning!

Markyate CC 1st XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 19w 10b 4lb 
for 8 wickets
37
189 (40.0 overs)		     
Thomas Bullion b  Z West 34 51 7 66.67
Nasir Khan ct  B Hingston b R O'Toole 45 53 9 84.91
Fezan Bukhari b  R O'Toole 0 4 0
Adal Bukhari run out  (J Lawrence) 0 10 0
Abdul Hameed Not Out  33 66 5 50.0
Fahad Arshad ct  Z West b J Lawrence 28 28 4 1 100
Muhammed Ghaffar run out  (E Witty) 2 10 20.0
Syed waqar Bukhari run out  (R O'Toole) 0 2 0
Shoaib Shaukat ct  A Dean b E Witty 2 10 20.0
Aurang Zaib Babar Not Out  8 11 1 72.73
Mohammed Rahman  

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ethan Witty8.0145145.005.63
Md Altaf Husain6.003600.006.00
Zach West6.0026126.004.33
Richard O'Toole5.02824.001.60
Matt Howeson6.011200.002.00
James Lawrence3.0032132.0010.67
Ashish Dean6.011600.002.67

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 2w 7b  
for 8 wickets
10
190		        
Andy Rudlin ct  S waqar Bukhari b M Ghaffar 14 28 2 50.0
Debshali Sinharoy b  A Bukhari 39 44 5 88.64
Matt Howeson b  A Bukhari 18 37 2 48.65
Ashish Dean st  N Khan b F Bukhari 13 28 2 46.43 1
Zach West run out  (A Zaib Babar) 48 45 2 2 106.67 1
James Lawrence b  F Bukhari 26 28 2 92.86 1
Ben Hingston ct  A Bukhari b F Bukhari 18 12 4 150.0 1
Ethan Witty ct  S waqar Bukhari b F Bukhari 2 5 40.0 1
Richard O'Toole Not Out  1 1 100 1
Md Altaf Husain Not Out  1 1 100
Joey Curran  

Markyate CC 1st XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Syed waqar Bukhari6.003300.005.50
Muhammed Ghaffar7.0215115.002.14
Abdul Hameed3.002300.007.67
Nasir Khan5.002300.004.60
Adal Bukhari8.0037218.504.62
Fezan Bukhari6.503649.005.27
Fahad Arshad2.001600.008.00

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