Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 6XI v Invitational XI on Sat 12 Jul 2025 at 1pm
St Albans Cricket Club Lost 1 wicket

Match report The last few weekends have seen SACC yield superb availability, leading to us deploying a 6XI a number of times this season. This week, our superb availability upgraded to legendary availability, allowing us the rare chance to field a 7XI for an internal friendly at Sandpit Lane. The skippers were Hugo Thomas for the 6XI, versus Toby ‘Crispo’ Crisp for the Invitational XI. The toss was conducted amid friendly banter and jibes exchanged between the two teams, with many friendly rivalries rearing their heads, before seeing Hugo’s XI bat first. Crispo led his 9 player side onto the field, hoping to soon be brought to 10 while star bowler Walsh finished his morning of educating the youth of tomorrow (our country’s future has never been in safer hands).

The 6XI opened their batting with the mythical might of Peter ‘Big Dog’ Melling and Matthew ‘Just Love Veg Innit’ Shadwick. They found themselves rocked to their core by the Invitational XI’s opening spell of James ‘Second Best Witty at Sandpit’ Witty and pace merchant Neel Aswani. Both pairs got to work, the bowlers bowling religiously tight lines and the batters giving virtually nothing away. Melling timed his shots to perfection, showing due respect to the better deliveries and dispatching the looser ones with contempt in his eyes and malice in his heart. Shadwick was more conservative, tying down an end with his usual aplomb, picking his shots carefully and punishing anything not on the stumps. They saw off Witty and Aswani without losing a wicket, despite the two bowlers both bowling an excellent spell with minimal dross.

They found themselves replaced by youth contingent Daniel Leal and Finn Newton, the latter bowler eyeing up his father on the opposition bench, keen to give him a test later in the innings. Leal and Finn bowled well overall, some loose deliveries from Leal conceding perhaps a few more runs than would have been ideal, but Leal’s better deliveries drew sharp intakes of breath from a bemused Shadwick more than once. Shadwick, clearly rattled by the never-ending sledging coming from a recently-arrived Walsh at gully, decided he’d had enough of batting just before drinks, seeing Newton send his stumps careening back to Clarence Park. Despite having contributed nothing but verbal diarrhoea to this wicket, Walsh still gave him a ridiculous sendoff (his first of a few that day), screaming in his face and then walking him off the pitch. Walsh would go on to regret that particular decision, but more on that later.

Melling continued without his Angel of the North, seeing himself retire shortly after drinks on a regal 40*. Many looks of confusion were shared between fielders and batters alike, questioning “why not just let him bat to 50?”. However, it was an internal friendly match, so it made sense to have the batters retire a little earlier in order to give everyone a game. Next up on the batting menu: skipper Thomas and 1XI reject Jamie Speller. Normally, I’d begin describing their innings in a new paragraph for structure’s sake, but Hugo didn’t stick around long enough to warrant that, seeing himself become Finn’s second victim of the day for a golden duck LBW.

Speller stuck around long enough to be joined by Thomas ‘Sorry Just Getting a Call’ Coulling before skipper Crispo saw fit to unleash the two most village bowlers in the club: the deadly combination of Walsh and George ‘Muscles’ Pelham. Walsh found immediate difficulty, his first two deliveries being horrendous wides that even he had to laugh at. However, the in-form gun found his lines again quickly, dismissing Speller with a slower ball thanks to a firm hold from a stationary Nadeem ‘Nads’ Arif at mid-on. Speller hung his head in shame, enduring Walsh’s second sendoff of the day, then saying “I was gonna drive it but then I hit it like a bloody 12 year old.” Don’t worry Speller, you’ll grow up at some stage I’m sure. Pelham backed up Walsh from the party end delightfully, very much tying Coulling up in knots and somehow finding spin on the hallowed Astro before claiming his own wicket on the incoming Finn Mcnab: James Witty has the safest hands in Herts, so no 50 for you today Mcnab. The pair completed their spell, but not before working together to dismiss Coulling, seeing Walsh deliver a disgusting half tracker that Coulling nibbled to Pelham at point, necessitating the third sendoff of the day.

Crispo made a cameo for one over, a fielding mishap earlier in the innings hampering his ability to continue; he did, however, establish himself well with the ball and it was a shame we didn’t get to see more of this spell. Keeping extraordinaire Dexter Fisher traded his pads to Andy Knill-Jones in exchange for the ball, bowling for three glorious overs and claiming the scalp of Freya Witty. Freya batted extremely well, taking stock of the quick wickets her team had just lost, tying down an end in an effort to see out the overs and keep the scoreboard ticking to reach a defendable total. She was unfortunate to score none, but absolutely cemented herself as a player who can effectively consider the context of the game and bat accordingly, a trait that is hard to come by for players three times her age.

The remaining overs saw the Invitationals rotate their bowling attack between the youngsters, pitting father against son between new bats Toby Newton and Niraj Aswani, versus sons Finn and Neel, with a cameo from Leal. Just before this, youngster Archie Hill made himself known with the bat, scoring 1 before becoming Finn’s third scalp of the day. The father’s contingent, clearly afraid of losing bragging rights, ended their innings without conceding their wickets, seeing Toby end on 6* and Niraj end on a quickfire 28*.

The set total was 196: a tall total, but not an unattainable one given the batting in the Invitational’s shed. Tavah provided tea and we ate heartily, Walsh spilling most of his sauce on his white top and having to fish an old one out of his bag.

We got to business, the batting side opening with AKJ and Leal, while the bowling side opened up with Freya and Archie. Disaster struck almost immediately for the Invitational, seeing a classic “yes no” debacle in the middle cost us the wicket of AKJ, run out by a quick-thinking Freya. Leal hung his head in shame, as did AKJ, both parties at fault, given it was technically Leal’s call but AKJ changing his mind halfway down the track given the delayed call Leal made. Ah well, it happens, and so Nads strode out to the crease.

Leal played conservatively, picking the gaps nicely and seeing Nads score the lion’s share with aggressive shots and sharp(ish) running. Freya bowled like a true hero, 4 out of her 5 overs being maidens and conceding a minimal 5 runs across her spell. She was frankly unplayable today, a fact which frustrated our top order, leading to some loosely-timed shots being played and only surviving thanks to some lackadaisical fielding. Archie bowled commendably as well, but seemingly to the liking of an increasingly intimidating Nads, who continued testing the boundary markers with ease. The pair retired without a wicket to their name, but Freya most certainly deserving one with the calibre of her bowling.

The next two bowlers were Speller and Coulling, A.K.A ‘Walsh’s Victims CC’. Speller has regularly been touted as a world-class spinner, however today he made the baffling decision to bowl some medium pace deliveries to varying degrees of success. Despite insisting that ‘it comes off in my uni team”, he was unfortunate not to claim a wicket, however some of his deliveries genuinely deserved one. Meanwhile, Coulling toiled away from the other end, his first blood being Leal thanks to a confident catch from specialist fielder Toby Newton, seeing Leal dismissed for a well-made 15. Dexter then came and went, scoring 4, before Coulling decided to do away with any notions of “youth development within the club”, clean bowling the youngster for his second victim of the day.

Amongst all of this, Nads stood tall, scoring fluently and never looking in much doubt, impressing teammate Saunders from the other pitch, our chairman sighing contentedly while kicking his feet in glee watching his friend bat alongside skipper Crispo. The pair set about the task of rebuilding our innings, both notching impressive scores in little time, eventually each retiring on 40*. They returned to the scorer’s table ready to have a well-earned rest, forgetting that the terms ‘St Albans’ and ‘batting collapse’ were synonymous.

Neel and Pelham were next up on the menu, with Pelham batting like the ball owed him money for power washing its driveway, keen to rack up a mean score or die trying. Neel tied down an end and allowed his partner to score the runs, eventually falling to ANOTHER catch from Toby off Coulling for nought. Pelham found himself joined by Finn Newton, continuing to bat with power and authority, the 40 milestone in sight just before being sent packing via LBW by Finn’s own father. It’s worth noting that Newton Senior also opted to bowl one straight into his son’s - let’s say ‘vital area’ - and Finn’s mother had to be restrained by no less than 10 men amid bellows of “YOU’RE SLEEPING ON THE COUCH TONIGHT.” An awkward car ride home presumably ensued, particularly when father claimed son’s wicket with a catch from Speller for nought.

James Witty then approached the crease, faced with tricky spinners in the form of Niraj and Mcnab. The score was stalled for a time, the bowlers being hard to score from, but eventually Shadwick was brought on to provide a change of pace. In this time, specialist number 11 Walsh had approached, no helmet, cap backwards and vape in hand, prepared to break his streak of ducks, said streak currently standing at 5 consecutive ducks this season. All he wanted was one singular run to better his chances of not winning the less-than-coveted ‘Duck Cup’ at this year’s end of season awards. He was also starkly aware of the fact that he had delivered a number of sendoffs amid terrible chat towards the bats and swapping over the bails, forgetting that he doesn’t play for England and would have to face . A lot of good-natured chat was thrown his way, which he returned gleefully, instructing bowler Shadwick to “move your car mate, that windscreen’s looking tasty where I’m standing.” Shadwick gazed back, bemused at this remark given he had cycled to the game today. Finally, Shadwick bowls his first ball at Walsh, and - Walsh absolutely leathers it back along the ground, Shadwick sticks out an errant hand, the ball makes minimal contact and ricochets into the stumps to dismiss non-striker James. A head-in-hands moment for all involved, as James made the long walk back to the gazebo, this errant bit of luck effectively ruining his weekend. But it’s fine, so long as Walsh earns his respect back by scoring some- nope, he’s top-edged it a mile upwards where keeper Hugo had enough time to make a cup of tea before the ball landed in his gloves. Remember when I said Walsh would regret giving Shads a sendoff in the first innings? Yeah, he got another duck to increase his streak to six and was promptly walked off the pitch by Shads. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Our retired heroes, Nads and Crispo, made their way back to battle, knocking off the required total and reaching their respective 50s without much fuss, bar the ball that took Nads to his 50 and then the final ball of the day. Coulling was brought back on for his wheels, bowls one at Nads, the ball slips through Nads’ legs - it hits the stumps but the bails remained unbroken while the ball raced away to the boundary. Umpire Dexter signals byes, but scorer Pelham was (quite fairly, given the ‘woody’ noise) under the impression that Nads had hit the ball, and so attributed the runs to him, bringing Nads to his 50 milestone. It ended up being immaterial, as a few balls later Nads swings at a ball, nicks off but isn’t caught by a diving Hugo, while the ball races away for 4 to bring the game to a close in favour of the Invitational. Both teams shook hands, while Walsh weaved between the 6XI, index finger raised to give the entire team one last sendoff. He managed this for about 8 seconds, then started panting and gave it a rest before shaking hands with his other hand on his knee trying to beat the oncoming stitches.

A superbly fun game played in excellent spirits. It’s always astounding to be able to field not five, not six but SEVEN Saturday teams, particularly a 6XI and 7XI as strong as today’s. It’s a true testament to the depth of talent and dedication at the fingertips of SACC that this was even possible, and we very much hope to be able to recreate today’s fun and enjoyment in the coming weeks.

Fineable Moments:

Walsh for a number of things, but namely for trying to convince everyone at the bar later that night that “Speller DID play a match for the 1XI a couple of years ago, so when you think about it, did I technically bowl out a 1XI bat today? Yes, yes I did.”

Leal and AKJ alike for the miscommunication leading to AKJ’s runout.

Melling for refusing to cover drive every single delivery and partaking in jug avoidance.

Hugo for arguably being his team’s most proficient batter and then leading by example by getting a golden duck.

Shadwick for extending Walsh’s biblical ‘Duck Run’.

Toby Newton for trying to kill his son with a ball to the groin and then claiming his wicket to put him off cricket forever.

Pelham for initially telling Walsh to be quiet in the field, then relenting and joining in the sledging extravaganza.

Crispo for whining about his knee injury and then knocking a captain’s innings for 52*.


Coulling for being Coulling.

St Albans Cricket Club 6XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
8nb 13w 18b 1lb 
for 7 wickets
40
196		        
Matt Shadwick b F Newton 19
Peter Melling Retired Not Out  40
Jamie Speller ct N Arif b C Walsh 16 1
Hugo Thomas lbw F Newton 0
Thomas Coulling ct G Pelham b C Walsh 26
Fin McNab ct J Witty b G Pelham 15
Freya Witty b D Fisher 0
Niraj Aswani Not Out  28
Archie Hill b F Newton 1
A.N. Other Not Out  6 2
A.N. Other  

Invitational XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
James Witty6.002100.003.50
Neel Aswani5.002300.004.60
Daniel Leal7.004000.005.71
Finn Newton7.002137.003.00
George Pelham5.0015115.003.00
Ciaran Walsh5.001929.503.80
Toby Crisp1.00600.006.00
Dexter Fisher3.0014114.004.67

Invitational XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 16w 2b 2lb 
for 8 wickets
22
198 (36.1 overs)		     
Andy Knill Jones run out Freya Witty 0
Daniel Leal ct Unsure b Thomas Coulling 15
Nadeem Arif Not Out  54
Dexter Fisher b Thomas Coulling 4
Toby Crisp Not Out  52
Neel Aswani ct T Newton b Thomas Coulling 0
George Pelham lbw T Newton 34
Finn Newton ct J Speller b T Newton 0
James Witty run out Matt Shadwick 6
Ciaran Walsh ct H Thomas b M Shadwick 0
a.n. other  

St Albans Cricket Club 6XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.