Scorecard

Watford Town CC Sunday 1st XI v St Albans Cricket Club Sunday 1st XI on Sun 23 Aug 2026 at 12:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 60 runs

Match report The finale of the Chess Valley calendar took us to a not-so-happy hunting ground in Watford Town, where our last victory had come all the way back in 2019. With the Saints sitting perilously close to the wrong end of the table thanks to a sizeable collection of penalty points, a win—or a tie—was required to complete the great escape.

A relatively quiet Saturday night meant, somehow, everyone had made it to Clarence Park for meet time, and we arrived at the picturesque dust bowl of Watford Town in good time to inspect the wicket. Murph was adamant it was a bowl-first pitch, delivering his expert assessment while clutching a large caramel Frappuccino with three extra shots of espresso. Thankfully, nobody listened.

Immaculately dressed as ever, umpire Badsy flipped the coin, only for the Watford skipper to call incorrectly. Lawrence, obviously choosing to bat first on a wicket notorious for disintegrating in the second innings, had no hesitation in making the Saints bat.

The familiar Murph and Murray combination got the Saints off to a flyer. There was plenty of chat from Murph, who has now decided that spikes are overrated and that you simply can't put a price on comfort, turning up in a pair of grey Nike running shoes. The duo made excellent use of the new ball, with Murph in particular crunching several glorious straight drives and setting the tone with 23 from just 14 balls. He eventually got a straight one which he backed away from and attempted to cut through third man, effectively yorking himself and missing the ball completely.

The Saints were already 35-1 off three overs. Ahaan joined Stu at the crease and the pair took a more measured approach. Ahaan was eventually well caught by Watford's overseas player at slip, leaving the Saints 60-2 after 10 overs.

Westy was next in and continued to tick the scoreboard over alongside Stu, although things slowed down slightly. Westy then had two consecutive balls land in almost exactly the same spot—one rolling along the ground and the other bouncing well over his head. For some reason, this caused considerable excitement in the Watford ranks, seemingly forgetting that there were still another 30 overs to play on the same surface... and they would eventually have to bat on it.

Stu was next to go for a solid 30, leaving the Saints 90-3 after 17 overs. Rory arrived at the crease wearing whites that appeared not to have seen a washing machine since his midweek cricket tour, but he and Westy settled nicely, putting on 60 in 12 overs before Westy was bowled by the overseas player for a useful 31.
Twilts joined Rory and looked comfortable against the spin, while Rory was beginning to motor. He brought up his 48, 49 and 50 in the same over, all three milestones being enthusiastically celebrated from the balcony. Twilts eventually departed for a very useful 27, but the platform had been set for a big finish. At 223-5 with eight overs remaining, the Saints were in prime position to cash in.

After turning up late following football and half a Carling, JC was promoted up the order to deal with Watford's overseas player. Nobody quite knew what to expect. What followed was one of the afternoon's highlights. JC shuffled down the wicket and swept one for four, prompting an eruption from the balcony. He then produced a particularly memorable six over cow corner, picking up a short ball with ease before sitting on his bat and giggling, seemingly unsure what to do with himself.

At the other end, Rory had finally remembered how to bat and was racing towards three figures. Watford's heads were firmly down. A flurry of boundaries brought up Rory's century, although nobody on the balcony was entirely sure which shot had actually taken him to 100. It didn't matter. Everyone celebrated anyway.

Rory then reached his hundred—or at least appeared to do so without much concern. Perhaps suffering from a bad hair day, he didn't even bother removing his helmet. He was dismissed the following over for a superb 107 from 78 balls, an outstanding innings on a surface that was deteriorating by the minute.
Lawrence joined JC at the crease and, with some gubbing, overthrows and good running, the Saints accelerated brilliantly. Banksy also provided a brief cameo as St Albans plundered 48 runs from the final four overs, finishing on a formidable 303.

It was an above-par total, but given the Saints' previous performances at Watford, nobody was taking anything for granted.

The defence didn't begin ideally. Chen produced a head-high no-ball first ball, which did little to calm the nerves. However, Chen and Banksy recovered to bowl a relatively tight opening six overs, with Watford scoring at around five an over.

Their left-handed opener then took a liking to Chen, smashing three boundaries in one over before attempting one too many and skewing an edge to Baylis at point. At the other end, Watford's double-centurion from previous encounters appeared to be waiting patiently for the spin to arrive. When Ahaan came on, he launched his third ball for a huge six over long-on, giving the Saints a few uncomfortable flashbacks.

Thankfully, 1st XI skipper Baylis had decided he fancied a bowl. From his five-yard run-up came a delightful selection of tricky slower balls and variations, keeping the pressure on. Ahaan then produced the breakthrough the Saints desperately needed, getting Watford's other opener to rag one through the gate. Watford were 84-2 after 14 overs.

Their overseas player was next in, fresh from scoring 170 against us last year, but Baylis soon removed the Watford skipper. The overseas player then attempted a reverse sweep, only to glove it onto his own stumps. Suddenly, the Saints were firmly in control at 112-4 off 21 overs.

As is tradition in the Chess Valley, Watford's numbers five and six decided that wickets and sensible cricket were overrated and began swinging effectively. They dragged the game back towards the hosts, leaving Watford needing 125 from the final 17 overs.

Then came another crucial moment. After Badsy assisted Stu with an LBW decision, Baylis sneaked another slower ball through the gate in the 29th over. The Saints refused the offer of a drink until the end of the over, with the drink being taken just before the interval. Tactical masterclass.

At drinks, Watford were 180-7 after 30 overs, requiring another 124 runs. Murph clearly fancied a closer finish and bowled two overs for 20, before Ahaan and Stu struck again to leave Watford nine down and needing 80 from the final eight overs.

The Watford number seven, understandably distrustful of his number 11, began turning down singles. It proved to be the correct decision, as he launched Ahaan for three enormous sixes, bringing the equation down rapidly. However, Ahaan had the final say. The Watford batter smashed one straight back at him.

A 60-run victory completed the great escape and, remarkably, saw St Albans creep into the top half of the table despite starting the season with 10 penalty points. More importantly, the win secured our status in Division One and rounded off another season in what remains, quite simply, the greatest league in the world.


St Albans Cricket Club Sunday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 7w 5b 3lb 
for 7 wickets
16
303		        
Adam Murphy b S Lakhanpal 23 14 5 164.29
Stuart Murray b S Ali 31 46 4 67.39
Ahaan Dean ct R Pieris b S Lakhanpal 18 26 1 69.23 1
Zach West b R Pieris 31 51 4 60.78
Rory Law st A Sooraj Pulla b R Pieris 107 78 19 137.18 1
Tom Wilton ct G Hazarika b G Shinagare 27 28 2 1 96.43
Joey Curran Not Out  26 12 2 1 216.67
James Lawrence st A Sooraj Pulla b R Pieris 21 15 1 140.0
Thomas Banks Not Out  3 2 150.0
Aidan Chennells  
Dan Baylis   1

Watford Town CC Sunday 1st XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Syed Ali8.0080180.0010.00
Siddhant Lakhanpal9.0156228.006.22
Riahn Pieris10.0046315.334.60
Chirantan Hazarika6.012100.003.50
Gunjan Hazarika5.013000.006.00
Tim Constable5.004700.009.40
Gaurav Shinagare2.0015115.007.50

Watford Town CC Sunday 1st XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
5nb 10w 9b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
26
243 (37.5 overs)		     
Gaurav Shinagare b A Dean 24 31 2 1 77.42
Syed Ali ct D Baylis b A Chennells 40 38 7 1 105.26
Gunjan Hazarika ct R Law b D Baylis 17 23 3 73.91
Riahn Pieris b A Dean 21 26 4 80.77
Thrishul Kailash Muruganandh b D Baylis 28 33 4 84.85
Aadil Hussain lbw S Murray 33 26 5 1 126.92
Ashwin Sooraj Pulla ct A Dean b A Dean 40 31 3 4 129.03
Joy Mukherjee b D Baylis 0 2 0
Chirantan Hazarika lbw A Dean 10 17 1 58.82
Tim Constable b S Murray 4 3 1 133.33
Siddhant Lakhanpal Not Out  0 2 0

St Albans Cricket Club Sunday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Aidan Chennells5.0043143.008.60
Thomas Banks5.002100.004.20
Ahaan Dean9.5183420.758.44
Dan Baylis10.0138312.673.80
Stuart Murray6.0029214.504.83
Adam Murphy2.001800.009.00

  • Umpire :
    Ben
  • Scorer :
    All