Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Harpenden IV on Sat 24 Aug 2019 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 30 runs

Match report The IIIs returned to Sandpit Lane after two rounds away; the wicket was familiar, but unwelcoming, as some homecomings are.

Having proposed a plan to field first, the skipper then lost his first toss of the season and St Albans were asked to bat.

Across the club, bank holiday weekend has forced teams to be reconstructed, and so the IIIs lineup offered a few new faces. However it was the familiar figures of Knill-Jones and Ferguson who strode to the middle to face Harpenden’s best. It took just three deliveries for the opposition skipper, opening the bowling, to full up lame and withdraw himself from the attack. Knill-Jones appreciated some early full tosses and found the gaps nicely to get the scoreboard ticking. Ferguson found the pitch (and on occasion the umpire’s judgement of wides) less to his liking, though one would have never known, such was his composure.

Knill-Jones then surprisingly fell for 23, which brought Hancock to the wicket. In partnership with Ferguson he took the score to 64, before the opener succumbed. By this time, Hancock had got himself going, characteristically identifying the bad balls quickly and showing them no mercy. Indeed bad balls were a far too frequent an occurrence, as Harpenden searched for a bowling combination that could stem the flow of runs from Hancock’s bat.

One of the new faces in the lineup, Tarrant, joined Hancock and showed the full face of the bat to earn himself 20 runs. After smashing the ball to all parts, Hancock - having struck six 6s and seven 4s - was finally undone by one that pitched half way down the wicket and got no more than an inch off the ground thereafter. His knock of 70 was perfect in these conditions, and had set St Albans well on the way. Cunnington added 23 not out, and Saints reached a final tally of 217, given a great assist with 49 extras - 30 of them wides.

On this variable height wicket, wides were doubly wasteful, and the skipper reinforced the need to bowl straight as the team took to the field. Telkman, as usual slotted into a good line, while at the bottom end Baksa (3/40), opening the bowling with his left armers caused the top order all sorts of problems, leading in one instance to a terrific slips catch by Ferguson. By the first drinks break, the IIIs were in a comfortable position, with the score on 44/3, and the skipper was able to advise the visiting Mr President that all was under control.

Of course, nothing should be taken for granted, and so it was as Minnie and Parkinson dug in and the score mounted. Still, the young side stuck with it through the heat, even though they were a man short by this time (thanks to John Webber for making time in his plans to help out on this weekend and staying as long as he did). 94 runs had been added by the time they were separated at 138, after which several more fell in quick succession. Walker’s 3/31 was aided by a well judged catch from Cunnington, who battled hard on a tough day for keepers. Pelham had been bowling nicely from the top end and finally earned a reward when he nabbed the opposition skipper, as he too bowled nine overs straight. Saints looked safe by this time, and Knill-Jones was able to complete the victory with a brace of wickets.

In the end, the victory margin was 30 runs. Huge credit must go to all involved, particularly the young quartet of Baksa, Pelham, Tarrant and Cunnington, who each showed their ability and shared in a very fine win.

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
5nb 30w 11b 3lb 
for 10 wickets
49
217		        
Harry Knill-Jones b Griggs 23 5 1
Steve Ferguson b Harris 10 2 1
David Hancock b Minnie 70 7 6
Alisdair Sargen b Griggs 7 1
Zachary Tarrant ct - b Minnie 20 3
John Webber b Minnie 0
George Pelham b Bell 6 1
Marcus Cunnington Not Out  23 3 1
Andrew Walker b Hussain 4
Sam Baksa b Bell 4 1
Jamie Telkman b Bell 1

Harpenden IV Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Hussain5.0025125.005.00
Dearman9.041600.001.78
Mackey5.002100.004.20
Griggs9.0127213.503.00
Harris2.002700.0013.50
Barford1.001600.0016.00
Baney2.002000.0010.00
Minnie3.002438.008.00
Bell7.002739.003.86

Harpenden IV Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
10w 33b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
44
187 (44.3 overs)		     
McNeil ct Ferguson b Baksa 14 2 1
Barford b Baksa 11
Bell lbw b Baksa 8 1
Parkinson lbw b Walker 33 3
Minnie ct Knill-Jones b Walker 42 6
Griggs ct Cunnington b Walker 0 1 0
Hussain ct Baksa b Pelham 0
Harris b Knill-Jones 6 1
Baney b Knill-Jones 25 3 1
Dearman b Telkman 0
Mackey Not Out  1

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jamie Telkman9.0221121.002.33
Sam Baksa9.0040313.334.44
Harry Knill-Jones8.3223211.502.71
Andrew Walker9.0031310.333.44
George Pelham9.0139139.004.33
 
Photos and video of St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Harpenden IV on Sat 24 Aug 2019 at 13:00

24/08/2019 - St Albans III v Harpenden IV - St Albans innings

24/08/2019 - St Albans III v Harpenden IV - Harpenden innings