Scorecard

Old Albanian 4XI v St Albans Cricket Club 4XI on Sat 23 Jul 2022 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 226 runs

Match report Week 12 of the league season and the 4XI train keeps rolling .... this wasn’t simply a win, it was an annihilation, as the story of the game below will tell...

With such amazing availability throughout the club this week the 4s were crazy strong, with every player having at some point in the past appeared in higher teams.

With Saints having eschewed the faraway Woolam’s Playing Fields changing rooms for the ‘away tree’ on the boundary (a small pool of natural shade on a deceptively warm day) skipper Saunders defied recent form and won the toss, opting to bat on a green-tinged but flat looking wicket.

Moksy Islam and Ash Dean strode out to commence proceedings and immediately laid waste to the opening bowlers, posting a half century partnership in just 8 overs before Ash was trapped LBW on 17.

Moksy, now partnered with Sam Street, continued to cart the toiling bowlers around the park with Sam offering a more circumspect counterpoint at the other end.

At drinks Saints were 136-1 and it wasn’t long before Moksy notched his second century for the club, followed by a well-deserved 50 for Sam, who tried flamboyantly to take on his next ball but was caught in the deep.

Their 155 partnership was a thing of beauty to watch from the boundary.

Moksy was eventually out for a magnificent 122, exhaustion no doubt playing as much a part in his dismissal as the catch that sent him on his way. Incidentally, Moksy’s ton was a record-breaking knock, eclipsing the previous total of 13 centuries in a single season from St Albans batsmen.

Benn Glazier was next to the crease and had the misfortune to face the best ball of the day, from a youngster bafflingly brought on as the 6th change in a bowling unit that had been under siege from the get-go. He should have been given the new ball.

With Ben gone cheaply Alfie Button (25) and James Church (35) continued to pile on the pain, their 74 partnership (including extras) dismissing any hopes the opposition might have had of restricting Saints to a vaguely chaseable score.

Brief cameos from Tom Rayden, Tom Broxton and Prath Khatavkar (PK) saw a final Saints total of 312, a quite remarkable scoreline from 40 overs. Extras, 46 of them, played their part but this was still a commanding and intimidating performance with the bat.

With the inspirational words “let’s just get this done and head back to Clarence Park for a beer” from the skipper ringing in their ears Saints took to the field with PK and Tom Broxton given new ball duties.

A hostile start from both was met with some aggressive resistance, with OA’s opening pair putting on a surprisingly belligerent 25 before Tom snared one LBW to make the first breakthrough and then had the other well caught with the scoreboard on 39.

With Prath (1-15) and Tom (2-27) finishing good spells, skipper Saunders opted for his own left arm filth partnered with Sam Davey’s bustling in-swingers as the first bowling changes. Saunders made it maddeningly hard for the frustrated batsmen to score finishing with figures of 1-18, while Davey snagged 3-14 for in his spell - the pair conceding just 32 runs in their combined 16 overs.

By then OAs were 7 down for just 81 and with the introduction of Benn Glazier’s leg spin and Alfie Button’s zippy medium pace only 5 more runs were added for the remaining 3 wickets, one of which was a run out reminiscent of J-Roy (Broxton) and Buttler’s (Rayden) World Cup winning combo.

A special mention in dispatches to Benn Glazier for two brilliant slip catches and for a truly dominant all round team performance that was worthy of the promotion chase the 4XI remain well and truly part of.


St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 20w 24b 1lb 
for 7 wickets
46
312		        
Moksudul Islam ct T. Hassan 122
Ashish Dean lbw S. Bates 17
Samuel Street ct T. Hassan 50
B Glazier b J.Oliver 3 2
James Church ct J.Oliver 35
Alfie Button b T.Hassan 25
Sam Davey lbw T.Oliver 8
Thomas Rayden Not Out  2
Thomas Broxton Not Out  4
Prath Khatavkar  
Andy Saunders  

Old Albanian 4XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
B.Lefleming8.004400.005.50
S.Bates8.0051151.006.38
A.Vijal4.003500.008.75
H. Rabbitt5.004800.009.60
T.Hassan8.0050316.676.25
J.Oliver4.0039139.009.75
T.Oliver3.0021210.507.00

Old Albanian 4XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
6w 5b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
13
86 (32.0 overs)		     
A. Rawsley lbw Broxton 5
W.Yarin ct Broxton 29
B.Lefleming ct Davey 14
J.Oliver ct Khatavkar 0
J. Turmer ct Davey 12
T.Hassan Not Out  6
T.Oliver b Saunders 0
A. Virtl Run out  3
H.Rabbitt ct Button 0
P.Richardson ct Davey 4
S.Bates ct Glazier 0

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Prath Khatavkar7.0215115.002.14
Thomas Broxton6.0227213.504.50
Sam Davey8.031434.671.75
Andy Saunders8.0318118.002.25
B Glazier1.20414.003.00
Alfie Button1.00212.002.00