Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Hitchin III on Sat 06 Aug 2022 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 8 runs

Match report The Threes were back at home on the first Saturday in August, arriving at their Sandpit Lane headquarters to discover an oasis of green in the centre of a very dry playing field - this grassy patch was to be our pitch. The toss was won, Saints continuing to prefer to put runs on the board.

Hitchin, our visitors, started well. Very quickly it became apparent to opening pair Street and Murray that the pitch was offering plenty to the bowlers. Murray had scratched around until the eighth over, when he offered a sample catch to mid off (dropped), held his ground after a sustained caught behind appeal, avoided a flyer that came off the shoulder (and maybe also the glove), before finally succumbing LBW to the last delivery of the over.

Bowlers Carr and Oughton kept things simple and runs were hard to come by. The run rate had barely reached two an over when Street’s hard fought knock of 19 was ended. Church smartly used good footwork to limit the impact of the treacherous pitch before he was out for 21. Lawrence looked good for his 20, too, but he became one of three victims of the innocuous bowling of Hawker. The less said about Murphy’s knock the better; suffice to say he didn’t look like a top six batsman on this occasion.

With the sixth wicket down for 72 in the 26th over, Saints were a long way from a defendable score. Glazier and O’Toole (29) pushed this to an even hundred, and Caley added 15. Not often would these guys be described as bunnies, but that is how the fieldsmen named the veterans. The final pair of Walker and Rosson contributed 16 to lift the score to a tally of 143; all out in the 40th over. It was good to see the team scrap to the end, perhaps no surprise given that numbers 8, 9, 10 and 11 have collectively managed nearly 1000 League games for St Albans. Hitchin now had to consider an uneasy target.

An early scalp for surprise opening bowler Murphy - well caught by O’Toole at short cover - got Saints under way. This did, however, bring opposition skipper Gwinnett to the crease, and he looked more at ease there than any other batsman on the day, crucially getting loose deliveries to the boundary. The wicket continued to play up, a good length ball from trundler Murphy bouncing high over the keeper’s head.

The score had moved along to 66 before Winfield, struggling to execute what he had set out to do, forced Gwinnett to knock one on to his stumps, a crucial breakthrough. Shortly after Winfield (2/34) also removed Gadsden. The game had tightened up a little. Patadia looked in good shape, though his partner Trickett was utterly becalmed. The pressure of a close contest was perhaps the cause of Saints’ frustration at a caught behind appeal being turned down. Our reaction was over the top; the umpire’s decision is final. Nevertheless, Street’s sledge of “Does your missus know you cheat?” was a smart bit of banter.

The bowling now moved into the hands of Church and Glazier. The former finally ended Trickett’s knock of 1, tallied across 14 overs, with Rosson taking a fine catch running around from mid on. Hitchin now had 32 to get in a little more than 7 overs, with Patadia still at the crease. Neither bowler offered the batsmen much, using the uncertainty of the wicket to control proceedings. Church now found the glove of Patadia and Lawrence completed the catch. 5/128 - 19 deliveries left now and 16 runs to get.

Earlier Hitchin’s young bowlers had done a great job, but now their inexperience led to some panic. The score hadn’t moved on when the ball was tapped to mid wicket and a single sought; Walker channelled his inner Jonty Rhodes, running and diving to knock down the bowler’s end wicket with ball in hand. (Other opinions differed on the aesthetics of this run out.) The very next ball, the new pair called for a two, Murray’s slow movement luring them into a false confidence - a good throw completing another run out.

Church bowled the second last over, claiming another victim, and finished with 7 overs for 3/20. In the circumstances, this was an outstanding return, a reward for excellent control. The game wasn’t quite done though, with 10 in the last over the visitors would win this. Headbanded Glazier wasn’t about to let that happen, as he continued to bowl a line that subdued the batters. So to that over: a wicket first ball, a single, two dots - and then another wicket to wrap up the game. Glazier’s economical contribution of 2/15 was crucial.

Hitchin had lost 6 wickets for 7 runs, falling eight runs shy of their target, a stunning demise. Saints bowlers again asked to do the work that the batters couldn’t manage, and this time Saints winning ugly.

St Albans player of the match: James Church.

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 7w 1b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
11
143		        
Samuel Street ct Gwinnett b Huzaifa 19 3
Stuart Murray lbw b Oughton 1 1
James Church ct Gwinnett b Huzaifa 21 4
James Lawrence ct & b Hawker 20 3 3 1
Adam Murphy ct H. Hussain b Hawker 2
B Glazier b Patadia 9 1
Jacob Winfield ct - b Hawker 5 1
Richard O'Toole ct - b Patadia 30 6 1
Phil Caley ct Gwinnett b Patadia 15 2
Andrew Walker Not Out  5 1 1
Daniel Rosson b Oughton 5 1 1

Hitchin III Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Carr8.021600.002.00
Oughton7.1024212.003.35
Huzaifa6.0124212.004.00
Beaton8.022900.003.63
Hawker4.002438.006.00
Patadia6.002337.673.83

Hitchin III Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
9nb 3w 11b 4lb 
for 10 wickets
27
135 (39.5 overs)		     
T. Uys ct O'Toole b Murphy 1
C. Gadsden ct Lawrence b Winfield 19 3
S. Gwinnett b Winfield 34 7
J. Patadia ct Lawrence b Church 38 5
J. Trickett ct Rosson b Church 1
E. Oughton run out Murray/Lawrence 8 1
E. Hawker run out Walker 1
A. Hussain ct Lawrence b Church 0
A. Beaton b Glazier 3
C. Carr b Glazier 1
H. Hussain Not Out  1

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Daniel Rosson4.001500.003.75
Adam Murphy5.0217117.003.40
Andrew Walker3.00800.002.67
Jacob Winfield8.0034217.004.25
Richard O'Toole6.021200.002.00
James Church7.002036.672.86
B Glazier6.521527.502.20

  • Umpire :
    From the XI
  • Scorer :
    From the XI
 
Photos and video of St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Hitchin III on Sat 06 Aug 2022 at 13:00

2022-08-06_St_Albans_III_v_Hitchin_III.innings_1

2022-08-06 St Albans III v Hitchin III Innings of St Albans

2022-08-06_St_Albans_III_v_Hitchin_III.innings_2

2022-08-06 St Albans III v Hitchin III Innings of Hitchin