Scorecard

Bushey II v St Albans Cricket Club 4XI on Sat 20 Jul 2002 at 1:30
Match was Drawn St Albans 11 pts Bushey II 7 pts

Match report For another week St Albans lost the toss and were asked to bat. The pitch was hard but was badly cracked. From the first over the writing was on the wall for all batsman, as the ball did not bounce and rolled directly along the floor.

Sylvester fell early as he edged a low bounce onto his stumps for 7. Nadeem hit the ball well and with Devadason, who had dropped down from the III's, looked to build up the score. However, Nadeem fell when hit found the extra cover fielder, who held onto a fine catch.

Richard Williams failed to trouble the scorers has he missed a straight ball which hit the bottom of middle stump. He was quickly followed by Smithers who was caught at the second attempt at slip. Andrew Walker was unlucky as he 'snicked' the thiniest of edges onto his stumps. During this time Rex was slowly building his innings and looked to remain until the end of the overs. However he had a rush of blood and played a slog, which he missed and was bowled, again the ball hitting the bottom of the stumps. Tim Fretter, fresh from two recent scores, fell in the next over when he found a leading edge to cover. St Albans were now deep in trouble at 71/7 off just 23 overs.

Uzman joined Jerry Fretter at the crease and they looked to repair some of the damage and bat out as many over as they could. Uzman hit several good pulls. Jerry Fretter was given a life, when he hit a chest high full toss (not a no ball?!) to cover, only for the fielder to drop the easy chance. They were to regret that decision, as the two batsmen edged the score over 120. The partnership was broken when Uzman called for a second run and was run out.

Captain Hallchurch then continued in the same vein and the score was taken to 176 when Hallchurch played the ball at his feet. Jerry Fretter called him through for the quick single, but Hallchurch failed to make his ground. The innings was completed the next ball, as Jerry Fretter missed a straight ball. A final score of 176 from 52 overs was something to bowl at.

Uzman and Tim Fretter opened the bowling and found the same lack of bounce. However, Uzman struck in his 2nd over when he found one that nipped back and hit the top (Yes, TOP) of off stump. Several overs later he repeated the same ball and hit the bottom of the stumps. The Bushey side at this point seemed content to settle for a draw, and this became even more apparent when Uzman took his third wicke, again finding the stumps. Bushey were now 35-3 and the remaining opening batsmen looked set to block out. He went onto make 62, but had he had the courage of his convictions, he could easily have won the game for Bushey.

The St Albans side became frustrated both with the Bushey tactic's and also with each other. The fielding was poor and they looked slow around the field. Easy runs were being given away and the over rate was painfully slow. The frustrations and on-field arguments seem to inspire Bushey and although needing 10 an over, they seemed to switch on and have an attempt.

However, the Bushey opening ran himself out, as he hit the ball back to the bowler and ran 20 yards up the wicket. Tim Fretter and Uzman returned with Bushey needing 26 off two overs. With 11 runs scored off Uzman, including several over throws, they required 15 from the last over. Tim Fretter was rewarded when he bowled the Bushey no.5 with the first ball. Five balls later the match ended at 8.15pm. It had taken Bushey 3 1/2 hours to bowl 52 overs and St Albans 3 overs to bowl 48 overs. However St Albans had much the better of the game and the toss was a decieding factor in this result.

St Albans are now 37 points ahead of Harpenden, who were without a game. With now game next week, the title will most probably be settled the following week. St Albans, despite having a top side, must improve in several area in these crunch games.

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
176		        
Patrick Sylvester Bowled  7
Nadeem Arif Caught  18
Rex Devadeson Bowled  14
Richard Williams Bowled  0
Simon Smithers Caught  7
Andrew Walker Bowled  1
Tim Fretter Caught  6
Jeremy Fretter Bowled  23
Uzman Zaman Run out  28
Adrian Hallchurch Run out  23
Barry Atkinson Not Out  0

Bushey II Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Bushey II Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 5 wickets
0
168 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Uzman Zaman16.0646315.332.88
Tim Fretter10.0033133.003.30
Andrew Walker4.001300.003.25
Barry Atkinson6.011800.003.00
Simon Smithers2.00600.003.00
Nadeem Arif8.012600.003.25
Adrian Hallchurch2.001200.006.00