Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club Sunday 2nd XI v Washington Cricket Club on Sun 28 May 2023 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 7 wickets

Match report You’ve been asking for it. You’ve been begging for it. You’ve been downright hollering for it. And so, it shall be: the first Sunday 2XI match of the season.

To mark this momentous occasion, we played host to Washington CC, a roaming club based around North London, home to one of our own, the notorious Andy Walker, playing for the opposition in a moment of pearl-clutching controversy. After a week of having only 9 players on the team sheet, our prayers were answered as we were brought to a full XI at the last minute recruitment of Thomas Rayden and Ali, the former having been bullied into the fixture the night before by a “less than sober” Walsh, who decided to ignore Rayden’s broken finger whilst making his case. Rayden, being the unapologetically gun player he is, naturally agreed to Walsh’s sweet talk.

At the request of skipper Manny Nisar, no toss was conducted and the Saints were put in to bowl.

Opening from the pavilion end, Sunday stalwart Altaf Hussein bowled his usual delightful line and length, ably supported by debutant Sammad from the other end. Altaf, once again, reaffirmed himself as the best player in the club, taking two wickets with undeniable class, while Sammad was unfortunate not to take a wicket of his own, but showcasing a good amount of skill in his debut.

The pair finished their spells and were replaced by Roop Roy and Imran. Roop, like Sammad, was very unlucky to go wicketless during his tight spell due to a drop (for an admittedly hard catch!). Imran found more success, following on from his performance the previous day to take another 3 wickets during his spell, having taken 3 the previous day in addition to making a 50. Safe to say we won’t be seeing him in the Sunday 2XI or Saturday 5XI for a while.

The next bowling change saw Sunday merchant/resident village idiot Ciarán Walsh take up the pavilion end, with local big dog Tom Hadden assuming the other. Walsh bowled efficiently, restricting the run rate to a meagre sum but going wicketless, while Hadden sowed the seeds of destruction from his end. Hadden’s time with the ball ultimately proved to be the downfall of Washington’s innings, as Hadden tore through their batting lineup like a man possessed, taking a total of 5 wickets in only his 3rd ever match for the Saints, the 5th wicket a stunning catch behind the stumps from Peter Melling, only one ball after he had taken one to the jaw. He’s everything I want to be as a cricketer and just generally as a man.

Hadden’s final wicket brought us to tea, and after the usual sumptuous rolls courtesy of our favourite club sponsor, Tavah, the mighty Saints began their batting innings. 116 was the total, and skipper Manny saw fit to allow some of the newer players to open the batting, given the low total.

Thus, Marouf and Ali took to the crease to begin their time with the bat. Ali was not one to die wondering, getting out for a golden duck to a good line and length. After this, St Albans CC’s answer to Jason Roy then approached: Peter Melling. Pete adopted his trademark controlled, patient approach, hitting the bad balls well and ending on a contextually crucial 37. Opener Marouf established himself very well with his SACC debut, acting as our anchor, keeping his wicket brilliantly, hitting several fours and bludgeoning a brutal six to end on 40*. Our only other two batting cameos, Manny and Rayden, scored 14 and 13 respectively, the pair of them with their share of boundaries to brighten up the evenings of all who had the privilege of witnessing their showcase. A highlight of the final over included our very own turncoat, Andy Walker, spilling an admittedly tricky catch to allow Marouf to keep his wicket; Walsh later tried to convince him in the pub that it was “an absolute sitter, I’d have taken it no problem mate, cricket’s really not that hard.”

The total was chased down an over after the fielding side sensibly decided not to bother with a drinks break, and thus the match came to a close, decisively in favour of the Saints. Washington were an absolutely lovely side: great chat in the field, backed up by even better chat in the pub while sharing a beer with our very own Saints. They truly gave their club a good name, giving the sport an even better name. Sides like these can make or break a match, and Washington most certainly made it for us. We hope to host them again!

Washington Cricket Club Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 2w 2b  
for 10 wickets
6
116 (39.2 overs)		     
Molloy b  Hussain 4
Barraclough ct  Ahmed 15
Darshan b  Hussain 8
White ct  Ahmed 22
Tapper ct  Hadden 24
Walker b  Ahmed 8
Junal b  Hadden 0
Murrain ct  Hadden 2
Freeman b  Hadden 4
Willians Not Out  13
Kloss ct  Hadden 10

St Albans Cricket Club Sunday 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Md Altaf Husain5.02623.001.20
A.N. Other6.031600.002.67
Roop Roy8.002200.002.75
Imran Ahmed8.031936.332.37
Ciarán Walsh7.012600.003.71
Tom Hadden6.002555.004.17

St Albans Cricket Club Sunday 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 5w 4b 2lb 
for 3 wickets
13
117		        
nasibullah Maroofkhel Not Out  40
A.N. Other Bowled  0
Peter Melling Caught  37
A.N. Other Bowled  13
Nauman Nisar Not Out  14
Ciarán Walsh  
Imran Ahmed  
Roop Roy  
Thomas Rayden  
Tom Hadden  
Md Altaf Husain  

Washington Cricket Club Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Freeman3.011300.004.33
Murrain5.0028128.005.60
Jumal3.001200.004.00
Darshan3.002000.006.67
Tapper4.001226.003.00
Kloss2.002100.0010.50