Scorecard

Letchworth Garden City CC 1st XI v St Albans Cricket Club 1XI on Sat 17 May 2025 at 12:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 63 runs

Match report
Week 2 of the Herts league season and, following on from a comfortable win against relegation fodder Berkhamsted, the 1st XI were given the unfortunate task of an away trip to Letchworth. Unfortunate not due to the opposition’s cricketing prowess but instead unfortunate due to the location Saints were travelling to, to put it politely Letchworth is no St Albans. Nevertheless, Letchworth were fellow newcomers to Division 1 down from the Championship and would be no walkover.

Eventually, adhering to a very flexible meet time, Saints convened in the world’s first ‘Garden City’; aside from Nick Ralfe and Jamie Regan who became this year’s victims of Google maps’ trickery. Once the two found their way to the correct sports ground in Letchworth, J Regan locked and loaded with an arsenal of Imodium to tackle last night’s medium rare chicken, warms up began. An unusually high standard football game took place, and Buzz also played, with Ralfe and Sims swapping the miserable Letchworth scenery for the streets of Rio De Janeiro with the flair on show (close your legs Cas!). Catches were taken, Balls were hit, Deliveries were Bowled, and warmups were complete. Coin tossed and Saints were to bat first, attempting to make life as easy as possible on a pitch no less than 100 overs old. Not very impressive for the second week of the season.

After the success of last week’s opening stand, Regan Jr and Sims strode to the crease confident of another dominant start. Of course, it was business as usual as the pair brought up a chanceless 50 partnership, both making near enough equal contributions as Saints reached 50-0 in the 9th over. Sims then fell for 5. An uncharacteristic dismissal as he was caught at midwicket for probably the first time in his career. This wicket began somewhat of a collapse. Regan Sr was out narrowly misjudging a leave and allowing the ball to crash into middle and leg, followed by Will Jones who also had his furniture rearranged.

It was the job of Will Bancroft and Jamie to steady the ship, steering Saints out of a perilous position with an important partnership. Unfortunately Buzz then fell for a well-made and appreciated 19, one or two wondering if it was a league personal best for the lawn-care enthusiast. Ralfe came and went, meanwhile Jamie brought up yet another ton at Letchworth. Questions were raised as to whether Regan should think about playing for Letchworth given his league average at the ground being well over 100, maybe he would consider if the pitch was airlifted into a nicer town.

Jamie eventually fell for 106, leaving a few out there, and Saints still had a job to do to post a commanding score. We would soon find out there is no substitute for experience as Capaldi and Swhitey rolled back the years to gub (Max) and elegantly caress (Simon) their way to 49 and 23, the contribution from these old heads guiding Saint Albans to 230 from their 50 overs, very respectable given the various shaky points of the innings.

A swift turnaround and a motivating speech from Leader Regan Sr. later, and Saints were back out to field. Will Jones and Hammer given the responsibility of the new ball, with Regan bizarrely telling Buzz to stay warm from ball 1, someone please let Joe know that April fool’s day is in fact in the month of April and not May. The opening pair kept things tight but struggled for a breakthrough, Letchworth making a decent start to the chase, particularly their Australian overseas. The presence of whom, in front of junior cricketers attempting to train in Letchworth’s dilapidated nets, raises questions over the club’s budget allocation. Will Jones got Saints on the board, their other opener picking out Baylis at mid-off, probably the last we will hear of Tank’s name. Despite this, Saints were definitely behind in the game at the halfway point. However, the inevitable magic of a drinks break changed our fortunes, Hammer removing the overseas just two balls after the interval.

The door had creaked open for St Albans to fight back, open just enough for the Dan Baylis show to commence. Saint Albans answer to Brett Lee grabbing the game by the proverbial balls and ripping through Letchworth’s middle order with a spell of serious pace bowling. A combination of frightening short-pitched deliveries accompanied by some pinpoint accuracy meant Dan would end up taking 6 wickets, 5 of which were bowled, as Letchworth had no answer to big tank. Described by some as the best spell they’d seen in club cricket, Baylis was so devastating that the Letchworth tail were coming in admitting they were thinking of just kicking their stumps over. Dan completely turned the game on its head and, along with a couple of inevitable wickets from burglar Capaldi, secured 30 points for the Saints from a situation that could have easily ended the other way round.

2 from 2 for Saints, a perfect start. Next up: Sawbridgeworth (a) in what is already shaping up to be a potential title decider.


(Match Report by George Sims)

St Albans Cricket Club 1XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
10w 2b  
for 6 wickets
12
230		        
Jamie Regan ct N Sprittles b J Davidson 106 120 10 2 88.33 1
George Sims ct J Davidson b L Bishton 5 18 1 27.78
Joe Regan b L Bishton 9 11 1 81.82
Will Jones b L Bishton 0 2 0
Will Bancroft ct R Wade b R Stewart 19 45 3 42.22
Nick Ralfe ct T Manning b R Stewart 7 11 1 63.64
Max Capaldi Not Out  49 73 4 67.12
Simon White Not Out  23 20 2 1 115.00
James Caswell   1
Adam Hounslow  
Dan Baylis   1

Letchworth Garden City CC 1st XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Liam Bishton7.0137312.335.29
Sam Kendle7.403200.004.17
Richard Stewart10.0049224.504.90
Riley Wade0.20400.0012.00
George May10.012900.002.90
David Albon10.005500.005.50
Joe Davidson5.0022122.004.40

Letchworth Garden City CC 1st XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 3w 1b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
7
167 (41.5 overs)		     
Riley Wade b A Hounslow 55 71 4 1 77.46
Tom Manning ct D Baylis b W Jones 20 36 2 55.56
Praveen Bhatti b D Baylis 24 34 4 70.59
Liam Bishton b D Baylis 21 42 1 50.0
Sam Kendle b D Baylis 31 24 4 1 129.17
Nathan Sprittles ct J Caswell b D Baylis 1 2 50.0
Harry Aitkenhead b M Capaldi 3 4 75.00
David Albon b D Baylis 0 2 0
Richard Stewart Not Out  2 11 18.18
Joe Davidson ct J Regan b M Capaldi 1 14 7.14
George May b D Baylis 2 12 16.67

St Albans Cricket Club 1XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Adam Hounslow7.0025125.003.57
Will Jones10.0038138.003.80
Simon White10.004200.004.20
Dan Baylis8.503766.174.19
Max Capaldi6.0222211.003.67