Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 2XI v Wheathampstead CC 1st XI on Sat 21 Jun 2025 at 12:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 8 wkts

Match report This week represented a stern test of the theory that respecting the Boot reaps glorious rewards, as leading division run scorer Ben Keywood (Cawood) decided to join the Jacob Winfield school of game preparation with a trip to the Boot, then the White Swan. Perrin decided to respect the Oval (a tactic utilised to great effect by the skipper a year previously), to learn from the Dom Sibley school of launching. All in all, was tough to see what could go wrong with such a diligent and process-trusting Friday night. The skipper tried to organise a team breakfast for the Saturday morning, followed by a net with 2s new coach Macca. a 30 minute wait in a cafe on his own wasn't the way Rory wanted to start his day, but Badsy spared him the feeling that he had no mates at all. Cheers Ben. We had a few more turn up to nets which ended up feeling good, giving batters who haven't had a chance to hit many balls a go. Our tail was primed to wag. Fortunately, it wasn't needed.

Given the heat, it felt like a big toss to win. Most of the team arrived on time (barring Jimmy, who spent too long getting his hair cut pre game), and a warmup ensued. All felt positive until the skipper didn't put enough revs on the coin during the toss. Wheato win toss and bat, and their skipper immediately strode to the nets to get all the u18s to feed balls at him for the next hour. DH and Chen opened up, and there were initial worries that we were going to make the same lethargic start that we have done the last few weeks. Fortunately, Chen cleaned up one opener, then the other decided to very generously chip a forward defensive shot straight back to him. Chen was clearly keen to get out of the sun as soon as possible. A period of rebuilding started with 3 and 4, not playing any shots for quite a while. With the seamers tiring in the heat, Badsy and Alexis came on to try and push for a breakthrough.

Badsy's figures were harsh given how he bowled, and you could say the same for Alexis, settling in early with some nice rhythm from the top end. Badsy hooked himself after a couple of uncharacteristically loose overs which brought Winfield to the crease. Alexis kept going, with a sharp chance (I can say that, as I am writing the match report) going down from Rory. As Winfield came on, we decided to collectively forget how to field, as Wheato kept accumulating steadily, but with no signs of an explosion. Perhaps they were assuming their skipper, who'd faced more throwdowns than Pies has thrown tennis balls, would up the rate.

First drop went to Nick Ralfe, uncharacteristically putting down a dolly at point ("I can't remember the last time I took a catch" wasn't great signs), then next ball to Jithin standing up the stumps. The next ball went over Winfield's head for four. Impressive lack of visible headloss from Winners at this point. Alexis then shelled one at square leg (still off Winners), and another went through Jithin's gloves. Then the chance came as both batters ended up at the same end after a bad call. Winners called "easy", Nick then threw it more gently. Winners decided to drop it. Somehow, this ended up being Nick's fault. Pretty impressive gaslighting from Winners there. Probably deserves a bit of slack given he should have had a 7fer if we take drops into account. I can't quite remember who else dropped one. There were a couple more. Things started to look bleak. Even worse when a ball from Chennells flicked the thigh pad. Umpire gave it out. We called him back, another one to add to the list of successful reviews in 2s recent history.

Finally, Winners pulled the breakthrough, bowling their number 3, then removed their skipper (after all those throwdowns, he only bothered to face 4 balls). Very silly of him to hit it in the air to the one guy in the team that can catch. Scoring became easier as their number 6 immediately started finding the rope. The running was good (bordering on suicidal at times). Finally, a direct hit as Ralfe sprayed the stumps everywhere. It had been a lethargic spell of 25 overs or so, but enough wickets had fallen to give us a good chance if we could bowl well at the death. Second spell Chen also kept things very tight, another impressive effort.

We were then treated to something of a death bowling masterclass. DH changing things up and hitting the wide line to excellent effect, also taking the wicket on their number 4 on 86, caught well at long off by Jim. Badsy came back and stopped the boundaries. Wheato ended up on 218. The pitch was good, and it felt under par, but we left the field wondering if we could have kept them to 150 given the fielding performance. Onto tea, where Perrin tucked into a cold Saag Aloo (following his breakfast of one whole packet of garlic bread).

Perrin and Cawood to open up, Pez having not played cricket for a week following a trip to Italy. After his knock, there were some wondering if he'd also detoured to Spain. Cawood had spent all of Friday night telling people (bravely, including his captain) that he can't bat on a hangover, and definitely wasn't going to score any runs. His parents agreed with this sentiment, continuing to be his number 1 fans, but also the first to tell us he can't bat. Tough sell given he averages 80...

What followed was something of a batting masterclass, putting the bad balls away, keeping the ball on the ground and ticking the score over at 4 an over without really giving any meaningful chances. St Albans cruised to 180/0 without breaking a sweat, a severe case of pad rash for Jimmy and Rory once again. Cawood scored freely through the off side while Perrin struck spin powerfully down the ground, reminding us how good a player he looks when set. Everyone was pleased to see it, barring Nick, who had abandoned his house move to Stockwell for the day to TFC. It didn't stop Pez and Cawood continually asking what "the plan" was every drinks break, even though they were seeing them like beach balls and needed 4 an over.

Cawood eventually got out gubbing to mid off, devastated as he walked off. Mardelli decided to let him know what he thought of the shot, but an innings of 87 which again showed how valuable he is to this 2s side, taking the game away from the opposition and taking him to top of the division run scorer charts. Jim came and went, one climbing on him unexpectedly. Rory came in to finish the game and finished it with a few fours. Pez stood tall throughout, reaching his Hundred with a four carved through the off side, and the game was won. Another comprehensive victory, sweetened with an Ickleford loss (thanks to Sammy Kumar for getting two of their good bats out). The 2s rise to second. The promotion charge continues. Onto next week, a huge game against a team that's won every game this year.

Wheathampstead CC 1st XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
11w 1b 4lb 
for 6 wickets
16
218 (50.0 overs)		     
Marco Rodic ct  A Chennells b A Chennells 8 16 1 50.0
Ted Lloyd b  A Chennells 13 19 2 68.42
Chris Bates b  J Winfield 42 85 4 49.41
Chris Martin ct  J Rosson b D Harvey 86 126 10 68.25
Zeeshan Sialvi ct  B Cawood b J Winfield 4 4 1 100
Ross Martin run out  (Unsure) 30 22 4 136.36
Ben Bruce-White Not Out  11 18 1 61.11
Mike Bryant Not Out  8 10 80.0
Charlie Archer  
George Jarvis  
Steve Booth  

St Albans Cricket Club 2XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Daniel Harvey10.0235135.003.50
Aidan Chennells10.0234217.003.40
Ben Adshead10.015700.005.70
Alexis Awonuga10.024300.004.30
Jacob Winfield10.0044222.004.40

St Albans Cricket Club 2XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 10w 2b 1lb 
for 2 wickets
14
220		        
Steven Perrin Not Out  102 127 11 80.31
Ben Cawood ct  R Martin b G Jarvis 87 135 9 64.44 1
James Rosson ct  C Bates b G Jarvis 4 3 1 133.33 1
Rory Law Not Out  13 10 3 130.0
Jacob Winfield  
Daniel Harvey  
Nick Ralfe  
Alexis Awonuga  
Ben Adshead  
Jithin Balan  
Aidan Chennells   1

Wheathampstead CC 1st XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
George Jarvis8.0136218.004.50
Charlie Archer8.005400.006.75
Mike Bryant9.523900.003.97
Steve Booth10.003800.003.80
Ben Bruce-White10.015000.005.00

  • Umpire :
    Tim
  • Scorer :
    Ourselves