Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI v West Herts CC 5th XI on Sat 06 Sep 2025 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Lost by 8 wickets

Match report The final league game of the 2025 season saw Saints 5XI welcome West Herts to Sandpit Lane. With regular skipper Immy unwell, 5XI veteran Andy Melling stepped up to lead the side. Andy won the toss and chose to bat first – with both teams having little to play for but pride, the focus was on enjoying the day.

Saints’ openers were standing skipper Andy Melling and Matt Shadwick, who started brightly, playing each ball on merit, finding the boundary when the opportunity came and rotating the strike sensibly. At 22/0 after 9 overs, Saints looked steady.

Looking to lift the run rate, Andy went for an attacking shot but was brilliantly caught in the slips by none other than Champaka Ramanayake – the former Sri Lankan international and coach of fast-bowling great Lasith Malinga. Nobody quite expected to see a player of his pedigree turning out for a West Herts 5XI in Division 11W, but there he was – though at his age perhaps we should just let him enjoy his cricket!

From there, the innings collapsed quickly. Young Daiwik was bowled for 0, and Thomas Couling was unlucky to get an unplayable inswinger first ball, falling LBW. Suddenly, Saints had slumped from 22/0 to 22/3.

Mostafa and John Shaw rebuilt briefly, looking positive, until Mostafa was given LBW by none other than Saints’ own panel umpire and newly crowned Club Person of the Year 2025 – Ciarán Walsh.

Uttam Vijender was bowled first ball, Jamie Coffey run out for 2, and Saints were staring at 43/7. At this point, enter the mighty Altaf at number nine. Alongside Shaw, he injected life into the innings with a quick partnership, smashing a big six over long-on and adding a couple of boundaries. Just as Saints began to hope for a respectable total, Altaf’s cameo ended thanks to yet another outstanding catch – yes, again by Ramanayake, showing flashes of his international class.
Saints were eventually bowled out for just 80.

At the break, skipper Melling rallied his side, urging them to make West Herts fight for every run. Altaf and Hadden opened the bowling with real aggression, beating the bat several times but without luck. West Herts’ openers were patient, in no hurry to chase down the target, with the ex-international anchoring the innings.

The breakthrough came when Melling turned to Jamie Coffey, who struck immediately – trapping Ramanayake LBW for 22. He struck again soon after, removing the other opener LBW for 5. Suddenly, there was belief, but Saints couldn’t find another breakthrough. West Herts played sensibly, and after 27 overs they reached the target to seal the win.

Despite the defeat, Saints can be proud of their season. 2025 was always going to be tough after last year’s promotion, with stronger opposition throughout. But Saints held their place in the league, gave debuts to 14 new players – including seven U15s – and showed the future of the club is in safe hands.

There’s plenty to look forward to next season, with confidence high that 5XI can not only hold their own but even push for promotion. In fact, according to Andy Wright, Ciarán Walsh already has a £10 bet placed on it…

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 6w 1b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
11
80		        
Matt Shadwick b N Thennaakoon 13 51 1 25.49
Andrew Melling ct Unsure b D Lad 15 23 1 65.22
Daiwik Khedekar b D Lad 0 2 0
Thomas Coulling lbw D Lad 0 1 0
Mostufa Fazle Alahi lbw B Khalid 5 22 22.73
John Shaw b D mahawatte 13 25 1 52.00
Uttam Vijender b N Thennaakoon 0 1 0
Jamie Coffer run out  (Unsure) 1 1 100
Md Altaf Husain ct Unsure b D mahawatte 20 21 2 1 95.24
Nadeem Arif Not Out  2 10 20.0
Tom Hadden b D mahawatte 0 1 0

West Herts CC 5th XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Roey Patel6.031400.002.33
Dakshesh Lad6.011234.002.00
Nalaka Thennaakoon4.501929.503.93
Bilal Khalid5.0123123.004.60
Abhivarun Juneja2.00500.002.50
Dillon mahawatte2.00431.332.00

West Herts CC 5th XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 19w 3lb 
for 2 wickets
23
84 (27.2 overs)		     
Dakshesh Lad lbw J Coffer 5 48 10.42
Champaka Ramanayake lbw J Coffer 22 33 4 66.67
Abhivarun Juneja Not Out  25 52 2 48.08
Dillon mahawatte Not Out  9 32 2 28.12
Prem Shah  
Roey Patel  
Ammar Ismail  
Aadi Bose  
Haider Raja  
Bilal Khalid  
Nalaka Thennaakoon  

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Md Altaf Husain8.031100.001.38
Tom Hadden5.002100.004.20
Jamie Coffer5.001226.002.40
Thomas Coulling5.001500.003.00
Daiwik Khedekar3.201500.004.50
Nadeem Arif1.00700.007.00