Scorecard

Old Owens CC 3rd XI v St Albans Cricket Club 5XI on Sat 20 Jun 2026 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 2 wickets

Match report St Albans arrived at Old Owen’s without their talisman, their figurehead, Immy (who is still out injured). Despite this there was a confidence in the air with a strong line up and J.Witty taking the reins (although he did turn up to find out Hadden had already tossed up and decided to bowl).

What followed was a superb day in the field, with quotes of “like the good old days” being banded around by T.Cocks. Khel (8 overs for 10 runs!) and Witty were tight up top (7 overs for 36 runs, 1 wicket), putting Old Owens under early pressure. This forced them into a “quick” single which simply wasn’t there with the dynamism of Witty in the field (and Cocksy convincing the square leg umpire the bat was in the air).

Change of bowling partnership, and Haddsy and Naddsy were on. And what a partnership. Hadden, convinced the danger batsman had knicked off (he didn't walk and the ump was unmoved), was angry. Witty attempted to return the pin to the Hadden fury grenade but was promptly put back in his box by a chuntering bowler stomping back to his mark. If you know Tom, you won’t like him when he’s angry (next ball wide), but thereafter bowled with intent and discipline, grabbing a couple of wickets (including one amazing one handed catch from Shadwick). Nadeem though taking the plaudits for the second consecutive week with another MOTM performance, with 5 wickets for 29. Five wickets: good, conceding almost a third of the innings' total runs: bad. Bowling practice required.

At the break, Saints were confident. Too confident? Maybe. The old adage that you don’t know a good score until both teams have batted would be applicable here.

Shadwick and Melling opened up and quickly got up 21, however things would get a bit squeaky bum time just as quickly. An absolute procession of wickets would see Saints on 57-7. Old Owens with their tails up, sniffed victory, especially with some extraordinary catches at gully. But cometh the hour, cometh the man. And that man would be Toby Crisp (27*) who would be the glue of the innings, and along with Hadden (6) put on a crucial 29 run partnership to take the sting out of Old Owen’s surge for victory. But, Hadden (unbeknownst to many) has taken to batting in shorts so this really does detract from all the good work he did. In the end, all's well that ends well and the 5s got over the line. Never in doubt eh?

Overall, a good win and perhaps a lesson to be learned that the job is only half done at tea. Some special mentions for young Leal with 2 catches, Witty with a great run out, Cocksy with 2 superb catches behind the sticks and conceding zero byes, and generally a great effort and team spirit in the heat and mugginess.

By Matt Shadwick

Old Owens CC 3rd XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 8w  
for 10 wickets
9
92 (29.5 overs)		     
Ian Tyler ct  A Melling b J Witty 4
Alan Hunter run out  (J Witty) 3
Naman Paropkari ct  D Leal b T Hadden 25
Devang Shah ct  T Hadden b N Arif 22
Freddie Reboul ct  T Crisp b T Hadden 7
Siddharth Kshatriya b  N Arif 7
Pratham Shah ct  D Leal b N Arif 2
Jason Concar ct  T Cocks b N Arif 9
Akash Rajput ct  M Shadwick b T Hadden 1
Kejal Khajuria ct  T Cocks b N Arif 0
Shaun Flook Not Out  3

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
James Witty7.0036136.005.14
Adam Khel8.021000.001.25
Tom Hadden8.021735.672.13
Nadeem Arif6.502955.804.24

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 9w 9b  
for 8 wickets
19
93		        
Matt Shadwick lbw  S Kshatriya 8 1 1
Andrew Melling ct  D Shah b K Khajuria 8 1 1
Toby Crisp Not Out  28 3 1
Mostufa Fazle Alahi ct  I Tyler b K Khajuria 8 2
Daniel Leal ct  D Shah b K Khajuria 0 2
Tom Cocks ct  D Shah b S Kshatriya 4 2
Nasibullah Maroofkhel lbw  S Kshatriya 7 1
Adam Khel b  S Kshatriya 0
Tom Hadden ct  D Shah b S Flook 6 1 1
Nadeem Arif Not Out  5
James Witty   1

Old Owens CC 3rd XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Kejal Khajuria8.002739.003.38
Siddharth Kshatriya8.012646.503.25
Shaun Flook4.4121121.004.50
Naman Paropkari4.001000.002.50