St Aloysius Playing Fields, Highgate, Sunday 23 July 2023.

St Anne’s Allstars 177 all out (37 overs: Matt Biss 38*, Sanjay Dindyal 25, Jibran Fardos 4/12) tied with Railway Taverners 177 all out (44.5 overs: Dom Moger 61, Matthias Winter 24, Pradesh Deveraj 4/52, David Nandi 2/26, Adam Croughton-Kehoe 2/0).

Allstars Debuts: Adam Croughton-Kehoe and Mya Vale.

Report and photos by Sheahan Arnott

Cricketing parity is de rigueur this summer. From the drawn Women’s Ashes (where Australia retained the Ashes), to the drawn Manchester Test leading to a potentially drawn Men’s Ashes series where – you guessed it – Australia retained the Ashes. 

Well, as so often happens, the trends in professional cricket trickle down to our humble level and cricketing parity found a home in Allstarville, a mere stone’s throw from the site of Pete Cresswell’s epic 91. 

With rain falling fairly consistently on Saturday, the day predictably started with some cover wrangling, as those assembled early from both sides tackled the elements and a lack of engineering know-how to uncover the pitch and put away the covers without dumping the pooled water all over the playing surface. 

I agreed with the Taverners’ captain to stick to the tube strike-friendly timed game proposed earlier in the week, drafted two supernumeraries from the Tavs to make up our XI – captain Jock Vale’s daughter Mya and her boyfriend Adam Croughton-Kehoe who were itching to score some bragging rights – and negotiated to bat first.

Pete and Steyn Grobler opened the innings, with Steyn picking up where he left off against the Gents taking a long handle to anything pitched even slightly short. At the other end, Pete battled hard against Dom Moger who sent down one of the best spells of bowling I’ve seen in a long time, eventually losing his off-stump only to see it called a no-ball! There’s been a bit of that this summer!

With the score on 29, Steyn picked out the only fielder in front of the wicket on the legside and Epernay took a juggled catch that would have been far more painful for her 10 male teammates. Pete departed shortly after – caught at point by Akshay who had dropped him a few overs earlier – uniting Richard Slatford and Sanjay Dindyal at the crease. 

Slats played one glorious flick off his pads before offering a simple catch to mid-off next over, and the potentially devastating Raghavendra was run out from a direct hit leaving us precariously placed at 60/4 with Matt Biss walking out to join Sanj. 

Sanj and Biss battled hard through the middle overs to restore some control, putting on 49 before Sanj finally succumbed to Brady’s unconventional left-arm slow. It was tough going for both batsmen as they sought to right the good ship Allstar. 

David Nandi came and gave without taking – sending balls to and over the boundary – before Farman Zakhel sent him away. I came and went without firing a shot, leaving Pradesh Deveraj and Biss to take us up to a defendable target. Pradesh tried to hit out one too many times, and Adam and Mya performed a sort of cricketing AmDram version of Romeo and Juliet departing shortly after each other.

Biss ended up undefeated on 38 – an innings of concentration and determination in tough circumstances. I think it’s also worth noting he gave up the opportunity to get himself to 50, by not protecting our two guests from the strike. It also meant I was then not able to declare, given we were all out for 177 on the stroke of tea. I felt like we left quite a few runs out there, but also quietly felt like we probably had enough to defend if we bowled well with a pretty solid Allstars attack. 

When Akshay swatted a short-pitched ball from David in the second over, I was concerned about how quickly the game may get away from us if one of their batters got going, but Jimmy Nanderson got his revenge in his second over taking out his middle stump. Pradesh and David both bowled well, but Dom and Matthias Winter were equal to the task. 

Sanj – who bowled a fantastic spell – replaced Pradesh and Biss replaced David, but neither was able to get the breakthrough we needed before drinks, despite creating a few more half-chances. After drinks, Dom and Matthias began to push the scoring along, with some kamikaze running between the wickets almost costing them each their wickets multiple times. Unfortunately, a lack of crispness in the field meant we weren’t able to capitalise on it. 

A wicket felt close and a wicket would turn the tide, but when a simple skied catch led to multiple shouts of “mine” and a collision between Raga and Pradesh, it felt like the only thing we’d take away from the game would be an important lesson about how to call for a catch. 

I rolled the dice on bringing David back, which immediately brought about the end of Matthias’ vigil. There was no confusion this time as Raga took a simple catch. Sensing a moment to attack, I brought Pradesh on to replace Raga, who removed Dom with his first ball – an excellent catch from a full-blooded late cut by Pete in the gully – and Jock with his second ball – a tremendous catch behind the wicket by Slats. The pendulum had swung back in our favour. 

Dobson played his shots before losing his off-stump, and Rob was trapped in front by Pradesh who had swung the game with 4/11 in 19 balls. Pradesh’s second spell was incredible. His pace barely dropped over his 7 overs, despite being under an injury cloud all week. It was a Herculean performance to almost drag us across the line. 

But, of course, there were more twists and turns to come. Jibz Fardos hit out until he became the latest name on the list of people I’ve bowled. Sorry pal – you might think you’re God’s gift to cricket, but to me, you’re just another set of stumps to be knocked over. 

Enter Farman. Offered to us as a top-up player at the start of the day, he wasted no time making me regret my decision, bludgeoning boundaries off the indefatigable Pradesh who was 6 overs into his 3-over spell.

With the scores level and 3 wickets in hand, the Tavs looked home and hosed. Mya came on to bowl, and true to her punk aesthetic, didn’t seem to be constrained by the usual definition of the pitch, with Farman jumping out to knock the balls away harmlessly to avoid them being called wide – a wonderfully sporting gesture. 

Unfortunately, this was also his undoing as he called Guy Gibbs through for a single off the last ball of the over to win the game. Guy wasn’t interested, and David and Slats combined to run Farman out by half a pitch.

Our new friend Adam had never played a game of cricket before in his life. Whether this helped him relax and not be overwhelmed by the moment, I don’t know – he seemed like a pretty chilled-out cat anyway.  Standing almost still on the crease, he wheeled down his second ball – a searing yorker to remove Matt Brady. Scores tied, 1 wicket remaining. After a quick coaching session from Slats, Epernay – also playing her first game of cricket – was ready to face the music. After surviving two balls, her third went straight up in the air and Biss took the simplest of catches.

So Adam was the unlikely hero with 2-0 off 5 balls in his first ever game of cricket. It’s easy to forget why we play this great game sometimes, but Adam’s magic moment will stay with me for a long time, as I suspect it will for him too. 

There’s been a lot of noise about the much-ballyhooed, nebulous “Spirit of Cricket” this summer, but it really was the winner in yesterday’s game. Mya chased the ball tireless in the field for us all day, and Adam was asking questions to learn the game in the middle of playing it. Farman could have easily hit any of the balls he faced from Mya for 4, but he chose not to. To answer the question I allegedly posed to one of the Gents last week – yes this is the way I want to play my cricket. 

So our July of thrillers ends with two one wicket games and the first ever tie in the Allstars’ 23 year history – a cracking game celebrated in the Railway Tavern. But we still have lots to look forward to this season – beginning with our season highlight, as we all get together at Barn Elms for our Festival day on 6 August.