2026 is a milestone year for the Allstars, as it’s our 25th anniversary as a fully organised team.

As we look forward to our new season, here’s a first look back at some of our greatest days of the last quarter century with the bat – click on the link to the match report and photos for each game.

We haven’t forgotten the bowlers – they’ll follow in Part 2!

Dave Halladay 89* v Brading, Isle of Wight, 2003

Dave’s classic counter-attacking was a stand out feature of our early years – and his finest hour came on our Isle of Wight tour. After a top-order collapse had left the Allstars reeling at 44-5, leaving only only the tail for support, he took the attack to Brading with this imperious innings. That got us to a final total of 177, and a tour victory for a second season in a row.

Simon Begley 89* v Gentlemen of West London, Surbiton, 2005

Wins don’t come any bigger than the Gents, and each of our three victories over them has required one or more Allstars to play out of their skin. On this famous day, it was “Scratch” who took the fight to our old rivals. It was the loneliest of efforts, with only Paul Nicol also reaching double figures – but the Gents could not find a way past the Ulsterman’s broad bat. Our eventual score of 153-8 was more than defendable, James Devlin leading the way with the ball to victory.

Tristan Haddow-Allen 111* v A Few Good Men, Berkhamsted, 2006

No Allstars batting history would be complete without an innings from Tristan, who carried us on his shoulders for over a decade – his 4000 runs and eight centuries for our club being a record unlikely to ever be beaten. Batting right through our overs allocation, and putting on a monster stand of 191 with Tim Ross, we looked in command – but every run proved precious. A Few Good Men were almost as good as their name, with the game still in the balance until the final ball. But they couldn’t hit the six off it they needed to win, and we breathed a mighty sigh of relief.

Damian Radcliffe 120 v Eglingham, Northumberland, 2010

After our early tour successes, we had a long wait for our next win on tour – and it came on a glorious day in rural Northumberland. After a quiet start to his Allstars career, Damian picked the perfect moment to come out of his shell. Facing a formidable target of 214, we were 39-3 before he took command with a stupendous innings to take us to victory with two overs to spare. And he almost made it two in two the following day with 66 against Corinthians, to set a record tour batting aggregate which remains to this day.

Paul Bowman 91 v Gentlemen of West London, Barnes Common, 2011

“KP” has been a rock for the Allstars both on and off the field, and this day stands out as his greatest as we beat the mighty Gents for a second time. Having already played his part with two wickets with the ball to limit the Gents to 181-6, he took charge with the bat to ease us to victory and begin our second decade in style.

Neale Adams 93* v Mighty Wanderers, Mill Hill, 2011

Another stand-out innings by a stalwart who has given our club so much. It was a bolt from the blue – Neale’s only fifty for our club – but undoubtedly his finest hour. Facing a challenging target of 196, he took on all the Wanderers bowlers in a breathtaking knock to take us to a comfortable 8-wicket victory.

Sam MacDonald 105 v Gentlemen of West London, Barnes Common, 2014

Sometimes the greatest of innings can be in defeat. Norfolk’s finest has three Allstars hundreds to his name – but this one stands out as his most memorable. With a monster target of 230 to chase, Sam took on on the Gents attack almost on his own. His strokeplay was beautiful to behold, and while he was still in, we dared to dream. But once he fell, we couldn’t quite get over the line, and the Gents sneaked home by just 23 runs.

Pete Cresswell 91 v Mighty Wanderers, Crouch End, 2018

A memorable day for our Kiwi skipper, who gave his heart and soul to the club for over a decade. We could all scarcely believe our eyes as Pete and Ashwin Rattan rewrote our record books with a monster opening stand of 214. The whole Allstars community were willing him on to a hundred, but he couldn’t quite get there – but our imposing total proved more than enough to retain the James Abrahams Trophy with Wanderers only able to bat for a draw.

Sam Perera 106* v Gradcasts, Mill Hill, 2021

Another who has given much to the Allstars cause over a long period, this knock was the greatest of a fabulous summer for Sam. Coming in to bat with the Allstars wobbling at 32-3, Sam settled our nerves before running riot to score the first hundred by an Allstars regular for seven years, sharing an unbroken partnership of 192 with Steyn Grobler. It was more than enough to take us a crushing victory by 150 runs.

Raghavendra C R 100* v Mighty Wanderers, Barnes Common, 2023

Perhaps the finest of them all, in an amazing game at Barnes which had just about everything. Facing a target of 175, we were in desperate trouble at 61-6 – but while Raghav remained at the crease, we never stopped believing in victory. We still needed 46 when the ninth wicket fell – but Raghav continued to take the attack to Wanderers while shepherding number 11 Pradesh Deveraj to take us to one of our greatest victories with just one ball to spare.