Rocket models the new Allstars tie and cufflinks set
Author: stannesallstarsblog
Gents v Allstars – match report
Sunday 7 June 2015, London Playing Fields, Boston Manor.
Weather: sunny
Toss won by: Gents.
Allstars debut: MHJ Murray.
By Garreth Duncan
The Gentlemen of West London are one of our oldest and friendliest rivals in social cricket. Our long history of fixtures against them has yielded just two Allstars wins and the odd near miss amidst a number of painful drubbings. Last year we had run them much closer than usual, and they came into this fixture having unusually lost their opening four games. For 15 overs we dared to dream of a third Allstars victory, only for normal service to then resume in the cruellest of defeats.
The ground was a new one for us, and the pitch looked a very good one for batting with a temptingly short leg-side boundary from the pavilion end. My bad luck with the toss continued, as Gents skipper Horace Hibbert called correctly and unsurprisingly chose to bat first. But we were to get off to an incredible start as Paul Bowman, charging in down the slope, struck twice in his second over, rearranging Hemin Patel’s stumps before Sachin Desai aimed an ambitious drive over the top for Ben Hampton to take a steepling catch at mid-off. Unbelievably, in KP’s next over Nilesh Dubey attempted the same shot and fell in identical fashion, and the Gents were 20 for 3. As KP remarked himself, a most un-Gents like start.
Nick Chadwick fared less well from the other end as the Gents began to find their way back into the game. Haroon Khalid, who had bowled well without any luck in the previous games as catches had gone down, replaced him and finally took the fielders out of the equation as he produced a crackerjack yorker to bowl Praveen Bocha. Next over, Ben repeated the dose from the other end as he wrecked Mamidi’s stumps with a full delivery. The Gents were 56 for 5 and we were pinching ourselves.
Bearded opener Jonny Small had watched the devastation from the other end while his own wicket looked far from secure. A run out chance went begging as he dawdled in mid-pitch, and he began to unveil his shots as he and Komal began the Gents fightback. Komal was living dangerously too as a couple of shots just evaded the fielders. At drinks they were 92 for 5 with the game in the balance.
We gave both of them a life just afterwards, a desperately tough chance at gully and a skier at mid-on both going down, and another run-out opportunity was missed as Chadders’ throw went inches wide. Like the good side they are, the Gents made us pay as the short boundary was ruthlessly targeted. As so often happens when two batsmen get in on a good pitch and a hot day, heads dropped and our ground fielding suffered as Small and Komal ran riot in the closing overs. Their partnership of 213 was, according to Gents stalwart Andy Burman, a club record for any wicket.
270 looked an impossible target, and the Gents opening bowlers were to prove up to their usual standards. Jamaican Hibbert quickly found his line and trapped James Abrahams lbw on the back foot. Ben Hampton went on the attack in his usual death-or-glory style, but Anil Uruganti proved just as sharp from the other end as he knocked over his stumps in the following over. KP also started positively, but he tried to hit Aguirre’s opening loosener out of the park and perished at cover.
The game looked gone at 34 for 3, but Chadders, in the batting form of his life, and debutant Matt Murray mounted a courageous fightback. Chadders punished anything short or leg-side, and Matt unveiled some classy cover drives. At the drinks break they’d put on 50 and an unlikely victory was still just possible.
The dream died after the break as our old adversary Sanjay Patel dismissed them both, Matt picking out the fielder at mid-wicket and Chadders losing his stumps. Paul Nicol, who had made one of his trademark disappearances during the tea break as he went shopping for tea bags, was also bowled by Sanjay, and the run rate soon went way out of reach. But the Allstars spirit was unbroken as we refused to give in, Ben Marshall putting up stout resistance and Neale Adams, braving a back problem to make up our numbers, going for his shots. Though they both fell, Haroon and Richard Stephenson continued the fight right to the end as we saw the overs out.
Scorecard
Gentlemen of West London
+J Small not out 131
H Patel lbw b Bowman 0
S Desai c Hampton b Bowman 0
N Dobey c Hampton b Bowman 5
P Bocha b Khalid 12
S Maimidi b Hampton 0
S Komal not out 74
Extras (b20 lb4 nb1 w22) 47
Total (5 wkts, 35 overs) 269
Did not bat: T Aguirre, S Patel, A Uruganti, *H Hibbert.
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (2), 2-10 (3), 3-20 (4),4-47 (5), 5-56 (6).
Bowling: Bowman 7-0-32-3, Chadwick 7-0-45-0, Hampton 7-1-53-1, Khalid 7-0-42-1, Nicol 4-0-32-0, Murray 3-0-43-0.
St Anne’s Allstars
B Hampton b Uruganti 7
J Abrahams lbw b Hibbert 0
PM Bowman c H Patel b Aguirre 9
MHJ Murray c Aguirre b S Patel 28
N Chadwick b S Patel 30
PTS Nicol b S Patel 2
+B Marshall b Desai 5
HR Khalid not out 14
NB Adams b H Patel 12
RJ Stephenson not out 1
Extras (b6 nb 3 w10) 19
Total (8 wkts, 35 overs) 127
Did not bat: *GA Duncan
Fall of wickets: 1-10 (2), 2-12 (1), 3-34 (3), 4-89 (4), 5-92 (6), 6-97 (5), 7-99 (7), 8-118 (9).
Bowling: Hibbert 5-1-16-1, Uruganti 5-1-14-1, Aguirre 4-0-33-1, S Patel 7-0-20-3, Desai 5-1-13-1, H Patel 5-1-16-1, Bocha 4-0-10-0.
Result: Gents won by 142 runs.
2015 fixture list
Here is the fixture list for the 2015 Allstars season. Some extra dates will be added, and, as you can see, a few precise dates (and venues) are yet to be confirmed.
Sunday 17th May v Valley End (away – Chobham, Surrey. Match manager – Tony Grant). MATCH DRAWN.
Sunday 24th May v Sanford (away – Guildford). LOST BY 97 RUNS.
Sunday 31st May v Quokkas (Mill Hill. Match manager – Nick Chadwick). WON BY 3 WICKETS.
Sunday 7th June v Gents (away – Boston Manor). LOST BY 142 RUNS.
Sunday 21st June v Salix (home – Mill Hill).
Sunday 5th July v Village (away – Oxford).
Saturday 1st August v Baker St Irregulars (home – Barnes Common).
Saturday 8th August v Rain Men (home – Barnes Common).
Saturday 29th August – St Anne’s Allstars Festival (Barnes Common)
Sunday 6th September TBC v Mighty Wanderers (home – Barnes Common).
Saturday 19th September v New Barbarian Weasels (home – Barnes Common).
20th Anniversary tie, pocket square and cufflinks
To mark the 20th anniversary of St Anne’s Allstars this year, a limited edition tie, pocket handkerchief and set of cufflinks is being made available to all members and players. At £20 not only will the Allstars be the smartest cats on the block but at least 20 per cent of the money will go to club funds. Please tell Neale if you are interested in purchasing the set so we can put in an order in by the end of January.
Benidorm Tour 2014 – match report
Woodbridge Oval, Albir, Saturday 4 October 2014.
Toss: Sporting Alfas.
Format: 40 overs per side; 8 per bowler; batsmen retire at 50.
By Garreth Duncan
Sporting Alfas are an institution in the town of Albir, 5 kilometres from Benidorm and home to a mixture of locals and British and Scandinavian ex-pats. They are a very professional outfit, playing over 100 games a year from February to November, a mixture of league fixtures and friendlies against a wide variety of touring sides. Their ground has come a long way since I last visited 15 years ago – while its primary function is still a golf driving range, the wicket is much improved and the outfield noticeably flatter, and they have added nets and an impressive clubhouse decorated with memorabilia from the many clubs that have visited them. Facing their 1st XI on the Saturday of the tour, we knew we were in for a tough contest.
Sporting Alfas’ captain Ben Fletcher won the toss and decided to bat first, though Maxie’s apparent determination to field first regardless of the toss or conditions caused some consternation to one of the tour party. Opener Joel Brook began with a flurry of boundaries, but George Metcalfe looked less certain as Nick Chadwick and Gren Thompson began to find their rhythm. Both had no luck in their opening spell as both Sporting Alfas openers were given a life, a tough chance at slip and a much easier opportunity at mid-off both going down.
After 10 overs the score was 75-0 and looking ominous for the Allstars, before an inspired piece of fielding from Vivek Seth off his own bowling gave us the breakthrough. Brook unleashed another powerful straight drive back down the wicket, only for Vivek’s fingertip to touch it onto the stumps with Metcalfe out of his ground at the non-striker’s end. Brook retired shortly afterwards having reached his 50, but new batsmen Christian Muñoz and Adam Alger continued confidently. Martyn Langridge put a brake on the scoring with consecutive maidens, but it was Neale Adams, also playing his first Allstars tour game, who broke the stand.
Maxie had minutes earlier moved Martyn to cover on the grounds “he was a better fielder”, and had placed himself at extra cover – precisely in the direction Alger’s shot flew. There followed an agonising few seconds as Maxie looked around waiting for someone else to call for the catch before he gloriously held on. This was the signal for Gren’s recall, and the third greatest living Yorkshireman (Geoff Boycott being the first, though Alan Bennett’s status as the second was hotly disputed over the weekend) charged up the slope, knocking Muñoz’s stumps over before bowling Jamie Roper off a bottom edge. Andy Dell (husband of our brilliant tour guide Katie) fared no better as Gren produced a perfect yorker to shatter his stumps. Gren’s second spell had yielded 3 for 7 off 4 overs, and the Allstars were right back in the game.
Neale soon struck again, finding Muhammad Shahzad’s glove for Chris Gould to take a juggling catch behind the stumps, and Sporting Alfas were 180 for 7. But their skipper Fletcher is a class act with the bat, and with Jack Perman also in good touch they repaired the damage and increased the rate towards the end. We had performed superbly in the field to restrict such a good side to 250 off 40 overs, but missing so many of our leading batsmen it was always likely to be a different matter when it was our turn to bat.
19 year old Roper looked sharp and was getting plenty of bounce out of the pitch, but Allstars openers Neale and Martyn bravely kept his first two overs out. Neale crunched a boundary off Kevin Laundon to set us on our way, but Martyn could do little about Roper’s scorcher that crashed into his stumps. Adam Alger, kindly agreeing to reinforce our batting, fared little better as he was taken at slip in the same over. Neale and Gren continued to battle hard against some of the quickest bowling we’ve faced in some time, but Roper ended Gren’s resistance in his final over as he was also taken at slip.
Brook struck in his first over as he bowled Chadders, but the Alfas opener’s day was to get even better. First, Neale, looking to attack after 14 overs’ stubborn resistance, was caught and bowled off a leading edge. The batsmen had crossed, and next ball Rob Jackson went for a big drive and was bowled. With the next ball, Chris Gould, batting with a finger injury he sustained while keeping wicket, was taken at slip. Brook had taken the first hat trick against the Allstars in our 14 year history – and his reward was to be removed from the attack. Richard Stephenson departed immediately after the drinks break, bowled by Metcalfe, and we were 34 for 8 and in danger of eclipsing our record lowest total.
A cheer went up as a wide took us past the critical 40 mark, but I didn’t last much longer as Andy Dell hit my leg stump. Our second local ringer, Damian Taylor-Lock, finally gave us something to cheer about as he went for his shots, Vivek Seth keeping him company in the highest partnership of the innings. But it couldn’t last, and Jack Perman ended the innings by bowling Vivek.
Against such overwhelming odds, we could still hold our heads high. We were eagerly awaiting our chance for revenge against Sporting Alfas’ 2nd XI on the Sunday, only for a spectacular thunderstorm to end the game with them 22-0 off seven overs. By the time the storm finished 90 minutes later, the playing surface was only fit for the ground’s large (non-cricketing) duck population. Still, 1 draw and 1 loss on tour is only bettered by our triumph in France.
Man of the Match: Gren Thompson. An inspired second spell from the White Rose.
Champagne Moment (as voted in our end of tour dinner): It could only be Maxie’s catch.
Scorecard
Sporting Alfas
J Brook retired out 50
G Metcalfe run out (Seth) 15
C Muñoz b Thompson 42
A Alger c Haddow-Allen b Adams 35
J Roper b Thompson 0
A Dell b Thompson 5
M Shahzad c Gould b Adams 5
J Perman not out 24
B Fletcher not out 29
Extras (b28 lb4 w13) 45
Total (7 wkts, 40 overs) 250
Fall: not recorded
Bowling: Chadwick 8-0-39-0, Thompson 8-0-20-3, Langridge 8-3-34-0, Seth 7-0-59-0, Adams 7-0-46-2, Duncan 2-0-23-0.
St Anne’s Allstars
NB Adams c & b Brook 13
M Langridge b Roper 1
A Alger c slip b Roper 4
G Thompson c slip b Roper 4
N Chadwick b Brook 4
RP Jackson b Brook 6
RJ Stephenson b Metcalfe 0
+CR Gould c slip b Brook 0
GA Duncan b Dell 0
D Taylor-Lock not out 29
V Seth b Perman 2
Extras (w5) 5
Total (21.4 overs) 68
Did not bat: J Abrahams, *MJC Haddow-Allen.
Fall: 1-5 (2), 2-9 (3), 3-20 (4), 4-24 (5), 5-34 (1), 6-34 (6), 7-34 (8), 8-34 (7), 9-40 (9), 10-68 (11).
Bowling: Roper 5-2-13-3, Laundon 5-2-7-0, Brook 3-2-4-4, Metcalfe 3-0-14-1, Dell 3-0-15-1, Perman 2.4-1-15-1.
Result: Sporting Alfas won by 182 runs.
St Anne's Allstars 