North London CC, Crouch End, Sunday 9 September 2018. St Anne’s Allstars (256-2 dec; Cresswell 91, Rattan 76) drew with Mighty Wanderers (155-4; Khalid 2-36).

By Pete Cresswell and Haroon Khalid

There is something wistful about club cricket in September, particularly on a balmy early autumn afternoon. There will be very little cricket left for the season. The winter will soon descend and the kit will be packed away until the following spring. When we do play, we want to make the most of the last remnants of the summer and to finish the season on a high. For one Allstar at least, this was to be the case.

The Allstars made their way to North London Cricket club for their annual fixture with our friends Mighty Wanderers for the coveted James Abrahams trophy. In a departure from recent meetings between the sides, a timed game format was decided upon.

The venue at North London is one of several on the same complex. With games simultaneously taking place on each, it has an idyllic allure. The ground for the encounter has one of the shortest boundaries on the Allstars circuit. Boundaries and singles would be the order of the day. In fact, it wasn’t until deep into the Wanderers innings that the first scoring shot accrued two runs.

Because of several dropouts, the game was reduced to ten a side with Stephenson kindly taking the field for the Wanderers. With the toss uncontested, Allstars skipper Nick Chadwick elected to make first use of a dry and slow surface. The innings soon got under way with Allstars stalwart Pete Cresswell and newcomer Ash Rattan opening the batting. The pair started cautiously, Wanderers’ first change bowler Nick Charlton being particularly challenging with a probing spell of fine outswing bowling. However, with a slip cordon spread too widely, a number of runs (frustratingly for the bowler) came through the third man region.

Both openers soon had the measure of the bowling and conditions, the fifty came up in the 10^th over with the batsman matching each other run for run. The pair then firmly pushed down on the gas pedal with the century stand coming in only the 16^th over. Rattan, making only his second Allstars appearance, continued his innings, driving with assurance and playing some delicate late cuts. Not to be outdone, Cresswell was brutal on anything off line; a clubbed on drive past mid-on off Jukes being particularly notable. Both batsman reached 50 within a short period of each other (Rattan in 49 balls, Cresswell 57). Aided by a generous number of extras, the pair posted the first Allstars opening stand exceeding 200 in only the 29^th over.

A proud sight Allstars doubted they’d ever see (when we’re batting …)

All good things must come to an end, and in the 32^nd over Rattan was adjudged lbw for 76 with the score on 214. The opening stand was an Allstars record for the first wicket, beating by almost 100 that set in 2016 by Sam Macdonald and Dave Halladay against the same opponents, and the second highest for any wicket in our history.

Ash’s wicket however only served to hasten the carnage. In 4.3 overs, the second wicket pair added 42 with new batsman Samer Hafiz tucking into the 35^th over with alacrity, bludgeoning six boundaries. Realising the declaration would soon be forthcoming, Cresswell took 12 from five balls of the 36^th over before being bowled by the returning Charlton for a magnificent 91, his innings coming from 99 balls with 19 fours. The declaration came immediately with the Allstars posting 256-2.

After an excellent tea at the main NLCC clubrooms the Allstars reconvened at Ferne Oval for a crack at the Wanderers’ batsmen. Wanderers’ opener Jules was quick to take advantage of the short boundaries and lightning outfield, taking a boundary off the first over from Haroon Khalid and another four of them in Chadwick’s first. However Khalid soon found the southern end to his liking, bowling Mathias in his second over & Jules in his wicket-maiden fourth to see the Wanderers on their heels.

The slowness of the pitch led skipper Chadwick to quickly turn to Tony Grant, who was unlucky to have a catch shelled by keeper Dharani first ball. But Samer’s left-arm spin quickly accounted for Maddison and at 58/3 in the 11th it was game on.

This wicket brought Andy and Nick Charlton together for the Wanderers, and they settled down to fight as the Allstars rotated their slow bowlers – Chadwick using 7 slow bowlers and 9 bowlers in total – in search of a breakthrough. The required run rate quickly grew in the face of some tight lines but the Charltons were resolute until Steyn Grobler deceived the elder Charlton LBW for the only wicket to fall from the northern end all day.

Chadwick and Khalid returned for the last 4 overs with super attacking fields in an attempt to blast out some wickets – but Nick Charlton and Tjasink were resolute, batting out for the draw, meaning that the Allstars retain the James Abrahams trophy.

Cricket’s second most important trophy remains in Allstars hands …

Player of the match: Pete Cresswell for his innings of 91.

Marble Hill Park, Twickenham, Saturday 1 September 2018.  St Anne’s Allstars 176 (P Kota 104) beat Crossbats 164-7 (R Asghar 2-16) by 12 runs.

By Haroon Khalid

The English Heritage site, Marble Hill House, provides a picturesque backdrop to an afternoon of friendly cricket. Indeed, the north side of the house lends itself to a perfectly suitable makeshift sightscreen. On a warm and sunny autumn afternoon, with cricket taking place, it’s a charming, chocolate-box sight.

With the scene set, the game was afoot. As a result of last minute team changes and with one Allstar due to be delayed, Crossbats graciously conceded the toss and allowed the Allstars to bat first. We fielded no fewer than four debutants and one player making only a second appearance. This was our second contest with Crossbats, following our inaugural fixture last year at the same venue, which resulted in a nail-biting 4 wicket win for the visitors. This game would prove to be no less tense.

Despite losing 2 wickets for only 14 runs after 4 overs, Paul Burgin and debutant Pavan Kota consolidated adding 79. It was during this stand that Kota showed the form that had hitherto yielded him 483 runs at an average in excess of 60 for his club, the Gentlemen of West London, this season. At no time during his innings did he ever look in trouble; cutting and driving with plenty of time and without risk. The dismissal of Burgin on 93 precipitated a clatter of wickets, the following six wickets adding only 54. However, this was not before Kota had brought up a magnificent hundred with his 16^th boundary, the first Allstars century in four years. A hectic tenth wicket stand of 29 between Khalid and debutant R Dharani in five overs took the score to 176 before the captain was run out to close the Allstars innings.

With conditions still good for batting (although the outfield was a little slow in places), the situation would certainly demand something remarkable from the Allstars in the field. And so it proved. The bowlers maintained a tight line and although wickets were not as forthcoming, the fielders gave their all for the cause.

After tea, Allstars started with skipper Khalid at the Richmond Road end and Farhan Aslam at the Marble Hill House End. However, so as not to bowl into the wind (and clearly showing a sign of his advancing years), Khalid brought Kota on in the 4^th over from the House end to allow himself and Aslam to switch ends. The move did more for Aslam however who took the wicket of Alexander, lbw for 4.

Up to the end of the fourteenth over, the required run rate had climbed to over a run a ball.  But it was the introduction of Allstars colt Rayaan Asghar which brought the second remarkable performance of the day. Rayaan first had Carter caught by Farhan in his second over just before the drinks break. In his fourth, he had Skinner taken sharply at slip by debutant Sateesh. It was a wonderful exhibition of controlled finger spin bowling which yielded 2-16 from seven miserly overs. Just to add that, he took a catch to dismiss Wright that gave Joe Silmon his first wicket.  The fifth wicket stand yielded 33 before an excellent run out accounted for Skinner, to leave Crossbats 94-5.

With seven overs remaining, Crossbats required more than eleven an over. However, with Ross going well, the home side added 40 in six overs before Farhan continued his excellent bowling form by dismissing Sayers for nine with a clever piece of seam bowling that took the batsman’s off stump. During this stand however, the Allstars fielded superbly; Stephenson in particularly giving no quarter. Crossbats required 23 from the last over and although the first ball of Khalid’s seventh over pierced the field for four, the target proved too much with the Allstars prevailing by 12 runs.

The game was notable for an excellent fielding performance. The team chased, threw and caught wonderfully. When it comes to choosing a man of the match, it is hard to look beyond Pavan Kota’s innings. However, it should be noted that were it not for Asghar’s parsimonious spell, the result may well have been different. Therefore, on this occasion, both Rayaan and Pavan are joint players of the match.

 

Sunday 19 August 2018 – North Middlesex CC, Hornsey.

St Anne’s Allstars 206/8 (Singh 34*, Bowman 34, Curry 32, Cresswell 30, Spee 5-23) beat Railway Taverners 177 (Spee 32, Bowman 3-35, Parr 2-6, Curry 2-25) by 29 runs.

By Pete Cresswell

North Middlesex CC boast a lovely collection of pitches in the shadow of Alexandra Palace, and the Allstars gathered there on a warm summer Sunday to face the Railway Taverners for the first time. Skipper Cresswell correctly called heads, glanced at the greenish pitch and the overhead cloud and then noted that the Allstars had a couple of players yet to arrive, and opted to bat!

Allstars openers Cresswell and Curry stride to the crease

Shortly thereafter Pete and Darren Curry strode to the crease, and got off to a brisk start, with both Darren and (amazingly) the Blenheim Blocker finding the boundary regularly and rattling up an opening stand of 68, the best of the season so far. It wasn’t until the 14th over that the Taverners’ 5th bowler Aymon Spee snuck one through Curry’s defences. This sparked a traditional Allstars collapse in the face of Spee’s accurate medium pace – Pete also had his stumps rattled, Sam MacDonald unluckily picked out long-off, and Sanjay Dindyal was the victim of an iffy LBW decision, and in no time 68/0 had become 88/4. Steve Parr (whom we’d borrowed at the last minute from the Taverners) was then caught at deep square leg, giving Kiwi Spee a five-fer, and we were 112/5.

Paul Bowman faces up to the Railway Taverners bowling

Paul “KP” Bowman and new cap Ashwin Rattan rebuilt the innings, seeing out Spee’s 8 over spell before pushing the score on against the change bowlers. KP looked in super touch as he advanced to 34 before having his stumps knocked back, and Ash worked the ball around well for 18 on his debut before he too was bowled. But this was a day when the Allstars batted deep, and the platform had been set for an acceleration in the last few overs – Sachin Singh wielded his MRF bat to impressive effect as he struck a rapid unbeaten 34, with very handy support from Joe Silmon. 206/8 felt like a handy score at the break.

Allstars do some fielding practice

After a superb tea in NMCC’s club rooms watching England capitulate against India, the Allstars took the field. In a solid opening spell KP removed the Taverners’ danger men Andy James, bowled off an inside edge, and Spee, plumb LBW, while Sachin kept things tight at the other end. Railway Taverners continued to press hard for runs in the second 10 overs as both the batsmen went after Sean “3-Estrellas” Jun. But Sanjay was working up impressive pace at the other end, as the batsmen struggled to lay a bat on him. It was a wicket well deserved when he produced the ball of the day to hit the top of Dion Nortje’s middle stump.

With the pitch slowing down the skipper went to spin in the form of Silmon and Curry, who kept the run rate required at 5 an over, as we slowly winkled out the middle order. Darren was rather unlucky to have several chances missed in the field, but he still grabbed two wickets as opener Matthias Winter was finally bowled and Dave trapped LBW. Debutant Ash then took his turn at the bowling crease (the Allstars’ players playing XI was rather stacked with bowling resources) to claim his first Allstars wicket as he bowled Tom Mansbridge.

The run rate required was growing past a run a ball, and wickets running out, as KP returned, with Steve’s help, to wrap up the tail for our first win of the season. Kudos to Sam for an excellent keeping display, while Garreth “G-Drive” Duncan, Sachin, Ash and Darren all put in some great work in the field.

All in all, a great day out against really friendly opposition, the post match chat & grub at the Railway Tavern was excellent. We look forward to another close contest next year!

The winning team!

Barn Elms, Sunday 22 July 2018. St Anne’s Allstars (218-7) drew with Brentham CC (198-9).

On a dust bowl at Barn Elms, another nail biting finish for the Allstars as we faced Brentham CC for the first time. We were grateful to Brentham for stepping in at the last minute after our intended oppo pulled out, and they were to prove excellent oppo in a gripping contest. Brentham fielded a youthful team with a few experienced old hands providing the bedrock of their batting.

Batting first, Dave Halladay led the way for the Allstars with a top score of 47, and given good support by the returning Tom Morris and new dad Paul Burgin, making his first appearance of the season. Sachin Singh continued his excellent form with a well worked 38, before debutant Sanjay Dindyal announced his Allstars arrival in fine style with a sparkling 43. We declared at tea with a season’s best 218-7 and very well pleased with our batting efforts.

Haroon Khalid opened the bowling, testing Brentham with pace from one end as Joe Silmon attacked with his leg spin from the other. Joe found the dry conditions much to his liking as he struck two early blows – the first a super stumping by Pete Cresswell – before Haroon grabbed a deserved wicket as he hit number 4 Sam’s stumps.

Sachin chipped in with another wicket as we continued to make inroads into the Brentham batting. The standout bowling performance of the day, though, came from Farhan Aslam, who bowled his medium pace cutters to great effect, his 4 wickets including 3 which hit the top of middle stump. Joe returned to strike again, his colleague Sachin continuing his fine all-round performance with a blinding catch at short fine leg.

Brentham opener Chris provided resistance with a battling 58, but victory was within sight as we grabbed the 9th wicket – but their gutsy last pair were to deny us as they batted out the last few overs to secure a well earned draw.

Nonetheless, defeat avoided for the first time this season, and another great day out against sporting opposition whom we look forward to playing again in the future.

Matfield Green, Sunday 8 July 2018.  Matfield Green CC (188-5 dec; Thompson 2-41) beat St Anne’s Allstars CC (163 all out; Macdonald 51) by 25 runs.

By Garreth Duncan

If there is a cricketing heaven (writing as a committed atheist), it probably looks something like Matfield. A cricket pitch right on a beautiful village green, surrounded by pretty cottages with a pub a stone’s throw away.  The club goes back over a century – World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon played for them and is remembered in their annual “Flower Show Match” – and their president is no less than Kent and England legend Derek Underwood, who popped along to watch some of the game.

We last visited Matfield in 2007, when we faced the Canbashers in one of the all-time Allstars classics, and when the Canbashers decided to relinquish their fixture we were eager to take it on.  With spirits high after England’s World Cup quarter-final victory the previous day, we were fired up and eager for our first win of 2018.  We were to fall just short – but only after a thrilling encounter where we stayed in the contest almost right to the end.

With the temperature over 30C, losing the toss and fielding first wasn’t particularly what I had in mind.  Gren Thompson, returning to Allstars action having become a dad for the second time, opened the bowling and quickly settled into an excellent rhythm and good pace, while at the other end Martyn Langridge kept things tight as usual and gave little away. Matfield opener William Izzard tops their batting averages this season, and he showed why as he started brightly with some powerful cover drives. On a lightning fast outfield, anything that pierced the infield flew to the boundary – but Gren struck the first blow as he bowled Izzard with one that kept a fraction low.

Allstars batting on Matfield Green

Sachin Singh replaced Martyn and continued where he’d left off against the Gents, with a good line and a useful quicker ball.  Opener Keir Hoffmann liked the late cut and got a couple of boundaries to third man, but Sachin was always in control and was finally rewarded when he went for the leg side and was taken by Gren at square leg.  Vivek Seth began a little nervously as number 3 Ewan Cooper went on the attack – a fabulous catch by Martyn at mid-wicket chalked off by a no-ball call – but Sir Viv also settled and he too got his reward as he had Shotton was caught at mid-on by Priyal de Zoysa, making his first appearance for the Allstars since guesting on our Hampshire tour in 2009.  At the drinks break Matfield were 93 for 3 and we were well in the game.

Kerrie Timm, the Rasta man from St Vincent, strode to the crease and went for some big shots at everything. We gave him a couple of lives as catches went down – but he always looked like getting out, and was easily stumped as he walked down the wicket at Priyal. Ewan Cooper continued on and reached his 50 before, a little surprisingly, being retired by his captain.  Joe Silmon came on and teased with his leg-spin, getting some turn from the dry pitch.  But even as Matfield tried to accelerate, excellent Allstars bowling and fielding wouldn’t let them get away.  Gren returned and got a second wicket as he bowled Greg Dann – this one also keeping a bit low.  Matfield declared at 188-5, and we went into the tea break pretty happy with our work in the field.

Sam Macdonald and Sachin Singh wait to bat in front of the Matfield pavilion

Matfield’s tea was of the highest order and is already rivaling Heartaches for the Allstars’ prestigious Golden Scone award – ice cream being particularly appreciated on a hot day – before we began our run chase.  Was this to be our day?

Matfield opening bowlers Hal Cooper and Shawn Spies both looked very handy, but for once we avoided a top-order wobble as Pete Cresswell and Priyal got us off to a decent start, Pete getting solidly behind the ball and Priyal finding the boundary with cuts and drives.  The opening bowlers had been seen off before Pete, unselfishly trying to push the run rate on, was caught at extra cover as he drove at Dann.  Priyal went soon after, bowled by Justin Bowden as he went for a big drive having scored a handy 28.

Having started slowly, we began to up the pace as the last 20 overs began.  Jimmy Scott, warmly welcomed back to Matfield by the opposition who know him well from Canbashers, rose to the challenge of being promoted to number 3, and scampered singles to keep the scoreboard moving as well as hitting a couple of lovely fours through cover, before he was bowled by Matfield skipper Peter Danby.  Sachin also went for his shots as he punished anything short or wide, hitting 3 fours in an over as Dann was hit out of the attack – but Bowden got him too after getting a useful 21.

At 89-4 we were still handily placed – but the innings of the day was only just beginning.  The white Chris Gayle, Sam Macdonald, was quickly into his stride, driving strongly and ruthlessly punishing anything short or leg-side.  Ewan Cooper got the treatment as Sam hit him for three leg-side sixes in an over, as the run-rate came within range.  Paul Nicol, taking a break from table tennis to return to the Allstars, provided good support before getting out to a poor LBW decision – the big inside edge even being audible in the pavilion. Where’s DRS when you need it?  At 136-5, with 6 overs to go, the match was still in the balance.

Sam Macdonald, our star of the day, with Matfield president Derek Underwood

Gren joined Sam in the middle and he too hit some sparkling shots, leaving victory within tantalising range.  But the return of the opening bowlers was to end our dream.  Hal Cooper, who tops Matfield’s bowling averages, struck with successive balls, bowling Gren and trapping Joe Silmon LBW.  Sam reached his fifty in the next over – but with partners running out, Spies bowled him as he continued to push for victory.

With all our specialist batsmen gone, we could only play for a draw.  I kept out three deliveries from Spies, but he got some extra bounce from the next one and I could only edge it to gully.  With just 10 balls remaining, Hal Cooper rearranged Martyn’s stumps, and it was all over.  But on a fabulous day, cricket was most certainly the winner.

Socialising with Matfield in the Star Inn

Matfield were the most generous of hosts, serving us some great food after the game.  After a classic encounter where we came so close to victory, we’ll be keen to go one better next season. This year, maybe we’ll just have to settle for football coming home …