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2013 Allstars Awards Dinner

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UPDATE: We are going to meet at the Lamb & Flag pub in Rose Street, Covent Garden (click here for map).

We are pleased to confirm that the 2013 Allstars end-of-season Awards Dinner will take place on Saturday 16th November.

All players, past present and future, and their partners, are most welcome. Due to popular demand, we are switching this year from the ‘room above a pub’ format to an Indian restaurant – specifically, the Punjab on Shaftesbury Avenue. We’ll meet from 6pm in a nearby pub (TBC, suggestions welcome), and adjourn to the Punjab after nine.

The night is an opportunity for us all to meet and celebrate the past season. We also present awards to Allstars Of The Year, and nominations for these are now officially open. The awards recognise achievement or merit in any Allstars context – for a champagne moment, a performance in a single match, or over the season, for being a stalwart or good tourist, or for long-service. Please send your nominations to Maxie.

 We have a Facebook Page for the event, which you are encouraged to join and invite others to join. Most importantly, please email Maxie if you may, or definitely will, be attending.

North East Tour 2013

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On our seventh tour to Northumberland, we were warmly welcomed once again by our old friends from Eglingham CC.  After a pre-match drink at the superb Tankerville Arms, we made our way to their beautiful ground to play a T20 game to avoid the heavy rain forecast for later that afternoon. We had a shaky start as Pete Cresswell was unluckily run out in the first over going for a tight second, but Paul Bowman and Rob Jackson both went for their shots, Rob hitting a glorious straight drive down the ground and KP dispatching anything short.  After they both fell in successive overs, Paul Burgin rebuilt the innings with Belgium’s finest, Joel Winten.  Joel carved a four through backward point before he was stumped as he came down the pitch.  Paul began cautiously on his Allstars debut, but began to find the boundary as he top scored before losing his middle stump. Some busy contributions down the order took us to 84-8 – a modest score, perhaps, but defendable on a pitch that could seemingly only get worse with the weather.

Pete had bravely taken the gloves in the absence of our regular keepers, but as seems customary on our tours he soon found himself wearing a bit more. KP found a bit of bounce and the edge of the Eglingham opener’s bat, only for the ball to nastily deflect off Pete’s gloves and hit him on the eyebrow.  A trip to Alnwick Infirmary was required before he returned in triumph to the Tankerville. Nick Chadwick got an early breakthrough at the other end, rearranging their opener’s stumps, before our other local recruit, George Knox, struck twice in his first two overs, pinning one LBW and another smartly caught.  Our other debutant, West Yorkshire’s finest George Bridges, quickly settled into a good rhythm with his left-arm seamers.  But we didn’t have enough runs to play with, and with some impressive six hitting, Eglingham’s fourth wicket pair took them to victory.

We were eagerly awaiting our Sunday game against Corinthians CC, only for the weather to cruelly deny us, the Saturday afternoon monsoon leaving the Ryton pitch waterlogged and unplayable.  It didn’t stop us seeing some cricketing action on Sunday, as we headed to Chester-le-Street to watch Durham thrash Surrey.  Hashim Amla looked very much like the No 1 batsman in the world as he unveiled some classy pulls and cover drives, but once he was brilliantly caught by Phil Mustard, Durham’s pace attack made short work of the remaining Surrey batsmen.

Thanks to all who came on the tour, and hope to see you again – with better weather – next year!

Remaining Fixtures – 2013 Season

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For your convenience, here is a reminder of our remaining fixtures this season. Please email maxie (maxie@maxieallen.com) and the match manager if you would like to play:

Saturday 27th July Allstars v The Village (Tooting). Match manager: Vivek Seth.

Sunday 4th August Allstars v The Gentlemen of West London (Surrey/Hants border). Match manager: Garreth Duncan.

Sunday 18th August Allstars v Wisborough Wanderers (Tooting). Match manager: Maxie Allen.

23rd-26th August Northumberland tour. Tour manager: Garreth Duncan.

Sunday 1st September Allstars v Mighty Wanderers (Mill Hill). Match manager: TBA.

Sunday 8th September Allstars v New Barbarian Weasels (Barnes). Match manager: James Abrahams.


A stunning win v Baker Street Irregulars: match report

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Baker Street Irregulars v St Annes Allstars, Saturday 29th June 2013

By Neale Adams

Despite an onslaught of injuries and last minute commitments depleting the initial team roster of several players, others soon came forward to fill the spaces for the game in Ham near Richmond. The eleventh man Sam MacDonald was recruited on the morning of the day of the match and was to prove pivotal in the outcome of the game, but more of that later. 
Also of note was Robert Jacksonʼs commitment, after struggling through London traffic (as a result of various protests going on) to arrive at the venue some two hours after leaving his home in the city.
On what was to be the hottest day of the year to date, the Allstars chose to bat first in a 2×18 over format, where every player, bar the wicket keeper, would bowl in the first innings, and the batting order would be reversed in the second. Any bowler could only have a max three overs in the first innings, and a total of seven overs over both innings. 
Matty Boa and Ben Hampton took to the crease for the Allstars, with Boa knocking up a confident 37 with some superb stroke play, ably assisted by Hampton, who scored 17 before being caught, then Neale Adams, 18, before Adams was bowled out.
Haroon Khalid knocked up a very useful 22 later in the innings – with some good quick running – to leave the Allstars on 123-6. After a quick turn around, Boa and Hampton opened the bowling for the Allstars, with Hampton taking two wickets for a mere five runs in three overs. Nice work. Boa added great support in keeping the BSI run rate very low with one wickets for no runs from his three overs. 
Other contributions were made by James Devlin, 3-0-21-1, Pete Cresswell, 1-0-10-1 (first over for seven years) David Halladay, 1-0-6-1 and Nick Stebbings (debut) 2-0-6-1 taking the wicket on his first delivery after ten years out of the game. 
Most notable was the contribution of Richard ʻRocketʼ Stephenson (1-0-26-1) who took his first ever wicket for the Allstars, after the batsman was caught LBW by one of the Rocketʼs slower balls that was on target.
A rapid run rate for the BSI later on in their innings took their tally to 126-9. So, after a very fine tea put on by our BSI hosts – that notably included no soft drinks, just beer – it was MacDonald who opened the second innings with Jackson, who played despite having a broken toe, and a sore head from the night before. With the opposition hoping of a few quick wickets, MacDonald set about his task and dashed such a dream. With seven boundaries, including four sixes, MacDonald knocked up a foundational 44 for the Allstars before being caught. 
Khalid continued his fine form from the first innings by hitting a supporting 20 runs. An Allstars total of 125-9 was a target that the team thought would be a comfortable total to defend. Boa and Hampton again opened the bowling with Boa taking the lionʼs share with figures of 4-0-8-2, one of the wickets coming from a beautifully crafted yorker that turned in the air and homed in on the stumps. 
Hamptonʼs 4-1-18-1 and, later, Khalidʼs 5-0-27-1, were great performances in a supporting role. In the field, Stebbings must be congratulated for his work over the course of the match for taking two catches – one of which may have left marks having left the middle of the bat at force. 
But is has to be Devlinʼs 3-1-29-3 that takes the plaudits. With the home team hitting out, and leaving themselves on 20 runs needed off the final over, it was Devlin who bravely stepped up to bowl an over that could have gone either way. Two cleverly placed deliveries sailed past the batsman, who, on the next delivery, knew he had to hit the ball out of the park to keep his team in the chase. As the third ball left Devlinʼs arm the batsman made his way down the wicket, only to hit out at air and leave the keeper to take off the bails.
Another wicket in the remaining three balls was the cherry on the cake for Devlin who, despite fierce competition from Boa, MacDonald, Khalid and the legend who is known as Rocket, greatly deserved the Man-of-the-Match award. Thanks to all who turned out and played their part in a hugely entertaining cricket match.

St Anneʼs Allstars; Matty Boa, Ben Hampton, Nick Stebbings, David Halladay, Richard Stephenson, Peter Cresswell, Haroon Khalid, Sam MacDonald, Robert Jackson, James Devlin, Neale Adams.