Chiswick House & Gardens, Sunday 4 August 2024.

Gradcasts 150-7 (28.5 overs: Imran C 48*, Dave Haselhurst 43, Mathan Olaganathan 3-19, Sanjay Dindyal 2-5, Gren Thompson 2-19) beat St Anne’s Allstars 149-9 (30 overs: Gren Thompson 43, Harshad Keskar 42, Ed Duncan Smith 3-26) by 2 wickets.

Allstars Debut: Mathan Olaganathan

Report by Garreth Duncan – Photos by Jimmy Scott, Phani Sainath and Garreth Duncan – Video by Phani Sainath

Our series with Gradcasts so far couldn’t be a bigger contrast. Our first three games so far read: record Allstars victory; narrow Gradcasts victory; another record victory for us. After such a sequence, it somehow seemed like it could be their turn again today – but in a fabulous game of cricket, we gave it everything before they finally sneaked over the line with just seven balls to spare.

Chiswick House is one of the most stunning venues we’ve played at – complete with impressive electronic scoreboard – and it was a delight to make a return after over a decade away. I won the toss and decided to bat – but It quickly became apparent the pitch was uneven, some balls rearing up and others shooting through. But that didn’t stop us getting off to an excellent start, as debutant Mathan Olaganathan, who’d responded to our latest call-out for players on The Fixture List, and Harshad Keskar, making a welcome return to Allstars cricket after injury, began positively. On a fast outfield, the boundary count mounted up quickly, as they put on a run-a-ball opening stand of 31.

Left-armer Adam Dunkley broke the stand by bowling Mathan, but Harshad continued to hit boundaries while giving the opposition field an occasional tempter, and he was well supported by John Kingston as they put together a well constructed half-century stand for the second wicket. Gradcasts secretary Gavin Collins slowed the rate with an accurate spell, and their debutant Imran also kept it tight from the other end. But John’s dismissal brought a clatter of wickets as Ed Duncan Smith (no relation to the MP – or to myself?) was settling into a good spell. First, Harshad was caught, and then Phani Sainath and Kiran Chitajallu quickly followed. With just ten overs of the alotted 30 remaining, we were 87-5 and still had work to do to set a competitive total.

Gren Thompson, who’s been in excellent form for us this season, and Sanjay Dindyal, making a welcome first Allstars appearance of the season, first repaired the damage and then hit the accelerator. Sanj was just starting to get motoring when he was brilliantly caught at gully. Nathaniel Hill played a nice shot before losing his stumps, and then Jimmy Scott took a nasty blow to the forehead off a bouncer and was forced to retire. Iain Wilson was unlucky to be run out at the non-striker’s end as the bowler got a fingertip deflection onto the stumps – but Gren was in imperious touch by then, and I helped him add a quick 18 for the last wicket before he was bowled by the final delivery. Our final total of 149 looked just about defendable.

With the pitch still playing tricks, bowling at the stumps seemed the best way. Buoyed up by his batting, Gren gave us the perfect start as he bowled Mark Haselhurst in the first over without a run on the board, and soon followed up with another as he knocked Duncan Smith’s stumps over with a lovely inswinger. Mathan was also getting into a great rhythm at the other end, and in an excellent first spell for the Allstars, he bowled both Olly Coulson and Dave Lamb to leave Gradcasts in peril at 25-4.

We knew Gradcasts would have some quality somewhere, and by then left-hander Dave Haselhurst was into his stride, hitting powerfully through cover and straight. Sanj, despite sustaining a knee injury the previous day, was working up a really hostile spell, and he took the next wicket as Rich Murfitt played on to make it 46-5. Imran had looked class with the ball and in the field, and I didn’t need my favourite singer to tell me – I knew he was trouble when he walked in. He quickly settled at the wicket, and with Haselhurst still finding the boundary, the run rate began to mount – but Sanj just would not give in, and he dismissed Haselhurst with a brute of a bouncer which he skied to Harshad behind the stumps. Gradcasts were 86-6, and the game was still wide open.

Skipper Collins looked a good batsman too, and with Gren’s final burst unable to break the stand, the target ticked down. Harshad took his pads off to have a bowl, with Jimmy bravely taking the gloves having recovered from his injury. But still we couldn’t find a way through, and Imran and Collins continued to take Gradcasts towards victory. With just two required, Mathan completed an excellent debut with one last great effort as he pinned Collins LBW in his final over. After the amazing finish against Railway Taverners last year, we never believe a game is lost until the final run is scored – but Geri (not very Spicely) Morris took Gradcasts over the line as he steered the next ball down to third man.

But this was a superb effort by the Allstars and an excellent game of cricket, of which we can be very proud of our efforts, and everyone was in excellent spirits at the end. The Gradcasts are a great bunch, and with our series now tied at 2-2, we’ll look forward to seeing them again next season to see who can edge ahead once again. We have the highlight of our Family Day at Barn Elms to come on 18 August – but first, we’re back in North London as we contest the James Abrahams Trophy against Mighty Wanderers on Sunday.

Edmonton Sports & Social Club, Sunday 28 July 2024.

Railway Taverners 237-8 (40 overs: Akshay Prasad 92; Matt Biss 3-19, Anindya Roy 2-55) beat St Anne’s Allstars 165-6 (40 overs: Matt Biss 45, Shahed Ahmed 41) by 72 runs.

Allstars Debuts: Alfie Arrand, Asgar Chouglay, Mahfuzur (Lipu) Rahman.

Report by Garreth Duncan – Photos by Alfie Arrand – Drone video by Phani Sainath

The end of July has the summer sporting season in full swing. At Edgbaston, a thunderstorm from the North East blew away the West Indies as the lightning fast Mark Wood and thunderous blows from Ben Stokes sealed a 3-0 victory for England. In Paris, a new Olympic Games began as Team GB (or should that really be Team UK …) began their quest for medals. And, on a glorious day in North London, an Allstars side gave it all against our friends the Railway Taverners, but we had to settle for an honourable silver medal.

Edmonton was a new ground for most of us, although familiar to Shahed Ahmed who made a welcome return to the Allstars, having excelled against Superstars a couple of years ago. For such a well-kept facility, we were surprised to hear that the cricket club formerly based there had folded. Allstars skipper Matt Biss lost the toss, and we fielded. Alfie Arrand, our friend from the Gardeners, opened the bowling on his Allstars debut and quickly got into a lovely rhythm, passing Matthias Winter’s bat on numerous occasions. Kiran Chittajallu also began nicely from the other end, but American James “Boom Boom” Mulligan, after a couple of sighters, quickly found his hitting arc between mid-wicket and long-off, and the game looked to be moving away from us at a rate of knots.

But the 2024 Allstars don’t give up easily, and a double bowling change brought us back into the game, as we struck three times in three overs. Anindya Roy has settled nicely into our team this season, and deservedly took his first Allstars wicket with a beauty to bowl the dangerous Mulligan. Next over, our second debutant Asgar Chouglay – who’d responded to our ad on the Fixture List website and driven all the way from Rochester to play for us – removed Winter with a peach that hit the top of his off stump. Roy struck again as Jock Vale played on off bottom edge and pad, and out of nowhere, the Taverners were in a spot of bother at 52-3.

The triple blow brought the tall Akshay Prasad to the wicket, and together with Hugh Evans, he repaired the early damage. They’d doubled the score by the drinks break – but as so often, the resumption brought a wicket, as Evans tried to smash Phani Sainath out of the ground and was brilliantly caught by Alfie on the cow boundary. Keeper Holbrook joined Prasad, and they continued to up the tempo – Shahed bowling nicely, but also without any luck. Skipper Matt, incredibly putting his body through a third consecutive day’s cricket, finally got the break as brought himself on to bowl and castled Holbrook.

Alfie returned, but still couldn’t get the wicket he deserved, as Prasad continued to pepper the boundary while continuing to give half chances and the powerful Andy James found his range too. With the last over coming up, Prasad was eight short of a hundred – but skipper Matt stepped up once again, and Prasad, distracted by a ball he thought should have been called wide, missed a straight one and was bowled. Matt finished in style by bowling James two balls later, and with Guy Gibbs run out trying an impossible bye off the last delivery, and the Taverners finished on 237-8 – a tough target, but within our reach if we batted well.

Undaunted by the size of the target, we got off to a flyer as Matt, continuing his incredible feat of cricketing endurance, and our third debutant, Lipu Rahman, who’d kept wicket magnificently, opened up with a flurry of boundaries. But James soon found his line, and removed Lipu who was caught behind off a skier. Ryan Booker also bowled a tight spell, and took the second with a return catch off Sai. Alfie began promisingly, but just to reinforce it really wasn’t his day, he got out in really unlucky fashion as a loosener from Gibbs was caught between mid-wicket’s knees. We were 52-3 and, the Taverners had regained the initiative.

Shahed joined Matt at the wicket, and after the drinks break they upped the rate – but as he continued the push for victory, Matt, having made his highest score of the season, was stumped as he tried to accelerate. Nathaniel Hill has continued to develop well as an Allstar this season, aided by some coaching from Matthias, and it was lovely to see the sorcerer bowl to his apprentice. Nathaniel played a couple of nice shots, which were unlucky to find the fielders – but Matthias won the battle on this occasion, as Nathaniel spooned a catch to mid-off.

John Kingston, the amiable Irishman from Spencer who’d given us so much encouragement in the field, continued to take the fight to the Taverners with some late boundaries – but we were running out of overs and the run rate was beyond us. Evans took the final wicket, as Shahed was caught in the final over, and the Taverners had completed a deserved victory.

The Taverners were generous in victory, and we enjoyed drinks with them at the club bar and celebrated an excellent day’s cricket. It was great to see how so many of our new players have settled so quickly into the team and enjoy this great game, which bodes very well for the future of our club. And we were treated to views never before seen in Allstars cricket, as Sai’s incredible drone videoed us from the air for the first time ever. But there’s no rest for us in August, as we move back to west London next Sunday to face the Gradcasts at Chiswick.

Dundonald Recreation Ground, Wimbledon, Sunday 14 July 2024.
Gentlemen of West London 255-5 (30 overs: Gulati 116, Chatharaju 79*) beat St Anne’s Allstars 200 (27 overs: Raghavendra C R 86, Hemin Patel 5-31) by 55 runs.

Allstars Debuts: Linto Louis, Chari Javvaji, Kirandas Chittajallu, John Kingston.

Report by Raghavendra C R, with a little help from Pete Cresswell*

Much excitement ensued ahead of the Allstars’ annual fixture in leafy Wimbledon against our old friends the Gents. The Gents play attacking, exciting cricket and are generally tough to beat (much like another sports team last weekend). Unfortunately given other events, finding Allstars to take the field proved difficult – even on the management side, with Garreth swanning off to a prior engagement in a Germanic speaking country, Sir Viv opting to cheer on a Spaniard (in a different part of Wimbledon) and the assistant reporter being in the wrong hemisphere.

Traffic chaos and an unexpected hour’s delay led to three of our Banbury contingent arriving a little late: with an eye on an early finish to allow people to be in front of the TV before the Euros final, Gents’ captain Ratnakar Sudireddy and Allstars skipper Raghavendra sensibly agreed to shorten the match to 30 overs a side. Ratnakar won the toss and chose to bat, and with our Banbury guys not yet arrived, we began with only 9 players on the field.

Gents got off to a good start, with two boundaries in the second over, before eventually losing their opening batsmen Raj Patel from the last ball of that over, Amit taking a catch behind off Raghav’s bowling. Next over, Amiya Ranjan Rout clean bowled opposing captain Ratnakara, who’s a difficult batter to get out, with a ripper of a swinging delivery, and Gents were two down for 12 – a surprising start, but knowing from the past they have a strong batting line up and attacking approach, we still had a lot of work to do.

After the tidy short first spell from the opening bowlers, we went to change bowling. Debutant Chari Javvaji came on to bowl, and showed a great swinging ability and stump to stump bowling, bowling Hemin Patel. With Gents three down, Ranjith Chatharaju entered to support the hard hitting Gulati. The Allstars ethos is to give opportunity to all, and we gave all our players a bowl – but with Gents’ batting ability, there is little margin for error, and they started hitting the ball all over the ground, the run rate per over hitting 15+ as Gulati showed excellent power hitting skills and Ranjith’s classical shots kept the score board rolling.

We needed to reduce the run rate, and with Anil Kuriakose and Pradosh Bose finally reaching the ground, the bowling was changed once again. With Anil showing excellent reverse swinging skills, hitting the hard areas, and Pradosh bowling the heavy ball, we were able to control the run rate for a few overs.

After both the batsmen passed fifty, Gulati really started to free his arms and hit our bowlers over the boundary with ease, forcing us to bring back Amiya and asking Amit to take off the keeping gloves and have a bowl. Gents were aiming at 275, but Amit and Amiya bowled a tight line and length to bring down the run rate once again.

Chari was brought back to bowl, and was welcomed with two giant sixes from Gulati. Eventually, Gulati was out caught and bowled off the last ball of the same over to end his magnificent innings of 116 off 75 balls. At the other end, Ranjith continued to kept the scoreboard ticking with his classical shots as he ended with an unbeaten 79.

Amit with his hit the deck bowling continued to trouble the new batsmen and kept the run rate down, trapping Vamsee Krishna LBW to take his only wicket of the match. Phani Sainath and debutant Linto Louis bowled the final two overs to end the innings with the Gents 255-5.

The score looked a mammoth task, but I always believe that, if they can score, we can also score, and always believed in aggressive batting and a never say die attitude – with plenty power hitters in the team, we decided let’s give it a go! The established players took responsibility to up the run rate and providing opportunity for debutants to play without pressure and get the feel of the game.

Amit and Raghav opened the batting for the Allstars. Immediately, Amit began with two boundaries in the first overs to set the tone, before Raghav hit three consecutive boundaries in the second over. Amit was caught off Nilesh Nagpal in the fourth over to after hitting another four and a six – but he’d given us the lightning start we needed.

Pradosh joined the crease and started moving the scoreboard immediately. Raghav hit four consecutive boundaries in the sixth over and we were 67-1 off 6 overs and could believe.

Nilesh was bowling jaffa outswingers and was unlucky not to take a wicket – but Pradosh showed composure by hitting boundaries with lazy elegance making batting look easy. The run rate was still 8-12 runs per over and, incredibly, we reached 100-1 in 11 overs.

Game on, but next over Pradosh was caught on the boundary trying to hit a six off Sanjay Patel. Sai joined Raghav at the crease, but was out in the last ball of the same over to give Sanjay his second wicket – he and Vamsee both bowled tight overs to bring the run rate down.

Debutant John Kingston joined the fray to continue the aggressive approach – still saying we can chase it. He Jonathan ticked the scoreboard on by giving strike to Raghav who kept on hitting boundaries. At the drinks break after 16 overs, 130 runs were on the board with power-hitter Amiya still waiting to be unleashed in the dug out.

Raghav continued to hit boundaries before being caught trying to pull a ball to give game changer Hemin Patel his first wicket, before John got out in the same over trying to cut a ball. But new batsmen Amiya and debutant Linto started hitting boundaries to put together another useful partnership, with Linto showing no fear, big hitting skills and hunger for runs. After he was bowled by Hemin, Anil joined Amiya and they started ticking runs with quick running between wickets and Amiya clearing the boundaries when needed.

The game was well poised with 65 needed off the last five overs – but as Amiya continued to search for runs, he missed a yorker from Hemin and was bowled. Anil and Iain Wilson were both run out in the next over, and while debutants Chari and Kiran both showed intent for boundaries, they could only add a few more to the total. With Nathaniel Hill adding a few useful runs at the end, we finished with 200 on the board.

Hemin bowled the most economical spell and ended with five wickets – taking the crucial wickets to swing the match the Gents’ way. But as our history shows, the Allstars have always given it all, even against strong opponents in a losing cause, and the Gents were made to sweat, having thought it would be an easy walk after setting a mammoth total.

So we ended an entertaining day by enjoying beers and laughs with the Gents. While it may have ended with a loss for the Allstars, we learnt “anything is not impossible if you start believing” and we were always in the game after a spirited effort from the team. Although our all out attacking style may not work in other games, it has brought the skipper memories to cherish for life and given us confidence to achieve more. Let’s go out and do it again as we face the Railway Taverners in North London next Sunday.

*dialling in from afar

Parliament Hill Fields, Sunday 30 June 2024.

St Anne’s Allstars 86-5 (19.3 overs: Pradosh Bose 49*; Danu Chandra 3-17) beat Alexandra Park CC 83 all out (John Byrne 23; Pradosh Bose 3-10; Phani Sainath 2-12; David Nandi 2-18) by 5 wickets.

Allstars Debut: Phani (Sai) Sainath

Report and photos by Sheahan Arnott

As I’m sure you all know, the earliest documented reference to Hampstead Heath dates back to to 986 when Aethelred the Unready granted land to the Abbot of Westminster.

Historians and linguists – especially linguistic historians – will tell you that Aethelred was not actually unready, but ill-advised. But I’d be surprised if he was perhaps as ill-advised as our efforts to get a game this week were.

We went through opponents like Liz Taylor going through husbands. We were not even sure whether there was an actual booking we could use at the venue. It rained on the morning of the game. And we had 9 players. I was wishing I was as ready and as well-advised as Aethelred.

I figured the deck would be a goat track, and – with some rain around – bowling first in a declaration game seemed to be our best path to getting a result.

I agreed with their skipper that we would bowl first, and – despite there only being 9 of us and then declining our request to borrow a fielder – I was still confident this was the right choice. And when David Nandi pitched two balls in the same place and we watched one soar past the batter’s eyes, and the other past his toes, I knew I’d made the right choice.

Pradosh Bose started the rot in his first over as Frank bunted an easy catch to Barathwaj Nagarajan at cover off a ball that lept. As I offered the traditional “bad luck mate”, I was met with a tirade along the lines of “the groundsman told us to use the other wicket chunter chunter chunter.”

Pretty graciously – if I say so myself – I offered their captain not only the chance to move to the recommended wicket, but also that the batsman dismissed could bat again. He graciously accepted, but we still got no sub fielder…

Pradosh and David bowled well – they challenged the bat, they made the most of the wicket and they barely bowled a loose ball between them. To say we had them not-many-for-5 at the end of their spells because of the pitch would be disingenuous.

Our new friend Sai, making his Allstars debut, came on bowling a little unconventionally, but effectively, with the batters struggling to score off him. In no time he had 2/12, and we had a drink with Alexandra Park 55/7, having recovered somewhat from 32/6.

I removed the obdurate Mo Bajaj first ball after drinks, and some good bowling from Hywel Roberts and Barathwaj was rewarded with a wicket for them each. Baz bowled exceptionally, and was unlucky to only take one wicket.

To keep a team to 84 with 9 fielders and short boundary was an outstanding effort. Yes, there was a lot of classic Allstars fielding, but we held every catch, and just about everyone stopped at least one ball they had no right to.

I was worried that 84 was going to be too many with a short batting order and a pitch playing tricks, but cometh the hour, cometh the man. On a wicket that had confounded everyone before him, Pradosh looked assured from ball one. He came to the crease at 19/3 in the middle of an excellent spell from Danu Chandra, and immediately struck the ball more cleanly than anyone had all day.

Baz battled manfully for his 5 runs. It feels like such an unfair reward for how well he played, how he weathered the storm and how he supported Pradosh. The pair compiled 45 runs to take us within striking distance, and – despite a little sputter – a towering six from Pradosh was the icing on the cake of an all-time gutsy win.

These wins don’t just happen. Sure Pradosh made 49*, took 3 wickets and a held a catch – a fantastic all-round performance – but without Steyn Grobler’s efforts behind the stumps and consecutive slaps for 4, Nathaniel Hill’s dedication in the field, and Anindya Roy’s diving catch, we could easily have been out of the game in the first 10 overs. And they’re just three names – everyone contributed to the result.

And maybe if Aethelred had shown the same strength of spirit, you’d be reading this in Danish, and it would be about handball.

Trevor Bailey Sports Ground, Dulwich, Sunday 9 June 2024.

Mandarins 213-4 dec (33 overs: Arun Sajjan 52* ret, J Wilmot 51* ret, Gren Thompson 2-30) beat St Anne’s Allstars 101 all out (32 overs: Gren Thompson 30*, Barathwaj Nagarajan 24, C Healey 3-8) by 112 runs.

Allstars Debuts: Anil Kuriakose, Anindya Roy.

Report and photos by Vivek Seth

On a sunny morning in June, the Allstars headed to Dulwich for their second game of the season. Our opponents, Mandarins CC, are a spin-off of our old friends the Superstars – who now confine themselves solely to midweek T20 fixtures . As well as a new oppo, we welcomed two new Allstars, Anil and Anindya, and a new skipper with Barathwaj Nagarajan captaining us for the first time.

The Allstars lost the toss and fielded first. We opened with a combination of pace (Gren) and slow (me) in an attempt to quickly unsettle the batsmen. To begin with, it worked well with the Mandarins struggling to get going. Gren bowled both openers and come the 10th over, Mandarins were 28/2. That though, brought Wilmot and Arun Saajan to the crease. Both established themselves very quickly and began a considerable counterattack. A combination of Pradosh Bose, Anil, Andrew Lipscombe and Iain Wilson all did their best to dislodge both batsmen but with very little joy. Even with a slow outfield, and some outstanding fielding by Pradosh and Jimmy Scott in particular, both batsmen found the boundary with relative ease. A couple of tough dropped catches did give us some confidence, though: there were chances to be had and we were still in the game.

Both Wilmot and Saajan retired upon reaching their fifties, further emphasising that Mandarins really do play Sunday cricket in the right spirit. The hope was we could reassert ourselves with new batsmen at the crease. Pradosh initially obliged, taking his first Allstars wicket as he bowled Jarvis. Vijay Anand, however, took on the heavy hitting role for the Mandarins, with skipper Barath eventually taking his wicket for a quickfire 44.

Manadrins declared on 213/4. A tough total but one which we thought could be gettable with a couple of strong partnerships. The draw was definitely a realistic target.

Barath and Anindya opened the batting and immediately looked to score quickly and assert themselves. There was early joy, with both finding the boundary. Anindya fell in the 7th over with Allstars now 31/1 and with a good platform to push for a good total. However, in typical Allstars fashion, we opted to collapse instead, in the face of some particularly strong bowling from Healey and Mandarins skipper Dan Forman. Andrew, Barath, and Anil all looked to hang around but fell to tight bowling. Pradosh and Nathaniel Hill then also went in quick succession, leaving victory well out of the equation.

At the start of the 20 over countdown, the Allstars were 49/6. With me and Iain at the crease, we immediately tried our best Boycott impressions, leaving as much as possible to try and salvage the draw. It worked for 7 overs before I was then bowled. That then brought Gren to the crease who again initially blocked out but then quickly went on the attack. The partnership lasted another 5 overs before Iain’s stand ended with 8 overs left. Gren continued his attack, taking the Allstars beyond 100. Neale Adams then fell, leaving 6.4 overs for Gren and Jimmy to see out. Hopes remained high, but some outstanding Mandarins fielding led to Jimmy being run out at the end of the over. Allstars all out for 101, with the Mandarins winning by 112 runs.

A tough day for the Allstars. While a well-deserved victory for the Mandarins, we were competitive and certainly had our chances to make the game much closer. Despite the result, we all agreed that it was a great day out: a lovely setting, a chance to meet up with friends old and new, and an oppo who were clearly cut from the same cloth as ourselves. We very much look forward to playing the Mandarins next year.