Is this a taste of things to come? Today’s match against Village CC marks the beginning of an era in which Maxie is to take a less active role in the running of the club. And the result: we have 13 players all ready willing and expecting to play. Is this when we realise that Maxie was not such a bad administrator after all?

Location:Barnes Common

By Garreth Duncan

The Salix-Allstars rivalry goes (almost) all the way back to the foundation of our club, and the games have always been tight and close-fought. On World Cup final day, this time was different as we ended up ridiculously easy winners, thanks to some good bowling and an imperious century from Andy Clarke.

Salix’s captain Stuart Lumsden won the toss and asked us to field first on a burning hot day. We were quickly in amongst them as Tony Grant had opener Mark Rickman caught behind in an excellent opening spell. Haroon Khalid and Jon Ryan chipped in with two wickets each, and Salix were five down with less than 80 on the board.

But with the Allstars restricted by injuries to Captain Morgan and to quickie Chris Mitchell, Salix fought back hard with the big-hitting Chris Milton and left-hander “CK1” Kulasingham putting together a handy partnership, which Tristan eventually broke by having Milton caught behind by Jon Hautot. Chelsea’s finest followed up with two more catches to finish with an Allstars record of six, making a nonsense of his own pre-match comments that he was getting a bit old for this keeping lark.

At tea, Salix’s final score of 195-8 felt like 30 or 40 too many. But once Clarkey got going it never looked remotely enough. Mixing classical cover drives with clever deflections behind square, he treated all the Salix bowlers with disdain as the ball flew to all parts over the lightning-fast outfield. How we wish Talksport could let him play for us more regularly. He was well supported in an opening alliance of 67 with Andy Reid, who played the shot of the day, stepping down the track to hit Gavigan over midwicket, and then in a century stand with Chris, who hit a composed fifty to take us to victory with three overs to spare.

A great way to complete our first win of the season, and get home in time to watch the kicking contest in Johannesburg.

Scorecard

Salix CC v St Anne’s Allstars CC, Sunday 11 July 2010
Imperial College Sports Ground, Harlington
Weather: hot and sunny.
Toss: Salix.
Format: 35 overs a side; 7 overs per bowler.
Debuts: S. Juniper.

Salix

D Spillane lbw b Khalid 11
M Rickman c Hautot b Grant 13
D Gavigan c Clarke b Ryan 7
C Milton c Hautot b Haddow-Allen 46
B Shaw c Hautot b Ryan 0
*SEH Lumsden c Hautot b Khalid 7
C Kulasingham c Hautot b Grant 47
A Darling c Hautot b Haddow-Allen 0
T Collins not out 18
D Henig not out 2
Extras (b2 nb4 w38) 44
Total (35 overs) 195-8

Did not bat: O Shaw.
Fall: not recorded.

Bowling:

Mitchell 6-0-35-0
Grant 7-1-13-2
Khalid 7-1-30-2
Ryan 4-0-22-2
Juniper 3-0-20-0
T Haddow-Allen 6-0-43-2
Duncan 2-0-27-0

St Anne’s Allstars

A Clarke c Darling b Gavigan 112
AD Reid c Lumsden b Gavigan 24
C Mitchell not out 52
TAR Haddow-Allen c Gavigan b Darling 2
H Khalid not out 0
Extras (lb1 nb3 w2) 6
Total (32.2 overs) 196-3

Did not bat: †J Hautot, A Grant sr, *JG Morgan, S Juniper, GA Duncan, JM Ryan.
Fall: 1-67 (2), 2-187 (1), 3-191 (4).

Bowling:

Lumsden 7-0-36-0
Darling 7-0-51-1
Henig 7-0-37-0
Gavigan 6.2-0-30-2
Kulasingham 5-0-29-0

Result: Allstars won by 7 wickets.

By Garreth Duncan

Our return to last year’s mini-tour destination produced a similar thumping defeat, though this time we competed for a long time with the ball before folding dismally with the bat.

Having prepared for the game in true Allstars manner with a hearty Sunday lunch at the excellent Samuel’s Rest pub, we started brightly as Chadders bowled Rob Sanders in his second over, and my colleague Chris Mitchell quickly followed up by bowling the dangerous Ross Bullard next over.

Last year’s centurion Nick Jennings was looking in ominous touch before being surprised by Tristan’s quicker ball to leave Shedfield at 54 for 3. Shedfield captain Alex Tudge was beginning to find his range when Vivek Seth pinged back his stumps, and keeper Whitfield hit some crunching boundaries down the ground before being deceived by my googly.

But we couldn’t find a way past opener Flynn’s defences, and Shedfield showed their batting depth as Luke Douglas hit a brutal fifty to take the game away from us as Shedfield closed on 242 for 5.

Tristan and Jon Hautot began our reply coolly, but both were dismissed by Adam Hughes to set a woeful batting collapse in motion. Simon Davies looked in good touch before marking his debut in the traditional Allstars manner, being run out in a crazy mix-up with friend and fellow debutant Ray Mead.

Thereafter the innings subsided like the proverbial sack of potatoes as Shedfield’s bowlers all took the opportunity to improve their averages, Chris being the only player to reach double figures.

An early trip to the pub beckoned, just in time to catch the latest World Cup game. My local side must love playing the Allstars.

Scorecard

Shedfield CC v St Anne’s Allstars CC, Sunday 13 June 2010
Recreation Ground, Shedfield
Weather: sunny and warm.
Toss: Shedfield.
Format: time (second innings of one hour plus 20 overs)
Debuts: S.R. Davies, R. Mead, C. Mitchell, M. Thornber.

Shedfield

N Flynn not out 71
R Sanders b Chadwick 2
R Bullard b Mitchell 4
NR Jennings b T Haddow-Allen 14
*A Tudge b Seth 25
†J Whitfield b Duncan 20
L Douglas not out 51

Extras (10b, 1lb, 37w, 7nb) 55

Total (35 overs) 242-5 dec

Fall: 1-14 (2), 2-22 (3), 3-54 (4), 4-129 (5), 5-161 (6)
DNB: A Hughes, B Hughes, O Iqbal, M Jennings.

Bowling:

Mitchell 7-0-42-1
Chadwick 8-1-47-1
T Haddow-Allen 7-0-32-1
Seth 7-0-45-1
Duncan 4-0-34-1
Thornber 2-0-32-0

St Anne’s Allstars

TAR Haddow-Allen c&b A Hughes 8
†J Hautot b A Hughes 9
SR Davies run out 4
R Mead b A Hughes 2
C Mitchell b Bullard 20
M Thornber b Tudge 0
N Chadwick b B Huges 5
RJ Stephenson b Tudge 0
*GA Duncan b Tudge 0
V Seth not out 5
MJC Haddow-Allen b Sanders 0

Extras (3b, 1nb, 9w) 13

Total (22 overs) 66

Fall: 1-20 (1), 2-23 (2), 3-28 (3), 4-43 (4), 5-50 (6), 6-60 (7), 7-61 (8), 8-61 (9), 9-65 (5), 10-66 (11).

Bowling

Iqbal 5-0-8-0
A Hughes 7-1-26-3
M Jennings 3-1-12-0
Tudge 3-0-8-3
B Hughes 2-0-8-1
Bullard 1-1-0-1
Sanders 1-0-1-1

Result: Shedfield won by 176 runs.

Oh dear. To put it mildly, not one of our greatest days with the bat. All out 66 to lose by an eye-watering 178 runs. On the plus side, the pre-match Kronenbourg and veggie roast were excellent.

Location:Hampshire

Shedfield 242-5 dec. Lost toss. We started well but they batted deeply.