Cricket

Allstars get Wookeys out of their Hole

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Carnes March Oval, Saturday 19 October 2024.

Wookey Hole CC 197-7 (35 overs: Charlie Benson 66, Alfie Arrand 2-30, Paul Bowman 2-38) beat St Anne’s Allstars 172-7 (35 overs: Matt Biss 67, Mark Benson 2-11) by 25 runs.

Allstars v Wookey Hole 2024 scorecardDownload

Report by Garreth Duncan – Photos by Garreth Duncan and David Healy (Wookey Hole)

After an enjoyable couple of days with everyone settled into our Ibiza tour, we headed off to Ibiza CC’s ground to face Wookey Hole, from Somerset, in our first match of the tour.

It’s fair to say the Wookeys’ tour squad was somewhat depleted. They’d already let us know during the week that they were short on numbers – and having arrived on the island, injuries and a sleepless night caused by a screaming baby hit them yet further, meaning they arrived at the ground with only six of them in a fit state to play. Ibiza CC’s Rupert Style boosted their numbers – and Vivek, captaining the Allstars, generously helped them out by lending them our best player, the brilliant South African Jan-Hendrik Rossouw.  Perhaps more stingily, Sir Viv also offered me up to the opposition, despite my dodgy shoulder limiting my cricketing ability even more than normal.

Viv won the toss and, with the 11am start meaning the weather was still cool and a bit of cloud cover overhead, sensibly elected to field. It quickly became apparent that Ibiza’s newly laid artificial pitch offered considerably more bounce than most of the surfaces we’re used to back home, and Gren Thompson and Alfie Arrand took full advantage ot it with excellent opening spells.  Gren struck first as the dangerous Dan Vasselli nicked a rising ball to Samer Hafiz behind the stumps, then Alfie weighed in next over as Style was stylishly caught at slip by Paul “KP” Bowman, returning to Allstars action for the first time since our France tour, to leave the Wookeys 13-2.

Neil Chambers and Mark Benson repaired a bit of the damage – but a double strike from the Allstars Foreign Legion put us in control once again. Nick Chadwick struck with his third ball, removing Benson to another smart slip catch by KP – but that ball proved to be the last of Chadders’ day as he pinged a calf muscle in the delivery. Joe Silmon completed the over and then grabbed a wicket of his own as Chadders took our third slip catch of the day – more than we’ve managed the whole of the regular season- to make it 56-4.

Charlie Benson replaced his dad at the crease, and instantly began to show his class with a flurry of boundaries.  With support from Dave Healy, he began to drag the Wookeys out of the hole they’d got in.  A couple of tough chances went down, and with a bit of uneven ground at the boundary edge making fielding out there treacherous, a few ones started to become fours. Skipper Vivek was especially unlucky to go wicketless in an excellent spell, and the score kept moving. It was only another unfortunate injury that eventually separated the Wookey pair, another nasty bounce resulting in Healy being hit in the stomach and unable to continue. 

Benson Junior had reached a splendid fifty before the returning Alfie finally ended his stay, first time tourist Kiran Chittajallu taking an excellent catch at square leg. KP, happily recovered from the shoulder injury that had cut short his regular season in Northern Ireland, was getting into a good rhythm and bowled Dave Izzard – bringing the two Allstars guest players together, as I walked out to join Jan. I kept KP’s first ball out before clouting a couple of boundaries off another of our tour debutants, Phani Sainath – but KP had the last word as he knocked over my stumps in the final over. Vasselli, returning to bat as lowest scorer, hit three boundaries off the final over, showing what a good job we’d done to get him out so cheaply first time around. Wookey Hole’s final score of 197-7 looked more than respectable – but with a decent batting line up and on a lightning fast outfield, we had a good chance of chasing it.

Charlie Benson looked just as handy with ball in hand as with bat, and got as much life from the pitch as the Allstars quicks had done. Sirmad Shafique, back on tour again having excelled with the bat in Portugal, was unlucky to get out as a nasty lifter hit him on the shoulder and looped up to Jan at slip. Kiran bravely came out at three and helped Matt Biss see off the openers – but when the recovered Healy trapped him plumb in front, we were 39-2.

Even if (as he tells us) his many other 2024 cricketing appearances have been less successful, this season has been far and away Matt’s finest for the Allstars. Settled in his favourite opener’s anchor role, and with the cricketing nous and good humour to encourage all around him, he has become a huge asset to our team – and having got himself set, he began to accelerate as he passed fifty.   With Samer providing stout support and hitting a few crisp boundaries of his own, with 16 overs left we were 93-2 and with a shout of a first overseas tour victory since our triumph in the Dordogne in 2010.

But the Force was strong with the depleted Wookeys, and with a big bit of help from the Allstar rebels, they rose again to take the game from us. Chambers broke the stand as Samer was caught on the cow boundary, and then Matt’s splendid innings ended as Gren caught him at point. Joe and Sai continued the Allstar resistance – but Jan had a hand in both their dismissals as he caught Sai before bowling Joe. KP gave Mark Benson a second wicket as he was bowled trying to attack, and though Gren and Alfie both hit out with some crunching boundaries in the closing overs, the target proved just beyond our reach.

So the first tour game ended with the reinforced Wookeys tasting victory. But more importantly, a fantastic day’s cricket and a whole set of new friends made. We had much to look forward to as we both faced Ibiza in T20s the following day – but would either side survive Saturday night in San Antonio?

Edgware are Teacher’s Pet at Kings Langley

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Kings Langley School, Sunday 5 May 2024.

Edgware 117-3 (26.5 overs: Jeet Swaminarayan 52 ret, Josh Brown 47, Amiya Ranjan Rout 2-22) beat St Anne’s Allstars 115 all out (29.4 overs: Amiya Ranjan Rout 28, Barathwaj Nagarajan 23) by 7 wickets.

Allstars Debuts: Kamaal Poudyal, Pradosh Bose, Thomas Loussouam.

allstars-v-edgware-2024-scorecardDownload

Report by Garreth Duncan – Photos by Garreth Duncan and Gren Thompson

Kings Langley School, in leafy Hertfordshire, is a beacon of education to which we were hugely grateful for enabling us to play our opening fixture of 2024, after a testing week in which two grounds cancelled on us at short notice. In the school’s canteen, they proudly display the values they uphold and instil in their students. Effort. Empathy. Stickability. And, as a new Allstars term began, we displayed plenty of those qualities gainst strong opponents who play regular league cricket, but ultimately it was us who received an education from Edgware as we went down fighting.

We arrived with 10 players, a calf injury – a familiar theme against Edgware – having ruled out Amit Deverathippa that morning. Raghavendra, captaining us for the first time, lost the toss, and we were asked to bat first. We expected, and received, a searching examination as Edgware’s opening bowlers Dean Veerapen and Raj Parmar started with some old fashioned discipline in their opening spells. Paul Burgin, playing on his home patch, showed some great stickability as they were seen off – and Amiya Ranjan Rout, in a new pinch-hitter’s role, then upped the tempo as he mixed deft late cuts with some mighty blows down the ground. Edgware were forced onto the defensive as Amiya twice cleared the boundary and the hedge behind it – but eventually he went for just one big hit too many and was caught at long-on. Pablo followed soon after as he carved Tush Sonecha to point, but 40 for 2 off the first 12 overs was much better than we’d have expected against an attack who’d reduced us to 15 for 4 last time out.

Barathwaj Nagarajan and Matt Biss continued the Allstars efforts as we got little change out of Sonecha and Alpesh Gorsia. Although the bouncy pitch and slow outfield was far from Matt’s ideal surface, he battled on and ran hard as Barath went for his shots. The stand was developing nicely when Jono Roskin, in the middle of a real testing spell, trapped Matt LBW – though the ball looked to be going over the stumps. One wicket brought two again, as Barath nicked Alpesh to the keeper to leave us 69 for 4.

It was this point Edgware imposed themselves on the game, as spinner Prash Pindolia grabbed three quick wickets. Kamaal Poudyal, on his Allstars debut, began with some classy cuts and glides down to third man before Pindolia knocked back his stumps, and Gren Thompson soon followed in similar fashion after one crunching blow. Batting at the rarefied heights of number five, I drove Pindolia down the ground before becoming his third victim, slashing to gully. We were 87 for 7 and in big trouble with teacher.

Skipper Raghavendra wasn’t going to go down without some sterling resistance, and with debutant Pradosh Bose providing good support, the hundred was raised. Raghavendra smacked two enormous sixes, one down the ground and the other over square leg, before he was bowled going for another big hit. Our third debutant Thomas Loussouam, our host school’s French Assistant, was getting a good education on the boundary about the rules of cricket from his new team mates as he prepared to take part in his first ever game, and bravely came out to face the music. Boyaka bowled him to finish the innings, and we were all out for 115 – a creditable effort against such a strong attack, but we needed everything to go our way to have a chance of defending it.

Edgware opener Jeet Swaminarayan is one of their star pupils, being the youngest player to score a hundred for their club, and we knew he and fellow opener Josh Brown would examine us to the full. Gren and Amiya were to pass this test with flying colours as both of them began with immaculate opening spells. But we were to come unstuck as a succession of catches, none of them easy, went down in the outfield. My own day in the field was to finish early as my calf pinged at the first ball I chased – there is just something about this fixture that leaves us walking wounded, following Sheahan’s and Slats’ injuries in our last encounter with Edgware – and we were grateful to Jono for taking the stick from his team mates as he joined the fray as a substitute fielder.

Pradosh marked his debut with a fine spell as we continued to limit the scoring rate, and Kamaal also began nicely with his left arm wrist spin – but still the wickets wouldn’t come. The hundred opening stand was just one away when, in his final over, Amiya got the gold star he deserved, a crunching yorker bowling Brown three short of his fifty, and Parmar followed three balls later as, finally, we held onto a catch, Barath taking it at cover. Following Jeet’s retirement as he reached his fifty, Gren was also to be rewarded for his studies as he bowled Pindolia in his final over – but Edgware eased over the line with the winning runs.

So the 2024 Allstars begin with a school report full of praise for effort and determination in the toughest of examinations. But the PE teacher notes on our catching: must do better. And the club secretary learns his lesson from the school physio: do remember to stretch properly before taking the field.

We were all delighted to have got our season under way (and the forecast rain had stayed away), as we gathered in the splendid Rose & Crown pub with our opponents to celebrate an enjoyable day’s cricket. Amiya’s all-round performance made him the day’s head boy – but man of the match must go to Pablo for his Herculean efforts in securing us his school’s excellent facilities to enable the game to go ahead. But the next exam isn’t far away, as we head to Surrey to face Valley End next Sunday.