Cricket round-up: Including a narrow defeat for struggling Kings Langley

Kings Langley I left Luton Town & Indians defeated, knowing they batted poorly but came very close to a remarkable Division One win.
Gareth Preedy smashed an unbeaten century for the Berkhamsted Sunday sideGareth Preedy smashed an unbeaten century for the Berkhamsted Sunday side
Gareth Preedy smashed an unbeaten century for the Berkhamsted Sunday side

Kings batted first and were bowled out for a meagre 110 in the 46th over, with Brad Hughes top scoring with 22.

The bowlers tried to get their team back into the match and had their opponents reeling on 35-5 – when Luton’s ninth wicket fell at 83 it looked as if they could pull the game out of the fire.

Luton’s man of the match D Salvi had other ideas, though, and his 60 n/o handed his team a one-wicket win.

Kings Langley II played out a remarkable Division Six draw with St Margaretsbury II, with both teams finishing on 208.

Batting first, Kings scored a modest 208 all out, with Logan Turner scoring 50, Nigel Barlow adding 46, Richard Whitlock hitting 45 and Russell Tant reaching 31.

The visitors were closing in on their target, but with the overs running out, Kings tied their batsmen down and the game finished with the scores level.

Richard Whitlock took 3-32 and Tony Morton snared 2-40 as Kings claimed eight wickets.

Kings Langley III secured a 28-run win over Harpenden Dolphins and moved back into third place in Division Nine.

Batting first on a very difficult pitch, Kings scored 128 all out, with David Burnell hitting 39 and Rich Davis adding 34.

Dolphins found the pitch just as difficult and were bowled out for 100, with the wickets being shared between David Burnell, Gordon Sambidge, Joe Tasker and Scott Rolfe.

> Hemel Town

With the opportunity to get back into fourth place in the Premier Division and thus into the end of season playoffs, Hemel Town I lost to lowly Sawbridgeworth and missed the chance.

Fourth-placed Bishop’s Stortford also lost to Radlett, so the two sides remain as they were, separated by five points now.

A weakened Hemel side batted first and, after the early loss of skipper Hem Ilangaratne (1), were able to regain ground through Jay O’Nien (44) and Josh Graves (69).

But that was it as Hemel were all out for 200 in 46 overs. Ryan Cunningham returned the best figures for Sawbo with 4-20 from his 10 overs.

Hemel then had to bowl Sawbo out, and 57-4 after 14 overs had them on the way.

But Sawbridgeworth number 3 Dan Wilson (97 n/o) kept things together, aided by 40 from Mike Burrell.

Sawbridgeworth were then able to reach 203-7 after 46 overs to take the game, with 3-36 for Gareth James the best Hemel bowling return.

On August 2, Hemel Town II were top of Division Two in the Herts League – two weeks later they are seventh, having been bowled out for 38 last week and 40 this week.

This week only wicket-keeper Liam Jahn managed to make it to double figures for Hemel, scoring 13 at number 5.

S Walls managed to pick up 6-14 from 14 overs for St Margaretsbury, before the Tilbury brothers tapped off the required runs in less than 10 overs and under 30 minutes.

Hemel Town III found their winning form as they saw off Parkfield & Headstone I at Heath Park.

Putting Parkfield in to bat having won the toss, Hemel struggled a bit to bowl them out, taking 53 overs to do it.

Figures of 3-37 for Ed Langley and 3-48 for Adam Moulster were the best returns to go with 2-19 from Dawood Iqbal.

Hemel took just 36 overs to hit off the runs. Knocks of 42 from Rahul Wickramsinghe and 37 from Aaron Wilson at the top of the batting order saw them on their way.

An under-strength Hemel Town IV side went down to Northwwod Town II by six wickets in an end of season mid-table clash.

Put in, Hemel could only make it to 141 all out, with Nick Benson (36) and Vinnie Liddar (34) scoring runs at the top of the order.

Trevor Radcliffe then removed the top four Northwood batsmen for figures of 4-58, but Ali Ghaffar chipped in with 54 n/o to win the game for Northwood.

Whereas Hemel Town Sunday II hit a 4 off the last ball to win the game, Hemel Town Sunday I failed narrowly away at Harpenden.

Needing two to win the game with the last pair, they failed narrowly as Will Langley (45) was run out going for the run to tie the game.

Batting first, Hemel bowled Harpenden out for 184 in 39 overs, with Parth Mehta turning in figures of 6-24 from his 10 overs.

A somewhat recovering Hemel side were in trouble at 112-8, but the tail was resurfacing and began to wag.

At 138-9 with five overs to go, youngster Langley and experienced Gareth James (35 n/o) almost did it they did, but not quite.

Elsewhere, there was a thrilling CVL Division Seven game between table topping Harefield and third placed Hemel Town Sunday II.

The game was won on the last ball by Hemel as they secured a three-wicket triumph.

Harefield started off strongly, with opener Ogton scoring 101 and number 3 Seymore adding 76.

Only sharp Hemel fielding kept the score down to a manageable size, as Gus Scott-Morriss returned the best bowling figures with 3-40 from seven overs.

The chase was on but, after 27 overs, Hemel were languishing at 88-7 with only 31 from opener Dave Jenkins to crow about.

Enter the men Scott-Morriss and wicket-keeper Ryan Wilson; together they put on 123 to win the game for Hemel with 4 off the last ball. Scott-Morriss ended on 74 n/o and Wilson 51 n/o.

> Abbots Langley

Abbots Langley I – with four senior players missing and fielding a very young side – hung on for a draw against Northchurch to stay just above the drop zone.

Fielding first, Abbots were quickly among the wickets as Dan Roche dismissed the two openers, but Northchurch then put together useful partnerships.

However, Dom Smith (2-40) and Jimmy Davies (2-22) bowled economically to keep Abbots in the hunt as Northchurch declared on 196-7.

Ben Balmforth and Jack Read got Abbots off to a flyer, and with Blesson Ghoghe (36) and Mathew Parkins (60) in fine form, a win looked on the cards.

Unfortunately, a middle order collapse put paid to that, and they had to settle for a hard earned draw.

Abbots Langley II lost again, this time by six wickets against Botany Bay II.

Abbots lost wickets at regular intervals, as they struggled against some accurate bowling.

Veteran Mark Bishop rolled back the years as he carried his bat for a patient 75 n/o and, helped by son Jack Bishop (130), he saw Abbots up to a modest 164-8.

Andre Rueth then bowled well for 2-48, but he was not backed up as Botany Bay eased to the win.

Abbots Langley III drew against close neighbours Boxmoor II in a close fought clash.

Abbots started off well in the field, having Boxmoor tottering at 44-4 and 77-5 thanks to Bob Russell (3-23) and Neil White (3-55) .

However, Boxmoor’s number six smashed a quick 75 as they accelerated to close on 213 all out.

Abbots lost both openers for 25 and, although Clive Winder (47) and Harry Khan (49) batted well, Abbots were unable to build on that and played out the draw on 156-9.

> Berkhamsted

Berkhamsted I annihilated Chorleywood to with their sixth match in a row.

A confident Berko side blew away their opposition for a paltry 53 runs in only 90 minutes of play.

The pick of the bowlers was Chad Fortune with a very hostile 5-29, ably assisted by Rob Prunty (2-7) and Doug Foster (2-5).

Despite losing both openers LBW, Berkhamsted cruised to an eight-wicket trouncing thanks to Luke O’Dair (23 n/o) and Doug Foster 16 (n/o).

Berkhamsted II recorded their seventh victory from eight with an impressive away win at previously unbeaten league leaders Broxbourne III.

Inserting Broxbourne, wickets fell steadily, although the opener for Broxbourne was obdurate with a well-crafted 80.

What was pleasing, however, was that each of Berko’s six bowlers took a wicket and the bowling honours went to Toby Gribbin with his fine spell of 4-44.

Chasing a below par score of 159 to win, Berko lost Jamie Lewis and Luke Frey quickly, but a game winning third-wicket stand between Ben Beard (52) and Darren Gower-Jackson (50) took the game away from the hosts.

That set up a fine four-wicket win, with Berko now only two points off a promotion place.

Berkhamsted III recorded a notable win at home to highly-placed Northwood III to make it another hat-trick of victories for the club’s three league sides.

Batting first, Berko lost opener and keeper Jack Filer in the first over, however skipper Peter Dudley (42) and Mark Burgess (15) built a good foundation.

Wickets then started to fall until Stephen Parnell (35)came to the crease. Support from Tom Horsrough and Charles Richardson left Berko posting a respectable 186 in their 47 overs.

Berko soon removed one of the openers in reply, but the Northwood top order batted well until drinks.

Northwood then lost their top batsman to a full toss, and that left the door ajar for Romit Patel (5-38) to put Northwood to the sword, with Berko winning by an impressive 65 runs.

Berkhamsted IV lost away in a friendly to Bentley Heath, despite 50 from George Martell and 28 from skipper Ian Campbell.

In reply, there was another four-wicket haul for Derek Pratt, but it wasn’t enough to prevent defeat.

On an impressive Saturday where Berko fielded five senior sides, Berkhamsted V won at Rickmansworth IV and were indebted to Area U13 player Will Gardener’s 41 n/o and two wickets

In a run-fest on Sunday, where nearly 500 runs were scored, Berkhamsted Sunday I registered a fine victory over Harrow Weald.

On an top batting track, Gareth Preedy (100 retired) and debutante youngster Sam Quinn (80) put on more than 150 for the first wicket.

Cameos from Garth Taljaard (19), James Wyatt (19) and colt Tomas Pierleoni (24 n/o) left Berko with a huge 262 from their 40 overs.

In reply, Harrow soon found themselves behind the clock despite some fine hitting from their opener.

They eventually fell 34 runs short, with Petal the pick of the bowlers with 3-30.

Berkhamsted Sunday II lost a close game to Belfont and Edgware.

Batting first, Berko had Will Gardner (34) and Tony Francis (35) to thank for a reasonable total of 166-7

In reply, Berko just did not have enough runs to play with and lost by two wickets.

> Junior cricket

The Hemel Town U12s are battling it out with Boxmoor U12 in a three-match series for The Snowden Trophy.

The trophy is named after a former Hemel Town CC player, Lieutenant Harcourt John Snowden, who was killed in action in 1915 during World War One.

Snowden’s death was reported in The Gazette on January 23 1915. The report said:

“Yet another officer well-known in Hemel Hempstead has been killed at the front.

“The sad intelligence was received during the weekend that Lieutenant HJ Snowden, of the 1st Herts Territorial Force, had been shot through the chest, and subsequent messages revealed the fact that he was the victim of a sniper.

“Lieutenant Snowden, who was killed on January 11, was the younger son of the Rev Harcourt Snowden, of St. Peter’s, Broadstairs.

“He came to Hemel Hempstead a few years ago as a master at Lockers Park, and he was most popular amongst the boys. He came home on a few hours’ leave just before Christmas.

“He joined the 1st Herts Regiment in June 1913, as a 2nd Lieutenant, and in September was promoted in France to be a Lieutenant, and he was attached to the Royston Company.

“The young officer – he was 27 years of age – was a sportsman of much ability. He played cricket for the Hemel Hempstead club, and gave many excellent all-round displays. His brother is a well known Kent County player.”

The Snowden Trophy has been organised by Professor Richard Grayson, with the deciding game taking place on Friday.

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