Cricket round-up: Including victory for Hemel Town U12s in the Snowden Trophy

The Hemel Hempstead Town U12s have won the Snowden Trophy – a competition named after a local cricketer killed in the First World War.

The tournament remembers Lieutenant Harcourt Snowden and has been the subject of a three-match series between Hemel and Boxmoor.

Hemel won the first match, scoring 104-2 in their innings and keeping Boxmoor down to 47-6 in reply.

They then secured the trophy by scoring 96-3, with Boxmoor running up 77-8 in a valiant response.

In the final match, Boxmoor batted first and scored 59-7, with Hemel reaching the total with several overs to spare.

In the spirit of cricket, the game continued until dark, with Hemel amassing 114-4.

Over the series, Boxmoor’s Lloyd Larkins took five wickets, with Hemel’s Alfie Bordoley snaring four.

Several Hemel players took three each; Umair Hussain, Wasif Ahmed, Will Hodgins and Edward Grayson.

Leading run scorers were Hemel duo Edward Grayson on 70 and William Jack on 67, with Alex Bell hitting 54 for Boxmoor.

It is hoped that this age group of players will contest the Snowden Trophy from this year until at least 2018 to mark the First World War Centenary.

For 2015, the clubs plan to bring in a third club from the local area to take part.

> Kings Langley

Kings Langley I lost to Division One leaders Shenley Village by six wickets, despite scoring 302-4 in 48 overs.

Duncan Fleming (160 n/o) and Shandy Ratnakuran (51) put on 115 for the first wicket, before Paul Ashford added 48 runs and Ricky Mohammed chipped in with 32.

But Shenley opener Charlie Thurston got on top of the Kings bowlers as he plundered 172 n/o to lead his side to a very good victory in 43 overs.

Kings Langley II slumped to a 70-run defeat at Shenley Village II in Division Six after dismissing their hosts for 155.

Duane Smith took 4-45 and Josh Oldham helped himself to 3-17.

In reply, only Mike Cooke of the Kings batsmen gave any resistance as he top scored with 28 and they were bowled out for a disappointing 85 in the 34th over.

Kings Langley III slipped to fifth place in Division Nine after losing to promotion rivals Welwyn Garden City IV by six wickets.

Kings scored a respectable 277-5 in 47.4 overs, with David Burnell blasting 140 and fellow youngster Joe Tasker hitting 54 n/o.

In reply, the visitors took to their task and chased down the runs to finish on 281-4 in the 49th over.

> Abbots Langley

Abbots Langley I kept just above the relegation zone, despite suffering a five-wicket defeat to second-placed Old Albanians.

With the holiday season taking its toll on Abbots, they struggled to make any headway against some accurate bowling.

However, Mat Parkins with a sparkling 94 and Blesson Ghoghe with a patient 44, saw Abbots to a respectable 182.

With Langley’s opening bowlers away, Chris Theaker (1-28) and Ibby Usman (2-68) bowled well but were unable to make early inroads, as OAs cantered to victory.

Abbots Langley II fell to a heavy defeat against Reed II by eight wickets.

Only Neel Patel with 51 and Lewis Hodgins with 28 got going as Abbots – although batting the full overs – could only muster 143-9.

Hodgins and Neil White bowled economically, but couldn’t stop Reed easing to victory.

Abbots Langley III lost against Stevenage IV by six wickets.

Abbots, batting first, lost wickets regularly as Stevenage took control.

Gary Hyams, who carried his bat for a fine 58 n/o, was the key man for Abbots. Along with Kam Patel (22) he took Abbots to a modest 147-8.

Bob Russell then bowled 22 overs to take 4-61, but he alone was unable to stop a Stevenage win.

> Hemel Town

Hemel Town I dropped down to sixth place in the Premier Division as they were leapfrogged by North Mymms I following a crushing defeat.

Mymms put Hemel into bat and worked through their top order to reduce them to 111-7, with Rhys Wynne ripping out the middle order.

The Hemel tail wagged, however, with Jon Pearson hitting 66 in 85 balls from number 7 and the lower batsmen dragging Hemel up to 212 all out in their 50 overs.

But Mymms had other ideas and Hamza Qayyum hit 94 off 93 balls, with Neil Bamford adding 78 from 91 balls as Mymms romped away with it in 36 overs.

Brett Penny’s 2-50 was the only success for the Hemel bowlers.

There were some runs at last for Hemel Town II in Division Two, but they were not enough for a victory as Cockfosters II snuck home by three wickets.

A bit of a disjointed Hemel innings saw knocks of 49 from Chris Blunt, 36 from Tom Waterton and 28 from Bryan Davies down at number 9, but the only other double figure innings was 12 from Suren Perera at the top.

It meant that 167 was always about 20 to 30 runs too light to realistically trouble Cockfosters.

The trusted arm and spin of Bryan Davies then came into play for 24 and 1/2 overs, but he only managed 4-75.

There were a couple of wickets for the spin of Richard Morton (2-17), but a 49-run partnership from Declan O’Leary (31 n/o) and James Stead (27 n/o) for the eighth wicket saw Cockfosters home.

Hemel Town III were the only of the club’s sides to win in the league on Saturday, recording a 48-run victory over Wormley I to stay in the top half of Division Five, just below the promotion group.

Batting first, Hemel bashed a big score of 264-4 in just 44 overs.

After losing Aaron Wilson early for 0, Chris Nuttall (52) and Will Langley (31) took control before Barny Stalin (70 n/o) and Anjam Khan (64 n/o) drove the score higher.

With the ball, Ed Langley returned 3-31 and Anjam Khan snared 4-79 as Hemel won by 48 runs.

A top order blast from Hemel Town IV against Dunstable III saw them on the way to a mammoth score of 280 on the new nursery ground – showing that, for a new ground, it was playing very well.

Jim Langley drove his way to 80, Rhys Fowler blasted 72 and Mike Samuels hit 56 as Hemel’s openers cut loose.

That meant that Vinnie Liddar’s 27 lower down looked positively benign.

But Dunstable III took advantage of the good batting track and made their way to 234-7 in their 47 overs to secure the draw.

A Bank Holiday Sunday friendly fixture against local rivals Berkhamsted Sunday I ended in a very comfortable win for Hemel Town Sunday II.

Batting first, Phil Smith (56) and Ed Langley (76) put on 122 for the first wicket in 19 overs to set Hemel on their way.

There was a bit of a lull before Will Langley (48) and Aaron Wilson (50 n/o) put on 78 for the sixth wicket in eight overs to push Hemel up to their comprehensive total of 284-8.

Hemel’s bowlers then kept it tight and never allowed Berko to get their run chase going.

Skipper Tom Elborn returned the best bowling figures for Hemel with 3-10.

> Leverstock Green

Second XI celebrations have rightly started at Leverstock Green after promotion from Saracens Herts League Division Five was mathematically confirmed on Saturday.

But the race for the title will now go to the summer’s final two weekends after a rare defeat for the seconds leaves them just one point clear of second-placed Harpenden III.

In fact, it was three defeats from three games on Saturday for Green – albeit in a wide variety of circumstances.

Dayle Littlejohn’s table-topping second XI were dismissed by Flamstead for just 117, not nearly enough to cause their hosts any issues with the run chase.

The loss is only their second of an extraordinary season, and gives pursuers Harpenden III and Flitwick II – also already promoted, in second and third respectively – renewed hope of snatching the Division Five crown.

Promotion is all but out of reach for Division Two outfit Leverstock Green I.

A high-scoring loss at home to Old Owens on a Bedmond Road belter of a track means they now lie in fourth, 38 points behind the two promotion slots occupied by St Margaretsbury and Old Albanians.

Brad Klosterman hit a magnificent 119 and Kris Jadeja added 71 n/o as Levy declared on 255-3 after 45 overs, buying eight extra overs to bowl out the visitors.

But Owens took just as kindly to the batting paradise – reaching the target in 44.3 overs for the loss of seven wickets.

Leverstock Green III probably wish the season could end early after their batting woes continued.

Only opener Brian Coulshed, with a patient 18, and Ian Wallis (21) offered any meaningful resistance against London Colney II.

Levy posted just 89 all out – a score Colney knocked off one wicket down to ease to the victory.