The Allstars Blog

2011 Awards Dinner

2011-10-06T17:07:00.002+01:00

This year's end of season dinner will take place on Saturday 26th November, from 7.30pm.

The venue is the function room of the Blue Posts pub, Kingly Street, near Oxford Circus, W1B 5PX.

For those of you new to the club (or have been guest players this year), the purpose of the evening is to celebrate the past season, and to present awards to the five Allstars of the Year. It would be great to see as many of you there as possible, and the invitation is extended to everyone involved with the Allstars, however few or many matches you've played this summer, as well as to guest players and other friends of the club. Partners are warmly invited, too.

There will be a buffet supper, which will be £10 a head.

Please could you let email Maxie to let him know, either way, whether you can attend. I will need fairly precise numbers for ordering the buffet.

Please also email Maxie with your nominations for Allstars of the Year. The criteria for the award are very broad - and can include either specific or across-the-season performances, as well as off-field contributions.

We look forward to seeing you on 26th November!

[There is also a facebook page for this event!]

Corfu tour - champagne moments

2011-09-28T20:40:00.009+01:00

Rocket's four Richard Stephenson is not best known for the flamboyancy of his batting. So picture the reaction when, during Saturday's match, he executed the most perfect pull shot imaginable. Struck hard and true, the ball sailed off the middle of Rocket's bat and all the way to the boundary. Cue uproar.

My pads I don't enjoy a reputation for effortless running between the wickets, and an incident on Sunday only served to enhance my notoriety. I had decided to ignore the warnings about a particular pair of pads, one of which had lost its middle buckle - leaving only two straps - and wear them anyway.

Out in the middle, as soon as I first attempted a run, the perilously fragile nature of my protective equipment became all too apparent. Within a few feet, the top strap on my right pad gave way; it was now joined to my leg only by the ankle. Which made running rather tricky. As luck would have it - thanks to Paul Nicol's shot - we ended up running a three.

The wides The Greeks are a fastidious lot, it seems, on the cricket field. On Sunday the local umpire applied Corfu league playing conditions, which meant that anything down the leg side was called wide - and there was little margin for error on the off-side either.

You don't need to have played much Allstars cricket to envisage the likely consequence of such a draconian regime. We bowled no fewer than fifty eight wides - the equivalent of nearly twelve extra overs.

Aqualand The water-rides theme park, where we spent most of Friday, and which will remain forever associated with these unforgettable images - neither of which require further comment.

Other highlights included our collective incompetence on the stepping stones, and Devers and me (not the lightest possible combination) getting stuck on the Crazy River.

Steve's sixes So you're on holiday in Corfu, and take a stroll down to the Esplanade - the town's central square, which is lined with pavement cafes. You'd expect to sip a Retsina, nibble on some moussaka, and watch the world go by, against the spectacular backdrop of the Venetian fortress and coastline. But what you probably wouldn't foresee is having a cricket ball whistle past your nose.

That was indeed the unfortunate experience for Saturday's bemused, and terrified holidaymakers, because the venue is also the supremely unlikely location for a cricket field. It's thought to be the world's only working sports facility within a UNESCO heritage site. In fact, Corfu has a rich and extensive cricketing culture, dating back to the 1820s, and British colonial occupation.

The cause of the spectator bombardment was our own Steve Harty, who peppered the perimeter eateries with his massive sixes through midwicket. But his innings was far more than bludgeoning - combining classical elegance with a purity of stroke and acute judgment. Steve played superbly both days, but his Saturday century, in particular, was an absolute peach - as good as anything I've ever witnessed in Allstars cricket.

The restaurant On Friday, TG opted out of the water park, and while nosing around the town, spotted a convivial outdoor taverna which seemed perfect for dinner that night. He duly booked it, and a pleasant evening was then enjoyed by all. Highlights included the halloumi, and a sparkler-bedecked cake to celebrate Tarka's fortieth birthday.

Next day, we pondered over the choice of restaurant for Saturday's gala dinner. Alexander Louvros, our host and guide, kindly offered to select and book a venue for us - and because the route to it from our hotel was rather complex to describe, volunteered to meet us in advance to lead the way.

There then ensued a lengthy and meandering walk through the nooks and crannies of Corfu old town, twisting and turning along passageways and alleys, until at last we arrived...at exactly the same restaurant we'd been to the previous evening.

The presentations After each match we presented the opposition captain with a signed miniature bat and tour shirt, as tokens of our appreciation. Our representatives, James A and Tarka, also made a speech. Unfortunately, neither of the Greek captains could speak English, and their baffled facial expressions suggested they had no idea what on earth we were doing or talking about. On Saturday, Tarka poured a water bottle over Garreth's head during the shirt-swap. The Corfu skipper presumably thought this was part of the ceremony - rather like a baptism.

Garreth's belongings The piece de resistance. During the coach journey back to the airport for the trip home, it emerged that Garreth had left his passport behind at the hotel. Fortunately, the maid had already serviced the room, found the document, and handed it to Tarka as he left reception.

At the airport, we all gathered our suitcases and prepared to enter the departures hall, except for Garreth - who stood alone at the rear of the coach, mournfully shaking his head. He'd also forgotten his luggage.

"I know exactly where it is", Garreth twice insisted. Which rather begged the question - if he knew where it was, why didn't he bring it with him? Luckily, he had at least remembered to get dressed.

Maxie Allen

Wide awake Allstars slide to defeat

2011-09-26T18:09:00.000+01:00

Gouvia Marina, Corfu, Sunday 25 September 2011.

AO Kerkyras (215-7, 35 overs; Brentanos 57 ret), beat St Anne’s Allstars (168 all out, 33.3 overs; Harty 52) by 47 runs.

By Garreth Duncan

The Sunday game of an Allstars tour is usually the tougher, as the lack of sleep and alcohol poisoning begin to take their toll on the tour party. This one was no different, but despite a late night, some hungover and tired players put up a brave fight before going down to defeat.

While lacking the iconic setting of their Corfu Town rivals’ ground, AO’s ground was probably the best overseas surface we’ve played on since Menorca. The ground is part of a marina and sports complex, and we had an opportunity to glimpse the Greek croquet team practising next door. Frustratingly, though, the opposition’s late arrival meant we had no choice but to field first in the heat once again. We got off to a decent start as KP and Chadders both began with impressive spells, and were gifted the first wicket, Bouzis departing to a crazy run out with both batsmen finishing at the same end - a sign of things to come.

Tony Grant, the white “Big Bird”, ran in hard and took two wickets, Kyrinos being smartly caught by Tarka at extra cover and the dangerous Asif taken by KP at backward square leg. But by then the score was already climbing steadily, aided by a generous supply of wides. The Corfu league rules on wides – anything down the leg side – were enforced strictly by both local umpires, Vivek Seth being particularly harshly treated. Sir Viv persevered and was rewarded with the next wicket, caught by Steve Harty behind the stumps. But even Steve showed he was human as he dropped Brentanos, who having been described by Tarka as “a rabbit” as he began his innings, began to find his shots. I also put him down at point, and he grafted his way to 50 before retiring with an over to go. Tarka caught and bowled Slakim, and KP once again took a wicket in the final over as Mazis edged behind. But especially after having bowled over 50 extra deliveries, 216 felt like a much bigger target than the previous day’s.

Tarka and KP opened, but the opening bowlers Asif and Aqib were good and proved hard to get away. They were just beginning to get going when Tarka was out, edging Bouzis to slip who juggled the catch before holding on. KP had grafted his way to 29 before he was caught and bowled by Kraftsenko, and Viv followed soon afterwards. Steve continued to bat well with good support from Tony, but with the long grass in the outfield making boundaries hard to come by, the asking rate began to creep up. Steve had reached his second 50 of the tour, including a trademark 6 over square leg, when he was out to a shocking lbw decision off the returning Asif.

AO now had a firm grip on the game which they would not release. TG threatened to break free of the shackles before he was caught at point off Aqib, and Rob Jackson went for his shots before the excellent Asif wrecked his stumps. The tail once again showed spirited resistance, Paul Nicol in particular playing some classy shots, but the game ended in traditional Allstars fashion as Maxie, some ancient batting pads hanging off him, was run out going for a crazy second run.

An excellent tour with highlights both on and off the field. Where will 2012 take us?

Man of the Match: Paul Bowman. KP gave his all as usual with both bat and ball.

Champagne Moment: Maxie’s pad-flapping run out. Who else could possibly depart in such a comical fashion?

Harty hitting in vain

2011-09-26T17:15:00.001+01:00

Kerkyras (Corfu Town), Saturday 24 September 2011.

GE Kerkyras (222-3, 35 overs; Vasillas 65*, Bodos 65), beat St Anne’s Allstars (194 all out, 32 overs; Harty 110) by 28 runs.

By Garreth Duncan

A year on from our breakthrough overseas win in France, could the Allstars continue the tour winning streak in Greece? In the end it just proved out of reach, but we all owed a huge sovereign debt to Steve Harty, our guest Aussie from the Village, who almost bailed us out with a breathtaking hundred.

GE are one of eight cricket clubs in Corfu, the game having been introduced by the British in the 1830s. Their ground is surely one of the most iconic we’ve ever played in: right by the Esplanade in the town centre, in the shadow of the fort. It’s almost certainly the first time the Allstars have played a cricket match in at a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The temperature in Corfu exceeds 30°C well into September, and on a baking hot day, losing the toss and being asked to field first didn’t make me the most popular member of the touring party. Paul Bowman began with a lively spell from the fort end, finding some awkward, uneven bounce. But a recently flooded storm drain made the artificial wicket slippery at the other end, all the bowlers at that end finding it difficult to keep their footing. Paul “Crazy Horse” Nicol initially battled to find his rhythm, but then grabbed the first wicket, pinning Mokas lbw.

Unlike most of the opponents we’re played on previous overseas tours, GE’s team consisted mainly of local Greek players rather than British ex-pats. They proved a strong batting unit, Bodos and Vasillas seeing off KP and a useful spell from Tony Grant, before beginning to unleash their shots against the change bowlers. We gave them both a couple of lives as a number of catches went down in the outfield, and even the usually reliable keeping gloves of James “Tarka” Hindle shelled a skier. The partnership was worth 135 before Nick Chadwick, who had missed the beginning of the game as he slept off his hangover, finally got the breakthrough, Crazy Horse showing us how it’s done by catching Bodos at cover. But with plenty wickets in hand, GE put the pedal to the floor as 89 runs came off the last 8 overs. KP took a deserved wicket in the last over, Steve taking an excellent catch at long-off. Even then, we still fancied our chances of chasing 223.

Rob Jackson, who had already picked up his customary tour injury (a smack in the mouth during fielding practice) began positively, taking his customary aerial route before being shot down by a lethal yorker from Muhammad Agha. But this brought the moment we’d all been waiting for as Steve strode to the wicket – could he live up to the pre-match hype that even Simon Cowell would struggle to match? We got the answer almost straight away as he launched into the GE attack with three massive sixes over square leg. Tarka kept him company in a partnership of 85 before he was run out in a daft mix up.

James Abrahams looked solid before he picked out backward point, and KP was bowled almost immediately afterwards. But seemingly nothing could stop Steve at the other end, as he continued to pepper the cafes on the Esplanade leg-side boundary, as well as thumping square cuts through the car park on the way to his second successive Allstars hundred. You could say he owed us it after hitting us all over Chiswick the previous Saturday. With Paul Nicol providing sensible support, while Steve was at the wicket, another tour victory was tantalisingly within our grasp.

Sadly for us, GE had other ideas. The returning Agha produced another perfect, inswinging yorker to blast out Paul’s stumps, before Steve, much to the relief of the café owners and Corfu Town Health & Safety, finally played his favourite shot once too often and was caught on the square leg boundary. Still the Allstars refused to give in as TG, Chadders and Richard “Rocket” Stephenson all continued to carry the fight, Rocket playing the shot of his Allstars career, a sublime pull shot to the boundary. But the tail had been left with just too much to do, and the GE bowlers finished the job.

Man of the Match: Steve Harty. A monumental innings that did not deserve defeat. Can you play for us every week?

Champagne Moment: Rocket’s cracking pull shot – showing the master how it’s done.

AOK defeat the Allstars.

2011-09-25T17:38:00.001+01:00

AOK (215-6) beat St Anne's Allstars (168ao) by 47 runs. The match ended with Maxie being run out by an over ambitious call from Paul Nicol.

Paul nevertheless took the man-of-the-match plaudits for his all-round display, in particular his extremely energetic and effective fielding, patrolling the boundary like a Regiment of Foot Guards.

Update

2011-09-25T14:01:00.001+01:00

AOK 215-6 off 35. The Greeks are very fastidious about their wides. We bowled 52 of them!

AOK, Corfu v Allstars

2011-09-25T11:17:00.001+01:00

No toss as the oppo only had six players and needed to bat. We're fielding.

Frape

2011-09-25T07:59:00.001+01:00

Two Allstars are believed to be sweating like Frapists this morning following a early hours hijack of Maxie's iPhone. Friends of the Allstar may wish to take any recent Facebook posts by the great man with a very large pinch of salt.

The Anal-yst

2011-09-24T17:07:00.001+01:00

Here is the wagon wheel for M'Harty's Jason Gillespie-like ton against GEK Corfu. Note the huge number of shots through cow.

A respectable defeat

2011-09-24T16:34:00.001+01:00

In the end, we fell 28 runs short, all out for 194. The photo shows our skipper, Garreth Duncan, congratulating man of the match Steve Harty, who controversially got the plaudits for his laboured 110.

Farty Harty reaches his ton

2011-09-24T15:50:00.001+01:00

Moments ago, Stephen Harty reached his century with a top edged six into the local fort. 10 overs to go, 62 needed.

Trench Warfare from Me Harty

2011-09-24T15:28:00.001+01:00

Allstars 112-4 chasing 223 to win. A gritty workmanlike innings from Stephen Harty, whose batting is more stolid than pretty. It's rather too much like trench warfare for my liking.

Fortunately the runs are flowing at the other end. Particular mention has to be made of James Hindle, whose elegant, Gower-like innings delighted the locals, many of whom have decided to take up cricket in order to emulate him.

Meanwhile the Melbourne snoozemeister continues to toil, apparently seeking to bore the opposition into submission.

Update

2011-09-24T13:38:00.001+01:00

GEK 222-4 off their 35. We started dropping catches - and their youngsters proved rather handy.

And now it's raining!

Update

2011-09-24T12:48:00.001+01:00

GEK 127-1 off 25. Mixed performance from us so far - loads of wides and have bowled a bit too short, but some good balls too, and we've been a little unlucky. The oppo are all Greek, and all teenage. The three batsmen we've seen so far all have very good technique but hit uppishly. We could do with a couple of wickets soon.

Allstars v GEK, Corfu

2011-09-24T10:47:00.001+01:00

Allstars lose toss and field

Extraordinary events on Tour

2011-09-23T22:41:00.001+01:00

There are no words to describe what has happened... All I can do is present to you a photograph of what happened, and let you draw your own conclusions.

May God have mercy on us all.

The Allstars are landed

2011-09-22T08:55:00.001+01:00

Corfu 2011 - it's almost here!

2011-09-21T11:28:00.000+01:00

The excitement is palpable: the Allstars tour of Corfu is about to begin!

West XI v Allstars, Sunday 14th September

2011-08-17T14:41:00.003+01:00

By Neale Adams

They came and saw and so very nearly conquered.....

Like Commander Adama leading the Battlestar Galactica, Felix Allen led a rag-tag team of St Anne's Allstars in search of a victory, having already found the earth bound match venue against West XI in suburban Greenford.

The Allstars team sheet had been decimated by those on holiday, injuries, and the marriage of James Hindle to his fiancee, whom we can only hope was a lot more feminine and attractive than the person the groom was seen dancing with in a video posted on the internet prior to the wedding.

Neverless, the Allstars' 'Super 8', plus two players donated by the opposition took to the field with Haroon Khalid leading the bowling attack. For Haroon it was a day of what should have been and not what was, as his accurate bowling deserved a greater reward. (Some dropped catches similar to those by India in the recent third test did not help his cause).

Assisting Haroon was Jimmy Scott whose namesake bore witness to his Scottish flare and slower pace that was eventually to deceive the opposition and claim the first scalp, as the batsman played onto his own stumps in an early over.

TG took over from Haroon turning in some very impressive figures of three for 12 runs during his spell of seven overs.

Paul Nicol replaced Jimmy - and, like Haroon, should have had more wickets to his name. Confident bowling - despite not having bowled for some time - saw the Crazy Horse miss the stumps by millimetres on several occasions. Eventually a good ball bowled was returned by the batsman to the bowlers hands, giving Nicol his just deserts.

Despite the Allstars fielding remaining tight, the West XI batsman decided to dig in and make runs to increase their tally.

Two attempted catches of note were made by Kieran Toohey and Felix, from balls that left the oppo's bat at blistering speed.The fielders were brave just to get to the ball, let alone get their hands in the way. In the skippers case, blood was drawn from his fingers such was the speed of the leather through the air.

Kieran and Clarence Marshall helped to clear up some of the West XI tail enders, leaving the opposition on 161 for 7 at the end of their 35 overs.

And the Allstars dared to dream of a victory...

TG and Clarence opened the Allstars batting, both facing the West XI opening bowler who was, to say the least, fast and accurate. If Felix was Adama then TG must have been Lt Starbuck for his cheeky batting that saw several shots placed beautifully over the slips. Kieran replaced Clarence after he was bowled out, and Paul Nicol replaced TG who was returned to the locker room having notched up a healthy 38.

Kieran and Paul continued the good works of the openers until Nicol tried to hit one over mid-off - but the ball fell short and into the hands of an awaiting fielder.

The Allstars' middle order helped to lift the score to over 100, and again the sniff of victory began to fill the senses. But excitement got the better of a team that had dared to dream the dream…..the Commander was run out without even facing a ball.

The dream disappeared for good as the lower order batsmen, including the two kindly donated by the West XI entered the arena, but were soon sent home by the bowlers. The Allstars total of 137 all out was sadly not enough to match the target set by the West XI.

Despite the result - and the Olympic bike road race practice causing havoc on the roads in south west London forcing a late start - a good fun day was had by all.

And Commander Adama continued his fine leadership after the game by leading the rag tag fleet on their next quest - to find a pub.

Quokkas v Allstars, Sunday 5th June

2011-06-07T09:51:00.002+01:00

By Maxie Allen

A day of fluctuating fortunes, and emotions to suit. Despair turned to hope, then to frustration.

The pitch - this was a park ground - ensured the cricket remained lively throughout. Deceptively slow, its bounce was wildly erratic. Many balls reared up off a length; others shot through at ankle height.

Two weeks previously, against Sanford, we'd begun the match in disastrous fashion - subsiding to 4-3. Never again, we pledged. And we were true to our word. This time, we were 5-4.

First, James Hindle missed a straight one, which kept a little low, before Felix fenced a throat ball to square leg. Andy Reid then lost his middle stump, and as the chaos intensified the inevitable happened: a run out. Simon Begley was the victim, after protracted confusion between him and James Morgan over a putative single to square leg. It was impossible to determine whose fault it was - just one of those things, really. But Scratch wasn't best pleased. I'm glad I wasn't his kit bag.

By this point, it had begun to rain - quite heavily, and would continue to drizzle for most of the match. In view of the scoreline it hardly seemed sporting of us to come off, and the fielders, understandably, wished to continue. I was umpiring, and as I stood there, getting drenched, with my side 5-4, I kind of wondered what the point of it all was.

Fortunately, Morgsy and TG slowly began to restore order. How many runs they added together I can't tell you precisely, as the scorebook ended up in the wrong bag, but their promising partnership ended prematurely when Morgsy, after unfurling a couple of fine cut shots, clipped one off the middle of his bat into the hands of mid-wicket, who took a good catch. An unlucky dismissal.

By now we were contemplating total humiliation, but after Quokkas brought on their gentler bowlers, we gradually edged our way towards a workable score. TG, in perhaps his finest ever Allstars innings, was superb - judiciously mixing attack with defence and playing back, and very late, to negate the vagaries of the pitch. From memory, he made 42.

An acceptable total was transformed into a good one by the arrival at the crease of Sam MacDonald, batting in the unusual position of number nine. Playing at his most Chris Gayle-esque, Sam unleashed a remarkable range of attacking, clean-hitting strokes, savagely dispatching the bowlers to all parts. He took 24 off a single over, and added 50 for the ninth wicket with The Rocket, who batted commendably. By the time Sam was last out, for about 75, we'd reached 179 off 33.3 overs - a noteworthy recovery.

As we walked back onto the field for the start of Quokkas' innings, the rain stepped up a gear. TG, Gren, and Chadders, all bowled very well - and although their batsmen looked very sharp, the combination of Gren's pace and the wetness of the pitch - whose bounce was now more variable than ever - led to two wickets, both bowled.

But by now it was bucketing down, and there was no choice but to abandon play and shake hands on a draw. A shame really, as with Quokkas 32-2 off 9, chasing 180, I fancied our chances.

We then retired, sopping wet, to the 'other' Sun Inn - the Richmond one - which for cosy atmosphere more than made up for the dirtiest pub carpets I have ever seen.

Location:Old Deer Park, Richmond

Photos from Northumberland tour

2011-05-31T10:08:00.012+01:00

By Neale Adams

Northumberland Tour 2011

2011-05-30T13:04:00.001+01:00

I'm pleased to report the Allstars had another successful tour of Northumberland this weekend.

On Saturday we once again played Eglingham at their beautiful ground deep in the Northumberland countryside. Some tight Allstars bowling, especially from Devers, Gren Thompson and Vivek Seth, restricted Eglingham to 131-4 in their 35 overs. Tristan and Dave Halladay got us off to a flying start with 61 off the first 8 overs, and we won comfortably with more than 10 overs to spare.

Yesterday's game against my cousin Ewan's team BA Corinthians was just as close-run as last year's game. We made 137, Rob Jackson top-scoring with a courageous 35 despite being hit in the face by an accidental beamer. Tony and Gus Grant both bowled excellent opening spells as we got off to a good start with the ball, but we couldn't break the 8th wicket stand who took Corinthians to victory.

Once again Tristan did a splendid job organising the tour - many thanks from all the tourists!

Match report: Allstars v Sanford

2011-05-27T11:04:00.002+01:00

By Tristan Hadd0w-Allen

Sanford v St Anne's Allstars, Sunday 22nd May, Pirbright

According to urban legend, Vegas casinos employ people who emit bad luck. They just have to sit next to a big winner, or brush them on the shoulder, and a winning streak turns to dust, fortune turns to ruins. If there's any truth in it, James Morgan may have found a new career. Not since The Charge of the Light Brigade have the words 'I've got a good feeling about this' caused such foreboding. Every good Allstar knows that when Morgsy, bless him, thinks we're on to a winner, disaster cannot be far away.

So it was that he increased the likelihood of disaster by bringing his family and newborn son to watch him captain the Allstars against old rivals Sanford at their new home in Pirbright. The day was sunny, although very windy, and the pitch looked hard and golden, surrounded by short boundaries. There must be hundreds of runs in that pitch...surely?

Morgsy won the toss and elected to bat. It was what everyone wanted...for about fifteen seconds. Sanford opener Cooke, young and with a bit of pace, quickly changed everyone's minds. Third ball leapt viciously off a length and struck Venay on the arm, ricocheting over gully. The next couple of overs proved the pitch was going to be a fearsome opponent. No one fancied a bat any more. And then it began....

The slower Quantrell, from the other end, had Andy Reid caught for a duck. 3-1, and without a run off the bat. THA went in first drop. First ball was a big wide, just off the edge of the strip, and very late he decided to have a flash at it. He was probably the only batsman with the reach to hit it, and managed to scythe it to gully, the local football team's star goalkeeper, and probably the only fielder who would have caught it. On another day it would have been 4, today it was out and the Allstars were 3-2. Cooke got another ball to rise sharply at Venay who topped edged a catch to the keeper. 4-3, all out for ducks.

Time for a captain's innings. Quantrell got another one to shoot through low at Morgsy, LBW for 4. Four down now, but at least we were nearing double figures. Cooke came off after three lively overs and the bowling eased a little. MacDonald and Halladay began the fightback, slowly at first, then rushing towards their fifties. Sam was eventually out LBW to another shooter for 50, then Dave was caught hitting out for 51. The rest of the innings was over in the blink of an eye, no one reaching double figures, although notable for Sir Viv Seth striking his first four. He may well have hit several more, but Morgsy said 'Vivek's looking good' and he was clean bowled next
ball, and we were all out on the strike of tea for 142.

Could it be enough? Could it? Just possibly, if we bowled really tightly and took our chances. Chadders got us started in the style we meant to continue, bowling five huge wides on the trot. Seven off the first over and not one of them off the bat. Oh dear. Haroon opened well from the other end, looked sharp and getting the ball to cut back off the seam to clean bowl Banks. The pitch was still causing problems, but mainly for stand in keeper THA. Runs flowed happily from wides, byes, and edges.

Rarely did we manage to put it on the spot and let the pitch do the work for us. Vivek came on and bowled the other opener, Broadside, then had Bailey caught and bowled. Suddenly we looked like we had a sniff. Sadly, we were wrong. Quantrell hit a chancy fifty supported by 26 from Young and they knocked off the runs pretty comfortably, our attack failing to threaten again

After the horror start we got off to, we did well to make a game of it, and plaudits go to Sam and Dave for fifties which were probably worth hundreds. Hopefully lessons were learnt and a sharper Allstars will greet our next opponents.

Match report: Allstars v Gents

2011-05-27T10:59:00.003+01:00

By Tristan Haddow-Allen

St Anne's Allstars versus The Gentlemen of West London, April 24th, Barnes Common

Rust, Rust, As Far As The Eye Can See

The day was unseasonably warm, the sun was shining, dew glistened underfoot as Howard Carter opened the St Anne's tomb and released what remained of the Allstars to stumble stiff-limbed and bleary-eyed in to the light. The Allstars have never started the season well. We don't keep fit in winter, we don't have pre-season nets, we often barely fit in to our whites come April, and we always come up against the Gents first game of the year. The Gents are renowned for doing sneaky things such as practising. Bastards.

We have been playing the Gents for a decade, largely unsuccessfully, and nearly always on their minefield of a pitch, where luck often plays a greater role than skill (eight people clean bowled by shooters without a single run being scored, in one memorable exchange). Today was going to be different. Today we were playing at HQ and were going to re-write history.

The pitch was soft and damp as they gathered for an inspection. 'Bat first', says MHA. 'Bollocks, field first', says THA. 'It's always the same. It'll be a bugger to bat on when it's wet, then dry out and we'll look silly when they knock the runs off'.

Not really convinced, Maxie won the toss and elected to field. KP took the new ball and bowled reasonably straight, but at about half pace. Chadders did much the same from the other end. Thus began the story of the day, clownish fielding, wides, full-tosses and dropped catches galore, overthrows, misfields, missed run-outs and stumpings. The Gents' openers - Kumar, and Boden on début - took full advantage, and chance after chance went down. Paul 'Crazy Horse' Nicol replaced KP at the top end and had a horror of a time, verging on the yips. After five full-tosses were dispatched to all parts, MHA was heard to ask 'Who said this was a good pitch to bowl
on?'

Nicol recovered admirably, but runs were still gushing, and wickets were going begging. A big score loomed. THA and TG combined in attack and brought about some order, staunching the flow of runs. Grant dismissed Boden for 52, and Denton next ball for a duck, then THA had their star bat Chris Wright caught for 1. Game on. Ball after ball skimmed the stumps, caught the edge, or just eluded the catcher's grasp, but nothing else would stick.

KP returned to bowl Kumar for a chance-filled 64, and new boy Martyn Langridge added to his two catches by bowling the Gents' captain, Richard Gilkes. The gush had slowed to a trickle, till a late order thrash from Hemin Patel took the gents to 181-6 at the close of their 35. Truth be told, had the Allstars fielded better they could have dismissed the Gents for half that, and 181 looked as if it may be a tricky chase on a lively early season pitch.

THA and Tarka opened the Allstars' reply, and THA looked in a hurry. He thrashed a couple of his early balls through the covers, then went down the pitch to hit the opener back over his head to race to 17, but just as early season rust had cost the Allstars in the field, it cost them with the bat, too. Boden, the pick of the Gents' bowlers, caught THA with a good slower ball that cut back sharply, gating him while trying to hit out far too early in his innings, then had Reid caught behind immediately for a duck.

The pendulum continued to swing, and 181 looked a long way off again. KP joined Tarka at the crease, and started slowly while Tarka chipped away with his unorthodox brand of batting. The pitch began to ease in the sun, and KP pulled out the long handle.

Chris Wright bowled excellently but for no luck, missing KP's edge countless times, Hemin came on to bowl his off-spin, and KP's stand-and-deliver style came in to its own, carting him around the ground for an expensive four overs. The swing-and-a-miss, swing-and-a-four continued, the score climbed steadily, and Allstars' fears started to fade. Tarka was caught for a useful 28, and KP continued his chancy thrashfest till he was bowled by Boden for a match-winning 91. A lusty cameo from Hautot, included a thumping straight six, brought the Allstars home in 27 overs. Despite our faults, lapses and rust, we had played better cricket and deserved to
win.

Both teams retired to the Sun Inn. Backs were slapped, stories were told, and beer was drunk, as everyone knew it was going to hurt terribly in the morning....

Defeat at Sanford, Sunday 22nd May

2011-05-23T13:39:00.002+01:00

We were yesterday unable to build on our promising start to the season, and lost to Sanford by seven wickets. Dave Halladay and Sam MacDonald both posted highly impressive half-centuries, but after subsiding earlier to a perilous 4-3, we could eventually only muster a total of 142, which proved at least 30 runs light. There was a wicket for Haroon, and two for Vivek, but we couldn't break their rather rustic, and slightly lucky, fourth-wicket partnership.

For those who played in the match - any observations/comments?

2011 fixture list

2011-03-23T09:47:00.003Z

Sunday 24th April v Gents of West London (Barnes)

Sunday 22nd May v Sanford (Guildford)

28-29th May - Northumberland tour TBC

Sunday 5th June v Quokkas (Richmond)

Sunday 19th June v Heartaches (Ascott Park, Bucks)

Sunday 3rd July v Newcastle touring team TBC

Sunday 17th July v Salix (Harlington)

Sunday 31st July v Dorking Dads Army (Dorking)

Sunday 7th August v Baker St Irregulars (venue TBC, probably Regent's Park)

Thursday 11th August v English Heritage (Audley End, Essex)

Sunday 14th August v West XI (Greenford)

Sunday 28th August v Weekenders (Barnes)

Sunday 4th September v New Barbarian Weasels (Chiswick)

Sunday 11th September v Mighty Wanderers (Mill Hill - for The James Abrahams Trophy)

Saturday 17th September v Village (Chiswick for the Biggles Goggles Trophy)

22nd-26th September - Corfu tour

Allstars of the Decade 2001-2011

2011-03-01T09:10:00.000Z

The awards ceremony on 25th February also saw 5 awards presented for Allstars of the Decade 2001-2011. All of them recipients have made huge contributions to the club over the last ten years, all in very different ways. The winners were...

Nick Chadwick

If ever an Allstar was even more than the sum of his parts, it's this man. On the field, his bowling has the effect of making everyone feel better. His experience, skill, control, and penetration, make us seem a more credible outfit the very moment he begins his run-up.

Self-deprecatingly, he has always under-rated his batting, despite his genuine ability. Off-field, and especially on tour, he is the life and soul of proceedings, and inevitably at the centre of whatever's happening.

Whether it's wearing stupid hats, spending all night sleeping on the grass, being chatted up by camp Frenchmen, coining brilliant Michael Jackson puns, or composing one of the most acclaimed ever musical tributes to a grumpy coach driver - the sheer scale of his contribution over many years cannot be overstated.

Chris Gould

If you wrote down the names of ten Allstars you'd most like to play alongside, Chris would always be the first name on anyone's team-sheet. He is the kind of club member for whom the word stalwart was devised.

The most striking things about him as an Allstar are his selflessness, his versatility, and his loyalty to the club throughout our ten year history.

He is always the first person to offer help, volunteer for a task, identify a problem and provide a solution - be it sorting out kit, marking out the boundary, tactics in the field, or a diplomatic incident. He can also be relied upon to gently deflate some of Maxie's more ludicrous ideas and sagely steer events in a more sensible direction.

Even more importantly, he is a dependable and resourceful cricketer. A powerful and streetwise batsman, a confident captain, a powerhouse in the field, and, as a vastly accomplished wicket keeper, he has the most caps and dismissals in Allstars history.

Garreth Duncan

Loyalty is just as important a theme for our next winner - an attribute which underscores Garreth's contribution to the club, which stretches back to the very foundation of the Allstars in 1995.

Allstars life would not be quite the same without him. Famously, he wears his heart on his sleeve - and such is the emotion he invests in his cricket, his particularly colourful displays have entered into club folklore and provided some of the most memorable events in our history.

A keen student of the game, his acumen as a cricket brain is perhaps not widely recognised, but has often revealed itself when, as captain, he has led to us to some if the most celebrated Allstars victories of all, for example at Salix in 2009.

Off-field, he is an effortlessly assiduous scorer, an elegant and erudite writer of match reports, and has brilliantly organised a series of hugely enjoyable domestic tours.

But he is best known as the bowler who puts more spin on the ball than anyone in an Allstars shirt has ever done. He is the kind of bowler who clears the bars - because you know that when he steps up to the crease, whatever happens, it's not going to be dull.

Tristan Haddow-Allen

Without Tristan, where on earth would we have been over the last ten years? He may not always be the most spectacular batsman on display, nor the showiest bowler - but match in, match out, season after season, he is the best all-rounder a village club could wish for.

It was he who turned his brother's fanciful, rather naive idea of forming a cricket club into a tangible, functioning reality – an actual cricket team.

He has a brilliant cricket brain, is our best captain, is all-in-all our best fielder, and makes the best teas. There is a special commendation for his Yorkshire puddings with roast beef and horseradish sauce.

He has also been known to keep wicket, and if he ever gets round to learning to drive, he will presumably be commandeered to look after the team bus as well.

He is one of only two players ever to represent the Allstars in more than a hundred matches. He has scored the most runs, the most centuries (nine), the most fifties, and taken the most wickets and the most catches. Among his many highlights, the stand-outs are probably his epic spell of 6-37 which sealed the breakthrough victory against Trengilly Wartha in 2002, And his relentless batting in the 2003 season, when his broad bat reeled off 969 runs – the lynchpin of a summer in which we won ten matches out of twenty.

Maxie Allen

Last but not least- in fact, "last but most" would be appropriate - is Maxie. The founder of our club and the driving force behind it for the last 10 years, the club literally would not exist without him. It was an honour for the Awards Committee to be able to recognise this by presenting Maxie with a tangible recognition of all he has achieved.

He is not just an Allstar of the Decade, he is the all time Allstar. He epitomises the Allstar spirit: he loves cricket for the fun of the game, he always plays with the right attitude, he never berates the shortcomings of others, he knows that the whole purpose of the match is to have a beer together afterwards. And like the club itself, his actual cricketing ability is… not actually the point.

He has put in so much hard work for the club over the years, with the result that everyone connected with it has had a fantastic time on so many occasions. All of us owe him a huge debt of gratitude, and all of us recognise that our lives are immeasurably enriched by knowing him.

Allstars of the Year 2010

2011-03-01T09:02:00.000Z

On Friday, 25th February 2011, at a prestigious central London venue, the awards for Allstars of the Year 2010 were presented to two very worthy winners. Although the award is usually awarded for an all-round contribution over a series, they can also recognise either a single performance, or a series of performances – as is the case with both our awards tonight.

The winners were...

Damian Radcliffe. Damian made, by his standards, a relatively quiet start to his Allstar career before blossoming this season. He chose an auspicious moment to emerge from his chrysalis with a flurry of runs which brought us our first victory on tour since 2003. In pursuit of a daunting victory target of 214 against Eglingham, Northumbria, his imperious, colossal, 120 transformed the entire tenor of the match and saw us home by 5 wickets. The very next day, his 66 against BA Corinthian Amateurs almost won the match – he finished with a tour aggregate of 186. A fortnight later, a similarly redoubtable and fluent 61 not in pursuit of 176, which secured a memorable victory by seven wickets.

Paul Bowman. He may have a lot of cricket on his plate every season, but whenever he's able to play for us, he gives a Kevin Keegan-esque 150% - never more so than when on tour. And in the Dordogne last September, he took it upon himself to try to win the matches almost single-handedly, with a steely resolve, exceptional focus, and ruthless professionalism. Every single tourist made a contribution to our gutsy display against St Aulaye and our historic victory over Eymet. But if we had to single out one player, it would be Paul with figures of 2-38 off 8 overs, and 88 with the bat, against St Aulaye…and against Eymet, a bowling spell of Eymet 5-2-4-5, and then an innings of 31 not out to win the match. Allied to that, off-field, his unquenchable enthusiasm, energy and warmth, make him one of the best-loved tourists of all.

Allstars - the first ten years

2011-02-27T18:38:00.000Z

In continuation of our tenth birthday celebrations, here’s some highlights to savour from each year of the Allstars.

2001, Newark – Jonesy takes a bow

Few knew what they were letting themselves in for when we met up at King’s Cross that Bank Holiday Monday, but many probably feared a heavy defeat in our first game against South Muskham & Little Carlton. But, incredibly, we almost snatched a win thanks to a terrific display of hitting from Nick Jones, who smashed 66 from just 41 balls to go with his 3 wickets with the ball. A late collapse led to defeat by 22 runs, but it was a great day out and gave much hope to the fledgling Allstars.

2002, Trengilly Wartha – The big break

The expectations of our maiden tour to Newquay had reached such fever pitch, thanks to Boves it famously made the Talksport lunchtime news. They obviously hadn’t realised we’d only beaten the Rain Men up to then. By the Sunday the hangovers were really kicking in, and in no time we were 0-2. Tom Morris’ 67 gave us something to bowl at, and he and Tristan bowled superbly, backed up by Chris Gould’s excellent catching behind the stumps. As Trengilly Wartha’s lower order dug in, victory looked like slipping away from us, but a devastating final spell from Tristan, who finished with 6 wickets, gave us a win to cherish.

2003, Brading – Hooray, hooray, for Halla-day

On the Isle of Wight, another tour win after an inauspicious start. On his captaincy debut, Devers made an immediate statement of intent by vomiting in a car, and we quickly slid to 44-5. Enter Dave Halladay to play the innings of his life, an imperious unbeaten 89 which with good support from the tail took us to 177. Excellent bowling and fielding dismisses the islanders 49 runs short. It was to be 7 long years before we tasted victory on tour again.

2004, Gunnersbury – Grabbed by the Plums

A narrow Allstars defeat – but this was only half the story. In a crazy short-handed game, we lent the Winchester Plums three players: Tom Chicken, Jim Jarrett and Felix Allen. Then, when two Allstars failed to turn up in time for the start, Jim and Felix took their places as substitutes, and fielded for the Allstars. They then proceeded to both take catches within the first seven balls of the match - the second one dismissing ...Tom Chicken. So we had an Allstars bowler taking the wicket of a Plums batsman (who was actually an Allstars player) via a catch by an Allstars fielder, who was actually from the Plums (but originally from the Allstars). Work that one out.

2005, Surbiton – Scratching the Gents itch

The opening day of the Allstars season usually has a familiar ring to it: the cheer of seeing old friends again, followed by rusty cricket and defeat to the Gentlemen of West London. This time was different thanks to Simon “Scratch” Begley, who hit a superb 89 not out as we posted 153-8. Nick Chadwick and Devers did the damage with the ball as we bowled out the Gents for a famous 39-run victory.

2006, Barnes – A Few Good Men not quite good enough

With a name like that, we must have been disappointed when Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson didn’t show up. But the Hollywood A-listers missed a classic, the closest finish in Allstars history. Tristan’s second hundred in a week, putting on a huge stand of 191 with Tim Ross, put us in a commanding position, but A Few Good Men bravely kept up with the rate. Six were needed off the final ball, and a lofted drive landed barely six feet inside the boundary. Even when we win, the Allstars always like to do it the hard way.

2007, Matfield – Canbashers put on their bikes

On the day the Tour de France raced through town, another Allstars classic on a picture postcard Kent village green. Scratch’s peerless 84 and a late cameo from Dave Halladay took us to 181-9 before a fired-up Paul Nicol demolished the Canbashers’ middle order. But the canny Canbashers had the odd ace up their sleeve, a certain James Hindle lurking down at number 10, and we faced the fight of our lives to take the last few wickets before scraping over the finish line. Matfield has never seen a sporting day like it.

2008, Barnes – Caesars slain

A fascinating reminder of where it all began. Adrian Marsden’s Twelve Caesars team were every bit as eccentric as their Oxford counterparts, with Roman emperors’ names in the scorebook and one player taking the field in a tweed jacket. But they showed little resistance with the bat, collapsing to 41 all out, easily the lowest total we’ve bowled a side out for. We had a top-order wobble as the Caesars put up more of a fight in the field, but eventually cruised home by 6 wickets.

2009, Oxford – Von Ryan’s express derails Salix

Against our oldest rivals, an absolute cracker on a belting summer’s day. We posted a modest 144-6 which Salix must have thought they’d chase down easily. But they’d reckoned without Jon Ryan, the man with a thousand nicknames, who bowled the spell of his life to blow away their top order. A determined Salix fightback took them to within 20 of the target with 5 wickets standing, but some unbelievable death bowling broke the sixth wicket stand and skittled their tail to snatch us a famous win.

2010, Eymet – Le jour de gloire est arrivé

On a converted rugby field in France, we finally nailed that long-awaited overseas tour win. Paul Bowman and Paul Nicol set it up with 4 wickets each to dismiss Eymet for 112, and after the odd scare we sauntered home by 4 wickets. The open-top bus ride and visit to Downing Street surely awaits …

An Allstars Decade

2011-01-28T17:33:00.000Z

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the formation of the Allstars as a regularly-playing, identifiable cricket team.

Leaving aside (just for a moment) the endless debate about whether the games in Oxford in the 90s should count as "official" Allstars games, we'd like to invite all Allstars, both past and present, to look back on the last decade and share your favourite Allstars memories, both on and off the field. It could be a classic game, a standout performance or a (printable) tour incident. Please add them as comments to this blog.

In addition to this year's Allstars of the Year, at February's awards dinner we'll also be presenting one oe more awards (number and categories to be decided) for the Allstars of the Decade. More details will follow on this shortly.

Caption competition

2011-01-23T15:37:00.000Z

A number of Allstars have petitioned Maxie to organise some sort of competition in the slow winter months without any cricket (we don't count the one day series in Australia, of course).

In that spirit, we present the first Allstars Blog caption competition. The picture is below. Enter by posting your suggested caption in the comments section below. The best entry (as judged by a celebrity judging panel consisting of Michael Atherton, Shane Warne and Amanda Holden) will win a lifetime's supply of Mount Gay rum (or other prize of equivalent or much lesser value).

New date for the 2010 Season Allstars Awards Dinner

2011-01-13T11:57:00.001Z

The Allstars awards dinner has been re-arranged for Friday 25th February.

The venue is the Red Lion pub in Crown Passage, off Pall Mall , St. James's, London SW1Y 6PP (click here or see below for map).

For those new to the Club, it's the evening when we gather for a few beers and some food (about £10 a head) to mark the end of the season, and present awards to the five Allstars Of The Year for their contribution either on- or off-field.

Nominations are still open for the Allstars of the year. Awards can be given for any reason, so please email your suggestions to Maxie.

Please also email Maxie to indicate whether you will be coming and whom else you will be bringing (we need a fairly accurate indication of numbers).

See you there!

View Larger Map

"Mediterranean island" wins 2011 Tour poll

2011-01-07T22:47:00.008Z

To the surprise of no-one, "Mediterranean island" has won the poll to select the destination for the Allstars' 2011 tour. It was the runaway winner, with 66% of the votes.

Meanwhile, Maxie is organising an Allstars tour to Corfu (a Mediterranean island) in September 2011.

James Hindle said "I am gratified that democracy has carried the day" before going on about Nick Clegg for about 3 hours.

Maxie quick to quash talk of Ponting move

2011-01-07T19:30:00.000Z

Maxie Allen has dismissed reports that emotionally stunted loudmouth Ricky Ponting will be joining the Allstars for the 2011 Season.

After a disastrous Ashes, it was assumed that Ponting would drop down a level or two from Test cricket, in an attempt to regain some form. Talking to Channel 9 Sport, Ponting confirmed that he saw the London social cricket circuit as about right for the level that he has recently sunk to. "I think that I have now reached the sort of standard seen on Barnes Common, and of course the Allstars are the most prestigious team in London. I am hoping to hook up with the team for nets in early February" said Ponting, before muttering something about Gary Pratt while looking like he was chewing a wasp.

But Maxie moved quickly to quash such talk. "He's just not good enough" said the Allstars supremo from the shiny new Allstars HQ in Edgeware.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-16T18:59:00.001Z

All the staff at the Allstars Blog (some of them still nursing hangovers from the staff party) would like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas. We hope that you all have a restful holiday, so that you will be raring to start winter nets early in the new year.

The offices of the Allstars Blog will be closed over the festive season, and will reopen in January.

James Hindle to marry

2010-11-10T11:51:00.004Z

Anyone who has opened a newspaper or turned on a radio this morning will have heard that the Allstars' own James Hindle is to marry at last. After living the playboy lifestyle for many years, James proposed to the lovely Rose and (after completing a thorough due diligence exercise), Rose accepted.

All the staff here at the Allstars Blog send James and Rose their warmest congratulations and best wishes for the future.

Jacques Le Bus' new suit

2010-10-30T22:17:00.001+01:00

Ben has just revealed that Jacques Le Bus had a new suit when he was driving us around the Dordogne. Ben realised this when he was looking at Jacques' arse and noticed that the vents on his jacket were still sewn up.

2010 Awards Dinner postponed

2010-10-27T10:45:00.001+01:00

The Awards Dinner previously scheduled for the 26th November 2010 has been postponed. We'll bring you details of the new date as soon as it is fixed.

Congratulations to Felix and Kate

2010-10-23T16:11:00.002+01:00

Today is a very special day for a very special Allstar. Our very own Felix Haddow-Allen is marrying the lovely Kate, making him the luckiest man alive, and breaking hearts all over London and the South-East.

I'm sure that all of our readers will want to wish Felix and Kate the all the best for a long and happy life together.

Poll: the 2011 Tour

2010-10-20T10:26:00.006+01:00

As promised, on the right hand side of this page you will see a poll where you can vote for your favoured destination for the Allstars' overseas tour in 2011. Just because you don't usually tour, or won't be touring in 2011, shouldn't stop you from voting -- after all, Maxie's not going to take any notice of this anyway.

If you do vote for "Other", please say where in the comments section below.

2010 Awards Dinner announced!

2010-10-11T11:43:00.005+01:00

UPDATE: the Dinner has now been postponed until a date TBA.

This year's end of season dinner will be on Friday 26th November, at the Red Lion in St James. It will be a celebration of a hugely successful season, to which all and sundry and their WAGs are invited and very welcome.

The format will be similar to recent years - actually more of an informal buffet than a dinner, in a function room above a pub. For those new to the Club, it's the evening when we gather for a few beers and some food (about £10 a head) to mark the end of the season, and present awards to the five Allstars Of The Year for their contribution either on- or off-field.

Nominations are now open for the Allstars of the year. Awards can be given for any reason, so please email your suggestions to Maxie.

Please also email Maxie to indicate whether you will be coming and whom else you will be bringing (we need a fairly accurate indication of numbers).

See you there!

Where shall we Tour in 2011?

2010-10-09T13:55:00.007+01:00

Belfast, Minorca, Ljubljana, Oporto, Malta, Ibiza, the Dordogne... What's next in this sequence?

Please suggest, by way of comment below, where you think the Allstars should go on Tour in 2011. If we get enough suggestions, I'll start a poll on this blog, allowing everyone to vote for their preferred venue.

Our benign dictator Maxie will take your suggestions carefully into consideration before making a decision in his own absolute discretion.

Personally, I'd like to go somewhere hot, where we can go swimming in the pool after playing cricket. All our Mediterranean tours have been successful, so why tamper with a classic? Do you agree? Comment below!

NOTE: The title of this post originally referred to 2012. That's not because we are not touring in 2011. It was because I am an idiot.

KP's Photo Galleries

2010-10-04T11:34:00.006+01:00

Paul Bowman has created two online photograph galleries from the 2010 Allstars Tour to the Dordogne for your viewing pleasure. They can be accessed by clicking the links below:

The galleries are hosted on Facebook but are available to everyone: you don't need a Facebook account to see them, but only Facebook users can make comments on the photos.

Paul has very kindly said that if there are any photos you would like the original of, please you can drop him a line and he will will send you the raw file(s).

Famous Films Re-created - Part I

2010-09-29T15:04:00.005+01:00

In the first of an irregular series, James Hindle and Paul Bowman re-create their favourite scene from their favourite movie:
And for comparison, the original:

Athers' views on 2010 tourists' prospects

2010-09-29T11:42:00.005+01:00

The end of the 2010 Dordogne Tour inevitably heralds the beginning of speculation as to who will be selected for the Allstars 2011 Tour squad. So we asked Michael Atherton, writing exclusively for the Allstars Blog, to give his views on the 2010 tourists’ chances of selection for 2011:

James Hindle: The never popular Hindle probably did enough on the field to warrant selection next time around.

Richard Stephenson: The Rocket fired once again, and can be assured of a place next year.

Paul Bowman: An all round disappointment. This was the third Tour in a row on which KP had to be carried by the rest of his team. He is rapidly turning into the Alistair Cook of the Allstars. What does he have to do to get dropped?

Paul Nicol: That guy performed admirably on the field and can start packing his bags now.

Garreth Duncan: No one doubts that his on-field performances earned GD a place on the 2011 Tour. The key question is: will married life limit his availability?

James Abrahams: The controversial Abrahams is a certain pick for 2011, as Maxie knows that legal proceedings would be initiated immediately if he were omitted.

Sqn Ldr Robert Jackson: Took the aerial route this year, to great effect. A likely pick for next year.

Ben Hampton: Lusty blows, aggressive bowling, and attractiveness to the ladies are all qualities that Maxie admires. Expect him to be picked for next year if he makes himself available.

Ian Bell: A controversial omission from the final squad, his chances of selection for 2011 will depend on how he performs in Australia this winter.

Vivek Seth: Made himself indispensable by captaining the side to victory against Eymet and taking a hatful of wickets.

Jon Hautot: The issue here is whether Jon will continue to be mired in betting scandals by the time of next year’s tour. It also won’t have gone unnoticed that he scored far more runs with the bat after a sharp crack to the head.

James Morgan: Will he be able to leave his sofa?

Nicholas Chadwick: Chadders' contributions to the local nightlife are an essential part of any Allstars tour. As the only tourist to get into anyone else’s trousers this year, a return is likely.

Maxie Allen: The skipper – it wouldn’t be the Allstars without Maxie.

Jacques le bus: No. Just no.

Allstars walk Eymet's field of dreams

2010-09-28T20:55:00.003+01:00

Report by Garreth Duncan

A converted rugby field in the charming French town of Eymet is a place that will be forever Allstars. For Sunday 26 September 2010 will be a day that will go down in our history as the day when, finally, gloriously, the Allstars won an overseas game.

We prepared for the match in true French fashion with a game of boules on the outfield. But ours was not the only game in town, as the Mayor was in attendance for the local ladies' football team's first game, which Eymet's girls beat a team in, er, red and black, by the crushing margin of 14-0. Great entertainment for us at the innings break, perhaps not the greatest omen for the Allstars.

After captain for the day Vivek Seth had decided to field first, Paul Bowman gave us the perfect start by having Rhodes caught behind by Jon Hautot before wrecking left-hander Tim Smith's stumps with a perfect swinging yorker. At the other end, Chadders probed away on a tight line, keeping the Eymet batsmen in check.

Paul Nicol had surprisingly not been asked to bowl against St Aulaye the day before, and he showed us what we'd missed with the spell of the day. After removing Hinds and Fabb to catches to Tarka at slip and Ben Hampton at gully, he then had Bailey caught by KP and castled Morgan. Although the leader of the Nicolite faction couldn't quite add another "Michelle" to his collection, by the time he'd finished Eymet were 46-6 and we were in complete control.

Eymet skipper Sam Hawell stood alone against the Allstar onslaught, playing strongly off his legs as he went to his fifty. But he had little support at the other end as skipper Vivek joined the wickets party, bowling Taylor with a full toss I can only describe as a "Rain Men delivery". KP returned to mop up the tail, and we faced a victory target of 113. A modest score, but could we keep our nerve?

Vivek boldly sent in Ben to open the innings, and "Le Grand Cheval" rewarded his captain with a flying start, crashing 17 off just 11 balls, including a huge six over cow (horse?) corner, before having his off stump knocked out. Squadron Leader Rob Jackson continued the Allstars assualt, crunching a couple of fours off the usually parsimonious Bishop. By the time he too was bowled we were 53-2 and nearly halfway there.

KP joined Tarka in the middle, and the Village pair took us to within 20 of the target with plenty of overs left to come. But it wouldn't be the Allstars if we didn't do it the hard way, and Tarka's dismissal brought out the inevitable middle-order wobble, and it was James Abrahams who had the honour of hitting the winning runs.

We all celebrated a la francais with post-match cheese and wine with the opposition. Vive la France!

Man of the Match: Paul Nicol. Che Guevara's guerilla assault wrecked Eymet's middle order.

Champagne Moment: Ben Hampton's monster six - sending us flying out of the starting stalls.

The Tour is over

2010-09-28T08:41:00.002+01:00

All the Allstars have now returned to Blighty.

The Tour was a success both on and off the field. On the field, we finished with a record of Played 2 Won 1 Lost 1. It was our best ever overseas result, made all the more impressive in that it was achieved despite Paul Bowman's sloppy bowling and lacklustre batting. Off the field, a great time was had by all.

The lion's share of the credit must go to Maxie of course. We all tease him mercilessly for his Mainwaring-esque leadership, but none of us have organised so much with such success. Thanks fella! I'm sure that all our readers will agree that he deserves a well-earned rest after all his hard work...

James gets in on the falling-asleep action

2010-09-27T19:51:00.001+01:00

Tour Awards

2010-09-27T18:58:00.001+01:00

Yesterday evening, the last night of the Tour, we held the 2010 Tour Awards Dinner. Here are the results.

Tourist of the Year (on field): The Awards Committee found it surprisingly easy to dismiss the achievements of Paul Bowman, which proved very popular with the audience. But it was more difficult to pass over a number of others, including Paul Nicol for his all round effort, and groom-to-be Garreth Dunkan, for his consistently good bowling. Buy the award went to the Allstar who took wickets in both matches and achieved the unique feat of captaining the Allstars to victory abroad: VIVEK SETH.

Tourist of the Year (off field): This was an altogether much easier decision. There was an honourable mention for Chadders, in recognition of his contribution to Anglo-French relations. But the award went to the sine qua non of the Tour and indeed the Allstars as a whole; a man who enriches all of our lives: MAXIE ALLEN.

The winners:

Late night Allstars

2010-09-26T23:54:00.001+01:00

You'll have to forgive your correspondent, who is blogging under severely difficult circumstances, namely a lot of red wine.

We have been told that there have been complaints from other reidents of the hotel, and if we make any more noise, we will have to pay for their rooms.

The Jacques Le Bus song

2010-09-26T23:39:00.003+01:00

Jacques le bus est arrivé
Jacques le bus est arrivé
Jacques le bus est arrivé
Jacques le bus est arrivé
Bonjour Jacques le bus
Comment allez vous?
Bonjour Jacques le bus
Les Allstars aiment vous!

Words and music by N. Chadwick.
(c) 2010

Garreth window shopping for wedding dresses

2010-09-26T21:46:00.000+01:00

Allstars v Eymet: as it happened

2010-09-26T21:41:00.001+01:00

11.15: Our bus departs L'Hotel de France.

11.46: Arrived at Stade Bretou. Ben Hampton won the highly controversial sweepstake to guess the time that the journey would take.

As we are a bit early, we're going to do a bit of an Allstars Olympics. A bit like the Paralympics, only with less able bodied participants.

12.02: Ben won the throwing the cricket ball the furthest competition.

12.30: Team Bowman (Bowman, Abrahams, Hampton, Seth (sub: Jackson)) beat Team Chadwick (Chadwick, Allen, Dunkan, Rocket) at boules, final score 13-0.

12.35: Rocket was adjudged to have the most luxuriant sideburns.

12.41: In the changing room:

12.49: The team captains, Vivek and Sam Harrell:

Viv and Sam have agreed that Eymet will bat first in a 35 overs game.

13.27: A great start for the Allstars, restricting Eymet to 2-1 off 4 overs.

15.34: Tight bowling and disciplined fielding enabled the Allstars to bowl out Eymet for 112 in 33 overs. Skipper Vivek Seth led by example with figures of 2-10 off 4 overs. Paul Nicol weighed in with 4-9 and Jackson, Duncan, Abrahams, Hampton and Chadwick bowled parsimoniously.

A great team performance was marred only by the bowling of Paul Bowman, who opened the bowling with a disappointing spell of 4-2-3-2. He was charitably given another over at the death, in which he could manage only 2 wickets for 1 run.

For Eymet, Harrell top scored with 58.

The Allstars will now chase 113 to win off 35 overs.

15.52: James Hindle opening the batting:

16.22: After 9 overs, Allstars are 30-1, making stately progress towards the target. The man out is Ben Hampton, who hit some lusty blows for his 17.

16.37: Allstars are 46-1 after 14 overs. Run rate required 3.19.

16.53: Allstars are 71-2 (Hindle 25no, Bowman 14no) off 19 overs at the drinks break. Rob Jackson made a well judged 14.

As usual, GD is keeping score with the accuracy of a patent agent:

16.57: Allstars are 83-2 off 20. Run rate required is now exactly 2.

The tension is really building now as the Allstars sense the possibility of a first ever victory on foreign soil.

17.02: John Fabb has just come on to bowl for Eymet.

17.03: And he is Fabb - he's got Hindle out off his first ball! James scored 38.

17.31: VICTORY! Your correspondent scored the winning runs and is too excited to blog!!

17.40: Allstars (113-6 off 28.3 over) beat Eymet (112 ao) by 4 wickets. Bowman (31no) and Abrahams (2no) saw the away team home, to record their first win on foreign soil.

The victorious captain:

Beer and Pizza with the oppo to follow.

Ben has pulled!

2010-09-26T19:17:00.000+01:00

Allstars v Eymet: the build up

2010-09-26T10:01:00.004+01:00

10.36: And we start our live coverage with an exclusive interview with Vivek Seth, today's Allstars captain.

He told us how he felt about today's game: "Errr ... don't really know"

10.57: Ben is sledging French rugby supporters. Again.

11.03: Much excitement as "Jacques Le Bus", our miserable, chain smoking bus driver has turned up in a tie in Allstars' colours. Next thing you know, he'll be shouting: "Allez Le Good Guys!"

Hello to our reader!

2010-09-26T10:01:00.003+01:00

A big shout out from all at the Allstars Blog to our reader, Mike "Cindy" Catty from Auckland, New Zealand. Hope you are enjoying the updates Mike, feel free to comment!

Maxie and Chadders

2010-09-26T08:42:00.000+01:00

Allstars v St Aulaye: as it happened

2010-09-25T07:32:00.001+01:00

All the waiting and the talking is finally over. The Tour proper starts today with the Allstars' first match, against St Aulaye. This blog will of course be following events as they unfold, so check back for regular updates covering all the build-up plus lives scores during the game. Kick off is scheduled for 13.00 (which is 12.00 UK time).

08.27: There is a palpable feeling of excitement in the Allstars hotel as the countdown to the game begins.

The skies are overcast, and periods of rain are forecast, which will certainly have an impact on the game.

Stay tuned for an interview with Allstars skipper for the day James Hindle, who'll be giving us his thoughts on team selection and tactics in an exclusive interview later this morning.

10.28: Speaking exclusively to the Allstars Blog, Skipper James Hindle gave us his thoughts for today's game:

"I'm a bit apprehensive; being dragged to a Gay Bar by Nick Chadwick last night was not ideal preparation... I worry that I will be distracted by the recurring image of Chadders' outrageous flirting.

"I'm also a little bit concerned about one Allstars' close links to a French bookmaker. This individual (of Hugenot extraction) has been heard on the phone to bookmakers at least 7 times in the last few days."

Obviously this blog does not make irresponsible accusations and so we will not be naming the individual in question. However, we have to cut the interview short as Jon Hautot is about to arrive...

10.37: We're on the coach and ready to go!

10.52: We've departed Bergerac and are now wending our way through the French countryside aboard our tour bus.

11.04: Paul Nicol is keeping our spirits up on the long journey to St Aulaye with a lecture on biodiversity. Bill Oddie is coming in for particular criticism for opposing a cull of seabirds in Newcastle.

Personally, I found his discussion of how evolutionary pressures affect bird size particularly fascinating. It's just a shame that technological limitations prevent me from putting a video recording of his lecture on this blog.

12.05: Arrived at the cricket ground. It's a dedicated cricket ground with a matting wicket and a little wooden pavilion, right in the middle of the countryside. Quite delightful.

The journey here was very pretty, through the French countryside; but very long, windy and bumpy. Perhaps it was not a good idea to have had such a rich meal last night (scallops, steak, foie gras and loads of red wine). Several of the tourists are now feeling distinctly queasy. "Have you ever been on a journey that made you want to die?" asked James Hindle. "Queasy is an understatement" groaned Chadders. None of this bodes well for our attempt this afternoon to record our first ever win outside mainland UK.

12.13: Oh God I feel terrible.

12.28: Maxie with Wynford Hicks, St Aulaye CC's Secretary.

12.37: The Captains: Hindle and Adrian Raynor of St Aulaye.

Instead of a toss, Hindle persuaded Adrian to let us field first, as we are mostly too sick to concentrate on batting. We will be playing a 40 overs game, 12 a side, starting in 20 minutes.

12.51: Fantastic news! Chadders is going to play wearing Richard Stephenson's old cricket trousers!

15.47: Innings break. St Aulaye scored 204-9 off their 40 overs, skipper Raynor top scoring with 110. For the Allstars, Garreth Dunkan was the pick of the bowlers: opening from the River End and picking up 2-42 off a single 8 over spell. Plaudits also to Paul Nicol, who put in an exemplary performance in the field, taking 3 good catches and saving at least 20 runs. An inspiration to us all.

So St Anne's Allstars require 205 off 40 overs to win, at a rate of 5.13 per over. James Hindle and Paul Bowman will open the batting.

The biggest problem for the Allstars may be the light. It is already very gloomy under heavy, grey clouds; and this far South, at the end of September, it gets dark very quickly. Let's hope that everyone has been eating their carrots.

16.27: Allstars are 28-0 after 8 overs (Hindle 11no Bowman 11no).

17.07: Drinks. Allstars are 71-1 after 20 overs. Bowman is going nicely on 42, Paul Nicol has 1. The run rate required has crept up to 6.7. But we have plenty of wickets and big hitters to come, so no need to panic. Yet.

17.26: KP has his half century! He is 51no, with Jon Hautot on 8 at the other end. Allstars are 94-2 after 26 overs. Run rate required is now up to 7.93.

17.49: KP and Hautot have taken the Allstars to 158-2 off 35 overs. That leaves a target of 47 off the last 5 overs.

18.29: Game over: St Aulaye won by 22 runs. We really went for it at the end, which inevitably led to a flurry of late wickets. We ended on 181-10, Paul Bowman top scoring with a career best 88. It was a good, close cricket match, enjoyed by all.

20.13: We're now having a very pleasant meal in a restaurant in St Aulaye with our hosts. At some point I will have blog about our bizarre and highly unpleasant coach driver, but writing about him now will just annoy me, so I am going to leave that particular story for another time.

The Rocket was immaculately dressed for dinner:

Ben's new friends

2010-09-25T00:03:00.001+01:00

A particular highlight of the night for me was Ben Hampton making friends with a couple of French guys. Despite the fact the he speaks not one word of French, and they spoke no English, they managed to have a long, in depth conversation about the upcoming Rugby World Cup (New Zealand 2011) , and in particular whether the French would beat the All Blacks yet again.

Boatrace Part 2; and Maxie asleep

2010-09-24T23:05:00.001+01:00

James Hindle has more than redeemed himself by thrashing Chadders in a race to down a pint of Guinness.

In other news, Maxie is asleep:

James "Boatrace" Hindle loses boatrace

2010-09-24T22:46:00.001+01:00

This is James Hindle after losing a race with KP to down a pint of Guinness. It was a commendable effort from James, but he couldn't live with KP's greater experience. Also, he puked up straight afterwards.

Happy Birthday to Hautot!

2010-09-24T21:24:00.000+01:00

The highlight of this evening was the celebration of Jon Hautot's 50th birthday.

Maxie looking sad because he has just wet himself

2010-09-24T18:35:00.000+01:00

UPDATE: Maxie's problems continue -- he has just shat himself.

A full squad. Almost.

2010-09-24T18:02:00.000+01:00

Viv, Rocket and Ben have all made their way safely to Begerac, completing our tour party. It's been an excellent effort from everyone -- using planes trains and automobiles, we've all managed to get here in time for tomorrow's game, despite the best efforts of the French strikers.

Except Morgsy, who never actually left his house.

An Applogy

2010-09-24T17:35:00.001+01:00

I know that a lot of people are following this blog with baited breath for updates, and I have let you down by not posting for ages. All I can say is that I have had a lot of red wine today. And I mean a lot of red wine.

Maxie wearing a beret

2010-09-24T16:50:00.000+01:00

Shopping for a wedding dress with Garreth

2010-09-24T16:47:00.000+01:00

Exciting news from home

2010-09-24T10:21:00.001+01:00

Much excitement here, as we have learnt that Maxie's new sofas have arrived. The picture below shows them in place, and has won plaudits from those Allstars with interior design expertise.

James Hindle commented: "That's rather good."

Friday breakfast update

2010-09-24T09:53:00.001+01:00

Morgsy is officially out of the tour - unable to get a seat on today's Southampton flight. Shame - he'll be missed.

At the time of writing, Vivek and the Rocket are at Southampton airport and due to fly at 10.30am. Good luck lads.

Chadders, James A and I have just had breakfast in the hotel. Here are the official stats on what we ate:

Chadders - 3 x pains au chocolat, 1 x kiwi, 1 x apple, 4 x cups of coffee, 4 x glasses of orange juice.

James - 2 x baguette with black cherry jam, 3 x pains au chocolat, orange juice.

Maxie - 3 x Babybel, 3 x croissant, 2 x baguette pieces, 2 x cups of tea, orange juice.

No sign yet of any other tourists.

Chadders' nocturnal adventure

2010-09-24T08:38:00.001+01:00

It seems that most of the Allstars managed to find their way back to their rooms safely last night, with one exception...

At 3am Chadders found himself the only person wandering the streets of Bergerac. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Police took an interest. Not only did Chadders avoid getting arrested and beaten up, he managed to charm Les Gendarmes into giving him a lift back to the hotel.

Soon after, Chadders discovered that Maxie had locked the door of their shared bedroom. After hammering on the door to no avail (apart from waking up half the hotel) he managed to break into the room, at which point it he discovered that this was not his, or any Allstars', room. Those who have seen a drunken Chadders at 3am will be able to imagine how terrifying this must have been for the poor French couple in the room.

It took Chadders another 15 minutes to find Maxie and persuade him to unlock the door to their room.

UPDATE: Upon further investigation, it seems that the "French couple" were in fact KP and Tarka.

Maxie and KP in Au Plus-Que-Parfait

2010-09-23T22:24:00.000+01:00

Dinner in Bergerac

2010-09-23T21:50:00.001+01:00

Squadron Leader Jackson did us proud by finding a lovely al fresco restaurant in Bergerac.

Highlights of the meal included Paul Nicol tipping six portions of croutons into his soup (which was an unpopular move amongst the other five guys who had ordered soup with croutons); and Maxie being sick down the front of his shirt.

Allstars French adventure - as it happened

2010-09-23T19:58:00.001+01:00

This the story of how Maxie, James A, KP, Chadders, Paul Nicol, Tarka, Garreth and Hautot got to Bergerac. Eventually.

All entries are French time. Zut alors!

12.55: On the Eurostar. We emerged from the tunnel (27 minutes late) to grey clouds and rain - so no one is feeling homesick.

We've learnt that Morgsy has missed his flight due to chaos and uncertainty resulting from the French General Strike, which is not great news.

But we're in France! Only about 700 miles to go!

13.15: Garreth has announced his engagement to the lovely Lara! This has naturally caused great excitement and we are thinking about ways to celebrate this during the tour.

13.24: James Hindle's teeth are already heavily stained with red wine.

14.05: Still on the Eurostar, hoping to get into Gare du Nord in about 20 minutes. We've just seen an aeroplane taking off from CDG airport, which raises the question: why did Ryanair have to cancel our flight?

14.17: Arrived at Gare du Nord.

14.36: In a taxi on our way to Gare Montparnasse.

15.15: A mad rush across Paris, followed by a titanic struggle with a ticket machine to buy tickets, and we have managed to catch the 15.15 TGV to Bergerac via Libourne. ETA at Bergerac is 19.34. The ticket machine offered at least 72 different types of ticket, all with uninformative French names. What does "Pro 2nd" mean? Plus it wouldn't sell me 8 tickets all in one go. None of which would have been a huge problem, but for the fact that our train was leaving in 6 minutes from a platform on the other side of the station.

15.43: We've just heard that Rocket and Morgsy's flight today has been cancelled. But Rocket has re-booked on the same flight tomorrow, so hopefully he'll be able to join the tour. Updates on Morgsy to follow.

15.58: Poker school on the TGV.

16.40: Musings from the train: It's a cliche that the trains in France are better than the trains back in Blighty. But most cliches are cliches because they are true. And this is not an exception. In terms of comfort, cleanliness, quality of the food and drink, speed, price and coolness of name ("Train Grande Vitesse!"), the TGV dumps on anything in the UK. Who says that state run industries are inefficient?

16.56: And Maxie is asleep:

1823: We're still on the TGV, but we just heard the announcer say "Bergerac"! I guess that means we have to get off at the next stop.

18.30: A little taste of home! We've arrived in Libourne, to find that our connecting train to Bergerac is cancelled, and we have to catch a rail replacement bus.

19.04: Now on the rail replacement bus, and Garreth is enjoying himself immensely. In the words of KP: "He's pulled, and what a stunner she is!"

KP adds: "Flirting level: extreme. "I'm from Oxford University", and "My friend is a pilot"."

ETA Bergerac is now 20.20 - very appropriate for a cricket tour.

19.13: We've just passed through St Emillion, to the great excitement of the oenophiles in the group.

Meanwhile, Hautot shows Garreth how it is done.

20.40: We finally arrived in Bergerac. Now where the hell is our hotel?

20.50: Arrived at last! It turns out that I can still ask for, and understand, directions in French.

We're on our way!

2010-09-23T10:02:00.001+01:00

10.00: The bulk of the Allstars touring party have successfully convened at St Pancras and negotiated passport control. Now we have the small matter of a 9 hour train journey...

Deeee de de, de de-de-de!

2010-09-22T15:22:00.000+01:00

In honour of Rob Jackson:

You can skip to 2:25 if you wish.

The Eagle has landed!

2010-09-22T14:59:00.002+01:00

Rob Jackson has arrived in Bergerac! Without a care for the dastardly Ryanair, Rob flew his own plane to Bergerac, to establish an Allstars bridgehead in the Dordogne. One down, 12 to go!

French air traffic controllers' strike threatens Tour

2010-09-21T20:54:00.001+01:00

The 2010 Allstars Tour has been thrown into doubt by a general strike in France -- leading to the cancellation of our Ryanair flight on Thursday.
Watch this space for further news...

No place for Bell in Allstars 2010 Tour party

2010-09-20T09:11:00.005+01:00

Morgsy and Maxie's fantastic cricket blog The Full Toss has an article describing how Ian Bell's superb knock in the Clydesdale Bank 40 final at Lords has earned him a recall to the England squad.
However, some teams have even higher standards, and Ian Bell will be waking up this morning to the sobering thought that he will not be participating in the 2010 Allstars Tour to Bergerac. Instead, this blog can reveal that the final 13 man squad consists of:

Maxie Allen
James Abrahams
Paul Bowman
Nicholas Chadwick
Garreth Duncan
Rob Jackson
Ben Hampton
Jon Hautot
James Hindle
James Morgan
Paul Nicol
Vivek Seth
Richard Stephenson

Apparently, Bell was pinning his hopes on being selected as a late replacement for Jon Ryan, who had to pull out due to problems with his "guts". But Maxie opted instead to call up Kiwi Ben Hampton, who impressed with a characteristically Allstars-esque batting performance at the Festival in August.
Don't forget that you can follow all the exploits of the tourists on this blog.

Become an Allstars WAG?

2010-09-15T15:47:00.004+01:00

Rumours that a website along the lines of www.becomeawag.com is to be set up to cater for the many thousands of women who wish to date an Allstar are so far unconfirmed. We will bring you more news as we get it.

The Fifteen15Fifteen15 debate - have your say

2010-08-31T09:56:00.004+01:00

One thing which the Festival highlighted was that lots of Allstars really like the "Fifteen15Fifteen15" format (thanks to Chadders for the name), involving two innings per side, each of 15 overs, in which the batting order is reversed for the second innings. The bowling restrictions usually involve most people having a bowl - I believe that at the Festival this year almost everyone bowled at least 2 overs. (The rule in place was maximum of 5 overs per bowler over the whole game, minimum of 7 bowlers to be used.)
For me and others, the format real contributed to the atmosphere and the enjoyability of the day. I for one would like to play more such games.
So I am starting a campaign today to encourage the playing of more games in this format, not just "fun" games at the annual-ish Festival, but regular season games too. After all, aren't all our games supposed to be fun?
If you agree, and would like to see the Allstars play more Fifteen15Fifteen15 games, please say so in the comments box below.

Allstars Festival 2010 - Player of the Day

2010-08-30T21:34:00.003+01:00

Player of the Day was Venay, for his allround performance with bat ball and in the field. Venay was particularly happy to catch James A in the first innings and then bowl him in the second innings, after which he announced that he had forgiven James for a rather unfortunate umpiring decision in Ibiza.

Allstars Festival 2010

2010-08-30T21:26:00.005+01:00

Today's 2010 Allstars Festival was a huge success, enjoyed by all. We played a two x 15 over innings per side game, with the batting order reversed in the second innings, which meant that everyone got to participate. In the end, "Young Boys of Barnes" captained by Gren, beat Devers' eponymous team by 24 runs. The picture shows Maxie presenting the match ball to the victorious captain -- with defeated captain Devers in the background.

An Allstars record?

2010-08-13T08:14:00.001+01:00

For me, the highlight of the game against English Heritage (which Maxie has already blogged about below) was the point at which the Allstars run rate was a breezy 54 runs per over, which put us on target for a projected first innings total of 1,890.
Sadly the home team tightened up their bowling considerably and managed to restrict us to 152. Still, it was nice while it lasted.

EH v Allstars result

2010-08-12T20:24:00.000+01:00

Lost by the annoying margin of 1 wicket. They crept over the line with eight balls to spare. 152-7 played 155-9.

Stephen Harty top scored for us on debut with 65, with support from James Morgan's 32.

Stephen also took 4 wickets, Tony Grant snaffled a brace, and there were one each for Morgsy and KP.

A very close, exciting match - just a shame the final wicket eluded us.

EH v Allstars

2010-08-12T16:00:00.000+01:00

Allstars 75-3 off 20.

English Heritage v Allstars

2010-08-12T14:39:00.000+01:00

EH won toss and will bat.

Village win the Biggles Goggles Trophy

2010-08-08T19:42:00.004+01:00

Village CC (221-6) beat St Anne's Allstars (200-8) by 21 runs. A swashbuckling 73 from skipper James Morgan, ably supported by Dave Halladay's 40, was not enough in the fading August light. Morgan's departure, run out backing up, with Allstars needing 46 off 28 balls left the home side with too much to do. Up to then it was a tense affair, worthy of the new plastic, bronze effect trophy which was collected by Eklayva Gupte, Village's victorious captain.
Morgan spoke for the whole team by placing the blame for the defeat firmly at Maxie's door. Gupte said: "It was a good game, I never thought the Allstars could reach our target, but I was scared by how close they came in the end. A really good game."

Allstars Inns drinks break

2010-08-08T18:22:00.001+01:00

Allstars are 73-4 after 17 overs (Morgan 16no, Halladay 13no), chasing 222 to win. Run rate required is 8.28.
In an exclusive interview with the Allstars Blog, captain-for-the-day James Morgan said: "We're just taking it ball by ball."

Village CC 221-6 (35 overs)

2010-08-08T16:59:00.001+01:00

Hindle 48. Harty 45.
Bowman 2-25. Hautot 1-23.
A much more lively second half to the innings saw some big sixes, some catches go to hand, and a challenging target for the Allstars of 222 to win. James Morgan's imaginative captaincy was a particular highlight.

Allstars v Village CC - 1st Inns drinks

2010-08-08T15:36:00.001+01:00

After 18 overs, James Hindle and Steve Harty have taken the Village to a soporific 89-0. Some Pakistani style catching from the home team contributed to the general feeling of ennui.

Allstars v Village CC

2010-08-08T14:09:00.001+01:00

Stand-in skipper James Morgan won the toss and decided that the Allstars should bowl.

Allstars get 13!

2010-08-08T14:02:00.001+01:00

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

Salix v Allstars match report, 11th July 2010

2010-07-15T08:59:00.003+01:00

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.

Shedfield v Allstars, Sunday 13th June 2010

2010-06-14T14:03:00.002+01:00

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.

Live: Shedfield v Allstars

2010-06-13T21:02:00.001+01:00

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

Live: Shedfield v Allstars

2010-06-13T17:02:00.001+01:00

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

Festival

2010-05-25T17:05:00.001+01:00

This has now been switched to Bank Holiday Monday 30th August.

Match report: Sanford v Allstars, Sunday 23rd June 2010

2010-05-24T17:51:00.003+01:00

By James Morgan

If there’s one thing us Allstars are known for (except for our fine physiques and natural athleticism) it’s our courage under fire. Sanford threw everything at us yesterday afternoon, but our resilient tail heroically held on for the draw in what was almost a carbon copy of last year’s game.

It was a triumph for determination and stoicism under extreme duress. The Gods had been against us all day: we lost the toss and had to bowl in conditions that resembled a kiln; we had absolutely no luck in the field despite bowling tidily; and when we came to bat, our top order nicked a series of jaffas that either bounced unexpectedly or shot along the floor at shin height. We were not amused.

However, a wonderful rear guard action by Chris Gould, Chris Harrison, Gren Thompson, Vivek Seth and Jon ‘the impenetrable forward press’ Ryan, salvaged the draw.

Sanford must take a huge amount of credit for the way they played - but it wasn’t quite enough to take the spoils. After winning the toss, they posted an impressive 212-2 declared, off 36 overs. We bowled with discipline but just didn’t get the breaks. Gren in particular beat the bat on numerous occasions, but had all the luck of an Irishman whose four-leaf clover had been stolen by a particularly mischievous leprechaun.

However, as the pitch still seemed flat at tea, we fancied our chances of chasing the runs and claiming an unlikely victory. If only it were so. As seasoned Allstars know all too well, conceiving a winning strategy and actually putting it into effect are two different matters – and it wasn’t long until we found ourselves precariously placed at 53-4, and then 66-6.

Fortunately however, we had anticipated that plan A might not go exactly to plan, so we had packed the lower order with courageous blockers. Therefore, when the run chase faltered, we were happy to revert to plan B: go into ours shells and hang on for dear life! I’m happy to report that Operation Limpet was a complete success. We closed on 84-8 off 36overs). The immovable object, Jon Ryan, could have stayed in the middle all evening had the opposition not run out of overs and invited us down the pub.

Scorecard

Sanford CC v St Anne’s Allstars CC, Sunday 23rd May 2010
Urn Field, Guildford
Weather: sunny and very hot
Toss: Sanford
Format: time (second innings of one hour plus 20 overs)
Debuts: R. Sandess, A. Quantrall

Sanford

†B Bailey c Sandess b Quantrall 54
A Forbes not out 71
*J Morley c Quantrall b Duncan 30
A Banks not out 26

Extras (21w, 1nb, 7b, 2lb) 31

Total (36 overs) 212-2 dec

Fall: 1-102, 2-151
DNB: R Povey, J Quantrall, C Cooke, D Harrowell, D Field, L Cooper, D Smallpiece

Thompson 10-2-33-0
Ryan 6-0-34-0
Khalid 4-0-24-0
A Quantrall 7-0-43-1
Seth 5-0-32-0
Duncan 4-0-29-1

St Anne’s Allstars

R Sandess c Bailey b Field 1
A Quantrall c Cooke b Field 14
*JG Morgan c Bailey b Cooke 19
CR Gould b Cooper 15
H Khalid b Harrowell 0
J Hautot c 1st slip b Cooke 1
G Thompson lbw b Smallpiece 14
†C Harrison c Cooke b J Quantrall 6
J Ryan not out 0
V Seth not out 0

Extras (5w, 3nb, 5b, 1lb) 14

Total (36 overs) 84-8

Fall: 1-2, 2-29, 3-46, 4-53, 5-54, 6-66, 7-81, 8-84
DNB: GA Duncan

Field 7-1-21-2
Smallpiece 8-4-19-1
Cooke 8-4-9-2
Harrowell 4-0-11-1
Cooper 4-3-1-1
Morley 1-0-7-0
J Quantrall 4-3-6-1

Result: match drawn

Update

2010-05-23T19:42:00.000+01:00

Clung on for a draw with 8 wickets down. Great rearguard action from Chris Gould, Gren Thompson, Chris Harrison, Vivek, and Jon Ryan.

Update

2010-05-23T17:10:00.001+01:00

Sanford 212-2 dec.