With the 2023 season coming to an end on a hot, sunny day last Sunday it's time to reflect on another successful season for the cricket section at Standard Athletic. The club has played in approximately 30 games of cricket this year, including two trips overseas. Back in February the team jetted off to Spain and hopped over the Channel to take on 3 teams for their annual trip to Kent. In addition to regular weekend games against teams from Ile de France, Kensington CC were welcomed to Meudon at the beginning of May and Valenciennes arrived from close to the Belgium border in September. With a 3-0 victory over Thoiry CC in the John Shield as well as a home-and-away triumphs against rivals Chantilly, there was even time to include a record-breaking attempt at fielding 11 players from each of the 12 ICC-full member nations, a photo of which is included in the main article of all four full final match reports. Special thanks must go out to members of the SACC committee - Rich Parkin, Andrew Jackson, Niseem Burkule, Andrew Macintyre, Chris Mccarthy, Henry Colburn and Shaunak Knot - whose hard work and dedication to the section have resulted in another successful cricketing season at Standard Athletic Club!!
Saturday, 16 September 2023
Match report: SACC XI vs. SACC World XI
Format: 35 overs
On Saturday, the 16th of September, a special cricket game was played at our Club: a 35-over fixture between the SACC XI and the SACC World XI. The unique feature of the game was that the SACC World XI side was composed of 11 players from the 11 countries represented amongst the 12 ICC-full member nations. SACC XI won the toss & chose to bat with openers Andrew Jackson & Sachin Singh providing the team with a solid start. Stitching together a 50-run partnership, Andrew was retired not-out, whereas Sachin scored 45 before getting caught behind. After a mini-collapse, a solid 40-run 4th-wicket partnership between Adil and Gurudev saw SAC XI post a formidable target of 223.
In the chase, a slightly untested SAC World XI line-up was up to the challenge. After losing 2 early wickets, the team kept the scoring rate above 6 runs per over, primarily thanks to Haji Mohammed (51) & Alex Calthrop (59) forging a 100-run plus 3rd-wicket partnership. Both got out on either side of the drinks break. At 160 for 6, the SAC XI had the upper hand. Little did they know, SAC World XI's No.7, Patryk Michalowski & his reassuring presence in the middle was going to stave off any panic setting in amongst the SAC World XI’s lower order. Patryk's resolute innings of 38 saw his team home by eventually winning the game by 3 wickets. All in all, a fantastic game with an amazing set of people on a record-breaking day in Meudon.
The result – a 3-wicket victory for the SAC World XI
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Sunday, 17 September 2023
Match report: SACC vs. Thoiry CC (John Hardy Shield match 3/3)
Format: 35 overs
After a successful 11 nations game on Saturday, whereby SAC managed to field a team made up of 11 different nationalities, Sunday saw the return to normality with the visit of Thoiry CC for the third and final John Hardy Shield game. Both sets of players took the field knowing that the result had already been decided after Standard’s two previous victories. With the pressure off, the home team began proceedings with the bat and ended up on exactly 200 all out. Notable scores included 46 from middle-order specialist Anser, 27 from captain Niseem and 24 from opener Henry.
With no batters going past 50, the score offered Thoiry the chance of regaining a bit of pride after their two previous defeats and things started promisingly for the visitors as they passed 50 without losing a wicket. From then on in, however, the hope of victory was slowly extinguished as wickets began falling at regular intervals and Thoiry were finally bowled out for 138. This latest victory saw SAC win the John Hardy Shield for the third year in a row and the players returned to the clubhouse to celebrate a well-deserved series victory!
The result – a 62-run victory for Standard Athletic CC
Saturday, 23 September 2023
Match report: SACC vs. Embassy CC
Format: 30 overs
SACC met Embassy CC for the penultimate match of the 2023 cricket season in Meudon. After winning the toss, SACC was put into bat by the BECC skipper and the opposition’s opening spell of 12 overs ended with SACC on 79/1. The BECC skipper brought himself as first change, picking a second wicket off the first legitimate delivery he bowled, sending back Surya (36 off 32). This brought Andrew M (19 off 36) and Dilip (26 off 24) to the crease who tried their best to negotiate Alan and Kirp’s super slow bowling. Despite the induced slow run rate, no wickets fell during this phase of play, but once pace was reintroduced back into the attack with Praneeth coming on to bowl, SACC capitalized to score some quick runs. A final push from Sachin (23 off 12) and Shaunak (26 off 18) towards the end meant that SACC would end on 204 for 7, in their allotted 30 overs.
Aruna and Sachin opened the bowling for SACC, bowling terrific lines and hitting the deck regularly with good speeds so that the first runs off the bat weren’t scored until the 4th over. BECC’s opening batsman Giles was the first to fall to Sachin in the 6th over, which was his second maiden of his spell of 4 overs. Pavan, playing cricket for the first time in 17 years came on as first change and conceded 17 runs in his opening over. Shaunak and Alex at the other end kept things in check, Alex almost getting a hattrick maiden in his 5th over. The highlight of the match, however, was saved until the end with Andrew M being brought on in the 25th over, with BECC on 128/7. He ended his season and the match for SACC, picking up all of the 3 remaining batters to win the game with a wicket maiden
The result – a 73-run victory for Standard Athletic CC
Sunday, 1st October 2023
Match report: SACC vs. South Asians of Paris (SAP)
Format: 35 overs
End-of-season fixtures are predominantly played under grey skies, but this year saw a return to July-like temperatures with highs of 28 degrees forecast. For the final game of the 2023 cricket campaign, Standard Athletic welcomed an invitational XI made up of a mixture of Paris’ finest Asian players. After winning the toss and electing to bat, captain Praneeth and his side were reduced to 228 all out thanks to some accurate, wicket-taking bowling from Imran and Aruna as well as some persistent fielding from SAC.
In response, Dilip and Shaunak got proceedings underway and took Standard to 50 without loss off 10 overs. Once the latter batter had been caught and bowled for 26 and number 3 Ali had departed for 5, the skipper Henry joined Dilip at the crease and the two tried to pick up the run rate. Unfortunately, the partnership did not last for long and after Dilip had been caught for a fine 45 and Henry then departed for a well-worked 35, things were looking ominous for SAC. With Patryk and Chris at the crease, however, things were not over and even with the aid of a runner the South African managed to accelerate the score with some well-timed boundaries. Despite this and some quick-fire runs from spinner Tariq, the run rate proved insurmountable for the tail and Standard fell short of victory by 34 runs.
Special mention must go out to Jules du Vignau who, playing his first senior game of cricket, impressed with a wicket on his first ball plus a well-taken catch!
The result – a 34-run victory for the South Asians of Paris (SAP)