Edgware crash out of ECB National Club Championship in first round
Edgware Cricket Club will not be making an appearance at Lords this year after a humbling 10-wicket loss at the hands of Surrey Championship - Division 1 side Malden Wanderers on Sunday.
The boys in blue were always going to be up against it in this fixture, with an equivalent of ~200 places in the pyramid between Edgware who sit in Division 11E of the Hertfordshire Cricket League and Malden Wanderers who were relegated from the Premier Division of the Surrey Championship in 2022. However, as the boys turned up to Malden's picturesque ground after a gruelling 1hr 20 minute journey from North London, hopes were high that the boys could at least compete and give Malden something to think about.
Edgware elected to bat first on a bowlers paradise, knowing that their side which was far from full strength may be set for a long day in the field if they had chosen to make use of the challenging new ball conditions. Edgware were welcomed to the crease by the new ball attack of Alex McCormack and Joe Lavender, the latter having played for Surrey 2nd XI as recently as July 2022. The class of the new ball pair showed immediately as Alex McCormack removed Edgware's jewel in the crown, Nakul Jilka for a first ball duck to leave Edgware 1-1 off the first over.
To say the ball was "doing bits early doors" would be an understatement as Malden's opening pair were able to combine both swing and seam with unnerving accuracy against Edgware who fought their way through the opening passage. Ciaran Hosty and Shuraj Vekaria looked solid as they were able to extend the score to 22-1 off the 9th over before Shuraj Vekaria received a peach from Joe Lavender to dismiss the Edgware keeper for 1 off 14 deliveries.
Kishan Varsani looked positive in his first couple of deliveries at the crease but when Joe Lavender bowled a delivery that kept low, Kishan's middle stumped was uprooted. He was then swiftly followed by both Vinay Acharya and Snehal Jeshani for ducks leaving Edgware on 24-5 off the 12th over. Amongst the carnage, Ciaran Hosty had quietly moved to 13 not out off 46 deliveries when Vish Mistry fell next for a duck to Malden's first change bowler Jas Winn to leave Edgware's innings in tatters at 25-6.
Any chance of further resistance from Ciaran Hosty was soon thwarted as Joe Lavender claimed his 5th wicket of the innings, bowling the opener for a hard-earned 13 off 48 deliveries. Three deliveries later, Edgware were 8 down as Raj Parmar missed a full and straight delivery with Edgware looking on course for a sub-30 score. Clearly the defensive approach wasn't working for Edgware and when Jaimin Patel strutted to the crease, the only thing on his mind was to attack. Jaimin proceeded to attack Malden's first change bowler Winn and hit him for consecutive boundaries, firstly straight down the ground (just evading the diving mid on fielder) and secondly, over mid-wicket to bring "somewhat" respectability to Edgware's score.
However, any hopes of surpassing the club's all-time lowest score of 50 registered against Watford Town last season were quickly evaporated as Winn dismissed Jaimin Patel and then Jeet Swaminarayan for a first ball duck to leave Vidanda Galgamuwa stranded on 0* (no doubt edging his way to another club fifty) and close Edgware's innings on 39 all out off 16.2 overs (our lowest ever score).
In response, Edgware were confident of snagging an early wicket given the pitch, but ultimately Malden would make light work of the 40 required to move into the next round. Raj Parmar bowled quick and looked threatening in partnership with Jeet Swaminarayan who bowled tidy lengths and showed great composure for someone just 18 years of age. However, the combination of Alex Butler and Zac Elkin, the latter boasting a first class average of 40.61 from 9 first class matches in South Africa would prove too much for Edgware and Malden secured a 10-wicket win off 7 overs.
Whilst the result would have been very disappointing for Edgware, ultimately it was to be expected given the gulf in quality between the two sides. Edgware can be proud of the fight they did show and will take confidence into their opening league game of the season against Chestnut Rosedale on Saturday 6 May.
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