Bournemouth team pictured in front of the famous Chapel Gate scoreboard.
Alan Hayden (left) and Ash Naik shot Alton out for nought ... It’s the 30th anniversary of arguably the most bizarre chapter in 50-odd years of Southern League cricket. Alton bowled out for 0 by Bournemouth in a Second XI Championship affair at Chapel Gate.
June 16 1990 was the day Alton seconds contrived to etch an unwanted entry into the Guinness Book of Records, as not one of their batsmen managed to score a single run in a team innings which lasted 81 balls.
According to the official scorebook, Alton’s batsmen were all either bowled or trapped leg before wicket - Ash Naik’s five-wicket haul including three lbw’s – but, three decades on, skipper Jan Bridle maintains one of Hayden’s was a stumping.
“My hands were so lightning quick, the scorers probably didn’t realise I’d whipped the bails off,” Bridle laughed.
At tea, Alton were relatively optimistic about their chances. They had bowled and fielded pretty well to dismiss Bournemouth (who went on to lift the title for a third successive season) for 145 and three weeks earlier had posted a then Second XI record score of 302-5 against Poole, with teenage opener James West striking a career best 121 not out.
“Our total wasn’t much to write home about,” confessed veteran Bournemouth off-spinner Mike Francis. “The pitch was a bit slow, but far from unplayable. We knew we had to bowl and field well and not concede a singe run. Bizarrely we didn’t !”
Staggering
What followed was one of the most astonishing events ever witnessed on a cricket field, as Alton went down, one after another, towards a staggering 0 all out.
Alton skipper Steve Goater had warned his players at tea: “the hard work is still to come,” acknowledging the wicket was assisting the bowlers.
But he could hardly have imagined the nightmare that was to follow. The Alton innings lasted just 46 minutes and the unbelievable happened as batsmen followed batsmen to the crease, without troubling the scorers. No extras were conceded and with Goater (at six) himself one of Naik’s three lbw victims, the awful possibility became stark reality.
“You could see the younger Alton players coming to the crease and thinking they had to stay in at all costs. They were very nervous,” Francis recalled.
Heroes
“In the entire innings. I think our fielders only had to stop about five drives. Everything else as stopped. When they missed the ball, we invariably took a wicket.”
Bournemouth’s bowling heroes were Naik (5-0) and Alan Hayden (0-4), the latter being plucked from the third team at short notice. Alton wicket-keeper Gareth Billington didn’t bat as he had been injured earlier in the game.
“I don’t think I can offer an explanation,” said Goater, who found himself pursued by almost every newspaper in the land once the story broke, each cricket writer endeavouring to find another angle to the 1990 season’s most remarkable story.
“As soon as a couple of wickets fell, the pressure built up on the other batsmen. Some players went out with orders to swing the bat and make ruins, while were told to stick around. Obviously, the policy didn’t work
But 30 years on, what about what Bridle ‘stumping’ ? “The jury is still out on that one – ideally we’d like VAR, but I’m not sure colour photography was even in at the time,” joked Bournemouth opening batsman Mike Geller.
June 16 1990 was the day Alton seconds contrived to etch an unwanted entry into the Guinness Book of Records, as not one of their batsmen managed to score a single run in a team innings which lasted 81 balls.
According to the official scorebook, Alton’s batsmen were all either bowled or trapped leg before wicket - Ash Naik’s five-wicket haul including three lbw’s – but, three decades on, skipper Jan Bridle maintains one of Hayden’s was a stumping.
“My hands were so lightning quick, the scorers probably didn’t realise I’d whipped the bails off,” Bridle laughed.
At tea, Alton were relatively optimistic about their chances. They had bowled and fielded pretty well to dismiss Bournemouth (who went on to lift the title for a third successive season) for 145 and three weeks earlier had posted a then Second XI record score of 302-5 against Poole, with teenage opener James West striking a career best 121 not out.
“Our total wasn’t much to write home about,” confessed veteran Bournemouth off-spinner Mike Francis. “The pitch was a bit slow, but far from unplayable. We knew we had to bowl and field well and not concede a singe run. Bizarrely we didn’t !”
Staggering
What followed was one of the most astonishing events ever witnessed on a cricket field, as Alton went down, one after another, towards a staggering 0 all out.
Alton skipper Steve Goater had warned his players at tea: “the hard work is still to come,” acknowledging the wicket was assisting the bowlers.
But he could hardly have imagined the nightmare that was to follow. The Alton innings lasted just 46 minutes and the unbelievable happened as batsmen followed batsmen to the crease, without troubling the scorers. No extras were conceded and with Goater (at six) himself one of Naik’s three lbw victims, the awful possibility became stark reality.
“You could see the younger Alton players coming to the crease and thinking they had to stay in at all costs. They were very nervous,” Francis recalled.
Heroes
“In the entire innings. I think our fielders only had to stop about five drives. Everything else as stopped. When they missed the ball, we invariably took a wicket.”
Bournemouth’s bowling heroes were Naik (5-0) and Alan Hayden (0-4), the latter being plucked from the third team at short notice. Alton wicket-keeper Gareth Billington didn’t bat as he had been injured earlier in the game.
“I don’t think I can offer an explanation,” said Goater, who found himself pursued by almost every newspaper in the land once the story broke, each cricket writer endeavouring to find another angle to the 1990 season’s most remarkable story.
“As soon as a couple of wickets fell, the pressure built up on the other batsmen. Some players went out with orders to swing the bat and make ruins, while were told to stick around. Obviously, the policy didn’t work
But 30 years on, what about what Bridle ‘stumping’ ? “The jury is still out on that one – ideally we’d like VAR, but I’m not sure colour photography was even in at the time,” joked Bournemouth opening batsman Mike Geller.
Alton's golden ducks snapped by the Sunday Express.
SCORECARD
Bournemouth 145 (Geller 27, Jones 27, Balmer 24, Wilson 3-33)
Alton
I Moss-Bowpitt b Hayden 0
J West b Naik 0
G Chalkley b Hayden 0
N Raymond lbw b Naik 0
M Areson b Naik 0
* S Goater lbw b Naik 0
T Wilson st Bridle b Hayden 0
M Goffin lbw b Naik 0
A Tapp b Hayden 0
B Newton not out 0
+ G Billington absent injured
Total 0 all out
Bowling: A Hayden 7-7-0-4, A Naik 6.3-6-0-5.
Bournemouth 145 (Geller 27, Jones 27, Balmer 24, Wilson 3-33)
Alton
I Moss-Bowpitt b Hayden 0
J West b Naik 0
G Chalkley b Hayden 0
N Raymond lbw b Naik 0
M Areson b Naik 0
* S Goater lbw b Naik 0
T Wilson st Bridle b Hayden 0
M Goffin lbw b Naik 0
A Tapp b Hayden 0
B Newton not out 0
+ G Billington absent injured
Total 0 all out
Bowling: A Hayden 7-7-0-4, A Naik 6.3-6-0-5.
