Stags march through to 2nd round

Ashtead welcomed Camberley for the first round of the Royal London Cup on a cold grey day with the outfield feeling spongy underfoot after the prolonged rain over the winter. The rules (and the possible need for hot drinks) were discussed, the toss taken and won by the home side who elected to bat.

Ashtead’s openers Mike Sanderson and Conor Young batted steadily, finding boundaries a little hard to come by with the slow outfield. Young was the first to fall, caught by Neil Piper off Kyle Philander for 12, before a 62 run partnership between Sanderson and Tom Laudy saw Ashtead’s score move on to 102 before Laudy was lbw to Piper for 18. Sanderson was joined by newcomer Rhodri James and they moved the score on to 138 before Sanderson was finally caught by Steve Hulks off Sam Holmes for 58 including 7 fours. A couple of quick wickets followed courtesy of Dom Peter, then James fell, another wicket for Holmes, and Ashtead were 152-6 off 32 overs. Enter Danny Miller and Ashtead’s Sam Homes who struck up a solid partnership or 56 over the remaining 13 overs, taking Ashtead’s score to a respectable 208-7 (helped along the way by the 45 extras gifted by Camberley). Homes was bowled by Piper for 21 on the last ball of the innings leaving Miller not out 34.

Tea was taken and cold hands warmed, then Camberley took to the field. Opener Steve Hulks looked powerful with an array of fours and a six into the neighbouring gardens. However, with the exception of Kyle Philander who made 17, support from his fellow batsmen was somewhat lacking. The first to fall was captain Todd Hutcheson for 1 in the fifth over, caught by Stewart Cameron off Faizalhaq Jan. Young gun Aaron Rose bowled beautifully taking the next 3 wickets for 21. Captain Tom Deighton bowled tidily as usual with 2 wickets and 4 maidens in his 8 over spell, ending on 2-12. Sam Homes, having already taken the wicket of Craig Muir, followed it up with a hat trick in the 31st over, finishing with the enviable figures of 4-10 off 5.3 overs, and Camberley were all out for 102.

Despite uncharacteristic dropped catches along the way, perhaps cold hands were to blame, it was a promising start to Ashtead’s cup run and we look forward to the next round against Weybridge on 8th May.