Pre-season begins with a dominant Ashtead display

And we’re off! After a highly curtailed 2020 season, played throughout July and August, Ashtead CC returned to cricket for the start of a (hopefully) full year of action ahead. But before the competitive season begins, there’s the small matter of three warm-up fixtures. First up was Chipstead, Coulsdon & Walcountians – and the stags came away with a handsome 178 run victory.

The visitors elected to insert Ashtead, on a beautiful if typical April pitch that would prove slow and green to start with, but would improve as the day progressed. Skipper Ben Geddes led from the front in opening the innings, with Harry Williams alongside, and together they went hard at the early bowling. Plenty of boundaries, a lost ball in a hedge, and a 50 partnership was the perfect platform from which to build.

After that, wickets began to fall at regular intervals. Williams went first (with the first LBW of the year), and soon after Geddes would join him, along with Ashtead stalwart Sam Homes. The constant through the bumps was Harri Aravinthan, accumulating steadily and capitalising when opportunities presented (including the first six of the season, back over the bowler’s head and out of the ground).

As the seamers toiled away, the spinners were clearly impatient to get into the action. And, when Charlie Edwards was brought on, the changes were immediate. The Stags had reached 141-3 at halfway and were heading along nicely, with Aravinthan and Tom Homes both scoring freely. But Homes fell to Edwards, and the risks grew for making a defendable target.

Enter Ben Sidwell. One of the Stags’ young and feisty opening bowlers, this time he opened up with the bat and displayed some fluent strokes as Ashtead piled on the pressure. After reaching his half-century (off, for him, a sedate 60 balls), Aravinthan began opening up with more aggressive shots as well. Before long, the hosts had passed 200 and were charging for a big total.

Despite losing Sidwell (off an unfortunate deflected run out) for 34, Aravinthan’s destruction of the Chipstead bowling was completed when he reached his century (off just 93 balls) – and the match paused for a minute’s silence to remember the life of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Harri finally left the crease for 125 off 114 balls, as the Stags ended up on 298-8 off 50. A stiff task for any visitor.

Early wickets would make the chase all the more taxing, and Messrs Sidwell and Aravinthan obliged – Jevan Kher’s catch a memorable one at that. More of the wicketkeeper’s skills to come. 30-2 off 10 was a steady start, but could set the platform for a strong tilt as the innings progressed.

And, for a time, the visitors seemed to be coming back into the game. The rotation of bowlers kept the game fresh and the challenge interesting, but the batsmen (including skipper Rob Woolley) seemed equal to the challenge. 79-2 off 21 began to look a little more troubling for the Stags.

Enter the spinners. The triple threat of Tom Deighton, and the Homes brothers, would turn the game upside down. It started slowly, with Deighton the first to strike with a smart Kher stumping. Then Tom Homes snared another batsman, caught by Sam. The scorebook was filling up with the same names, over and over again.

But it was the wicket of Woolley for 51, via an outstanding catch from Sam off Tom, that opened the floodgates – and the final 6 wickets fell for 6 runs as the lower order and tail capitulated. Two more stumpings and a catch saw 5 dismissals for Kher on an outstanding performance, as Tom Homes finished with 4-4 and Sam with 2-2. Chipstead were dismantled for just 120 all out with 16 overs to spare.

A fantastic start to 2021 will see a much stiffer test for the Stags when they host Roffey next week, one of the premier clubs in Sussex. Roffey and Ashtead have a long history of high-class, competitive cricket, and it should be an excellent pre-season challenge. Join us then.