A comprehensive victory ends pre-season with a flourish

Two out of three isn’t bad at all. This was the story from Woodfield Lane on Saturday, as Ashtead wrapped up their pre-season preparations with a comprehensive 8 wicket victory over our regular friendly opposition, Division 1 side Camberley.

Ben Geddes, newly signed to Surrey CCC, won the toss, and elected to field first – one eye on the sky, another on the pitch. Yet, while the hosts’ opening bowlers caused plenty of early difficulties, the breakthrough was not forthcoming. Neither were the runs, at least initially.

As the opening stand neared 50, it would be Ben Sidwell to claim the first scalp – and Ashtead’s new overseas player, Sri Lankan county pro Manoj Sarathchandra (more of him later) was immediately in the action, taking a sharp catch behind the stumps. 45-1.

Any watching officials (no spectators allowed at present) would have hoped the first wicket would bring some more – but they were to be disappointed. The remaining opener, Trevor McGeer, was now joined by the Camberley skipper, James Crosthwaite. They proceeded to plunder the next few overs, putting pressure on the seam bowling options and forcing spin into the attack. At 105-1 after 22 overs, the signs were ominous for a big target to chase.

But, as is so often the case in cricket, the game can change suddenly and decisively on a piece of brilliant play. This time, it would be Geddes leading from the front, who held onto a lightning fast catch at first slip to remove Crosthwaite for 29. Then, just 3 overs later, Ashtead stalwart Tom Deighton would make his first strike, trapping McGeer lbw for 59.

Cue an almighty collapse. Deighton, and the troublesome spin of Sam Homes, would run rings around the opposition – a varied mixture of catches (two more for Sarathchandra, and two for Tom Homes) and lbw as the middle order, lower order and tail capitulated for single figure scores or less. The visitors were eventually all out for just 142, with nearly 10 overs to spare.

The chase started confidently, as you might expect, with both White and Geddes making careful openings before using their power and technique more freely. As the scoreboard continued to tick over, past 50, then 60, then 70, it began to look as if no wickets would fall at all.

This was not to be, as Geddes holed out on the boundary – gone for 38 (to add to scores of 67 and 40, capping off an excellent pre-season). However, if anything, this only added to Camberley’s pain – as Sarathchandra then came to the crease. His playing role at Tamil Union is both wicketkeeper and top-order batsman, and those of us at the ground were blessed with seeing both talents.

A cautious and careful start, including seeing off a maiden, was shattered when Manoj deposited his first six for the club over the Village End sightscreen. Soon after, his second six would disappear in similar fashion. White, having had a good amount of time and balls to face, decided to give others an opportunity and retired for 34. 102-1 after 19 overs and the Stags were cruising to the target.

The loss of Harri Aravinthan for 1 was unfortunate but brother Ragu smoked a six to bring the end within range. It would, of course, be Manoj who delivered the final blow. Having reached his half century off just 31 balls, another shot streaked to the rope and the celebrations could begin.

This concludes Ashtead’s pre-season preparations. In the batting, the leading run scorer was Harri Aravinthan with 152 (including 125 in Game 1), with good scores from Ben Geddes (145 runs, including 67 in Game 2) and 54* for Manoj today. Bowling-wise, Tom Homes led with 7 wickets, with Sam Homes (6 wickets, including 4-5 today) and Tom Deighton (5 wickets) also amongst the stumps.

Next week sees Banstead visit Woodfield Lane for the first match of the league season. The 2020 fixture saw a 7 wicket win for Ashtead, and 2019 saw an 85 run victory as well. Join us then.