Ashtead drive hard but cup campaign ends early

The month of April comes to a close with a return to cup action. And Ashtead came second, to the current Kent champions Hayes, in Preliminary Round 2 of the 2023 National Club Championship.

Ashtead won the toss (that’s two from two for Tom Deighton so far this year), and elected to bat first, on a pitch that looked good for batting and in the knowledge that the previous day’s friendly had seen 580 runs in 100 overs.

And the start of the innings went very well. Ragu Aravinthan and Nathan Farmer started strongly, playing strokes and making headway. They saw off the opening spell and by the end of the first PowerPlay, the Stags were 40-0.

As ever, changing the bowling often brings breakthroughs, and so it proved as Ragu was tempted into a blow that found the ring fielder at mid off for 31. In the very next over, his brother Harri ended up strangled down the legside. A few overs later and Farmer would also depart for 16. 70-3 and the picture looked substantially different for the visitors.

The fightback came Stags veteran Conor Young and Harry Williams, slowly at first but then accelerating as they got used to the conditions. A change of bowling to slightly less ferocious spin saw a pair of sixes deposited towards the hedges by Young, and not to be outdone, Williams also found maximum value from his shots.

Losing Young for 41 proved a setback, but Williams continued charging and was supported by the lower order to get Ashtead to 187 off their 40 over allocation. Harry himself was run out attempting a second off the final ball of the innings for 62.

Sam Hunt and Harri Aravinthan bowled tidily in the early overs of the chase but for no immediate reward, and, just as in the first innings, the change of bowling broke the deadlock as Tom Homes pinned the Hayes opening batter LBW for 10. A few over later, and Homes struck again, as a faster ball kept a little low and skittled the host’s overseas pro for 37.

At this stage, the Hayes plan changed from consolidation and foundation building to full on attack. Drinks came and went, and the target came nearer and nearer. More wickets did fall, as Harri came back on and plucked off the bails, as did Dom Venn with a beautifully in-swinging delivery that cleaned up another dangerous batter.

But it was all too little, too late, as Hayes skipper Alex Blake (of Kent T20 fame) and his batting partner bludgeoned their way towards the target – and with a well-judged couple of runs into the deep, the match was over. Hayes had won by 6 wickets. They will find out their opponents in the Championship Main Draw Round 1 next week, when Preston Nomads and local rivals Bromley face off.

This result proves more essential practice and match craft ahead of battle being joined in the 2023 Surrey Championship Premier League. The first match of the new season takes the Stags to Cranleigh. The hosts are newly promoted back into the Premier League, after a sterling campaign in 2022. Last time the teams met was in the 2021 season, where Ashtead won the limited overs fixture by 8 wickets.

A reminder that you can follow Ashtead CC’s 1st XI matches via our Twitter (@ashteadcc), live on our website (www.ashtead.play-cricket.com) or at our YouTube channel (Ashtead Cricket Club Live). We look forward to next week! Join us then.