Ashtead toil in the sun, and take a mighty win

The sun blazed and the heat rose. And so did the Ashtead Stags, as they romped to a massive 190 run victory at home to Weybridge in Round 10 of the 2022 Surrey Championship.

Weybridge won the toss and fielded first, a decision that perhaps had more to do with recent form than with the weather (beautiful) and the pitch, which looked good but would definitely have some turn in it las the day wore on. With an outfield like lightning, the morning appeared perfect for a bat.

And so it proved to be. The opening batters for the Stags, Gareth James and young prodigy Ragu Aravinthan, dealt almost exclusively in boundaries throughout the early overs as the seam attack made no impact. It would take the introduction of spin (and boy, was there a lot of it) to break the deadlock, as James tickled a ball round the corner to leg slip. 41-1.

Aravinthan continued to time the ball sweetly, riding his luck but converting it into boundaries galore. His partner, meanwhile, was now overseas pro Matty Breetzke, and he found the going a challenge. The wicket was proving harder to fathom than initially thought – a good tussle between bat and ball! It would be spin, again, that made the difference as Ragu fell on 88 just before lunch. Matty and Conor Young steered the hosts to the interval without further incident. 134-2 after 34 overs. Game on.

Spin from both ends either side of the break was proving difficult to score from, and for a while the two batters ground away, wearing the opposition down. The shackles were always going to come eventually, and it was around the 50th over when the spare balls came out again – 6s flying to all parts of the surrounding area! 60 overs came and went, and by now the total had passed 250. Young eventually fell for 43, and Breetzke soon followed – but not before he completed a fantastic century, off 161 balls. A flurry of quick running at the end saw Ashtead to 289-5 off the maximum 66 overs.

Weybridge had 57 overs to chase and, initially, the pattern of the game continued. The opening batters for the visitors attacked hard, and the initial forays of the Ashtead quicks were ineffective. All that changed in the 6th over, when Sam Hunt removed Odge Davey for 16. But better was to follow.

The big wicket was the Weybridge batter Sarel Erwee, in the hunt for further international honours with South Africa. And it would be Ben Sidwell, always a major threat with a red ball in hand, who made the difference – cleaning up the star for just 10 runs. 34-2, and Ashtead were definitely on top.

The seamers continued to bowl and the boundaries continued to fly – but the chances kept coming as well, and the pressure was building. The elastic snapped when Jevan Kher took a smart catch to grab Hunt’s second wicket, and Sidwell immediately followed with another clinical strike. 51-4.

Shrewd captaincy from Tom Deighton saw spin come on shortly before tea, just as the visitors were starting to gain momentum. Tom Homes kept it tight from the Village End, and yet it would be his brother Sam who offered temptation, and after 3 boundaries in the over… got his man, the skipper Matt Laidman, caught on the boundary for 19. 77-5 at tea and the match was all but over.

It would take just 8.1 overs after the interval to finish the job, as Tom Homes and the returning Sidwell demolished the remaining batters. The stars at this stage were the catches – a fantastic pair at slip by Gareth James, a difficult wobbling ball for Kher, and then the pick of them all, a ridiculous return catch by Sidwell. Breetzke finished the job with an overhead catch. Weybridge all out for 99.

This result keeps Ashtead in 7th place in the league table, but in a stronger position than before with the midfield well within reach. The next match sees Ashtead travel to Reigate Priory for what promises to be a hard-fought fixture. The two limited-over matches both went Reigate’s way. A reminder that you can follow Ashtead CC’s matches via our Twitter (@ashteadcc), on our website (www.ashtead.play-cricket.com) or our YouTube channel (Ashtead Cricket Club Live). We look forward to next week! Join us then.