Wimbledon claim the title as the Stags end mid-table

Another season comes to a close – and it would be second-best for the Ashtead Stags in Round 18 of the 2022 Surrey Championship Premier League, as they lost by 8 wickets to the new title holders, Wimbledon, on a grey day at Church Road.

Ashtead won the toss (that is a remarkable record for the club of 14 coin flips won this season), and elected to bat – a difficult decision, given the overhead conditions suggested taking the ball, but the wicket and the relative strengths of the sides favoured batting.

It would be another new pairing to stride out for the visitors, but it sadly would not be for long as perennial run scorer Conor Young departed early, followed swiftly by spin sensation Tom Homes. Surrey white-ball captain Ben Geddes was at the other end, however, and with his help, the runs began to flow.

During the next few overs, the wickets became less frequent but still present, as Jevan Kher edged behind to the keeper (Tom Cooper – more on him later). The big wicket would be Geddes, and it would be similarly contracted Ryan Patel that sent him back to the pavilion – bowled for a well-made 37. The visitors were now 66-4 and in some strife.

The next partnership would give the Stags some hope, as stand-in captain Paul Harrison (deputising for regular captain Tom Deighton, who sat out the last game through injury) and Daniel Geddes slowly piled on the pressure. The regular bowling changes for the hosts, including surrey spinner Dan Moriarty, were ineffective and the partnership grew gently through the middle overs. With 14 overs to go, Ashtead were 146-4 and ready to attack hard in the dying minutes.

That all came to naught with a spectacular collapse, seeing the final six wickets fall for 28 runs. Geddes started the fall, stumped for 40 – and three of his colleagues would share the same fate as Cooper shared the league record for most stumpings taken in a Premier League innings. Harrison was the last man out, caught on the boundary for 67. 176 all out with 5 overs to spare.

Early wickets would have been essential to have any chance of pulling off a shock result, but it all became academic very quickly. Wimbledon sent a classic attack-defence partnership out to begin the innings – and contracted player Nick Welch made sure his talent was on full display. By the time Ben Geddes found him out, caught on the boundary, he had made 117 off just 60 balls and the hosts needed 22 runs for victory.

The final ball of the Ashtead season would be… a wide, as Wimbledon completed an 8-wicket victory and took the title for the first time since 2013.

With that result, Ashtead 1st XI finish 7th in the Premier League for 2022 – a fair result given the unpredictability of the campaign. It was the end of a good season for the Club as a whole, with the 2nd XI remaining in their Premier League after a good win and a nail-biting wait for other results, the 3rd XI winning a promotion-deciding game to return to their Premier League, the 4th XI securing a mid-table finish and the 5th XI competing well in their first tilt at league play

Thank you all for following the exploits of the Ashtead Stags throughout the 2022 season. It’s had highs, lows and everything in between. We hope that you winter well as we head into the close season, and that you will join us again in 2023 as we continue to play our glorious game at the home of Ashtead cricket, Woodfield Lane. Join us then.