Stags toil in the heat but Moles take the points

The sport of cricket can be brutally harsh sometimes. This was the story of Round 7 of the 2023 Surrey Championship, as Ashtead suffered a 141-run defeat at the hands of East Molesey, in the first long-format fixture at their home base of Woodfield Lane this season.

Ashtead won the toss and inserted the Moles, on a pitch that looked dry and so would encourage spin throughout the day. And the early overs proved a struggle for the visitors, with Sean Hunt and Harri Aravinthan causing early problems. The visitors’ overseas pro, Mac Wright, was able to weather storm (which proved to be significant) but the Molesey skipper, Nick Stevens, was not so lucky and Aravinthan extracted the edge to see him depart for 15. Two balls later, and danger batter Sam Burge would be found out in a similar manner. 36-2 off 12 overs and an opening for the Stags.

Unfortunately, that was about as good as it got in the first half of the game. Wright, now joined by Italian international Marcus Campopiano, began to attack and soon the thoughts turned from strike bowling to containment. That task (although the Stags’ primary weapon with the ball) fell to Tom Homes, who would send down 21 overs in his longest stint of the year so far (eclipsing the 20 he bowled at Weybridge). Drinks, and then lunch, came and went and still the partnership dragged on.

The breakthrough came just before the second drinks break, an hour after lunch, when Sean Hunt drew a false shot from Wright and an easy catch was taken by skipper Ben Geddes. Weight departed for a well-made 128 off 156 balls, with the score 232-3. The Moles proceeded to keep plundering, but wickets were now flowing too. Tom Homes would pick up a pair (including Campopiano for 96) and older brother Sam would also bag 2 more. The visitors would finally decide they had had enough after 58 overs, with the score sitting at 305-7.

A tough chase appeared to have started in the best way, with Kieran Powell plundering some poor bowling and the ball departing to all parts of the Lane. However, with him taking on one ball too many, and Geddes also departing early, the Stags had a mountain to climb from 22-2.

Harri Aravinthan (yes, him again) and Conor Young steadied the ship but continued to find the boundary with exciting regularity. As the runs began to mount up, and a whopping 62 overs to chase the total, hopes were high that Ashtead might be able to pull this off.

The East Molesey spinners thought otherwise, with four key Ashtead batters given out to them either side of the tea interval. That included Harri (for a well-made 25), Conor (for a composed 26), Ragu Aravinthan and Sam Homes. The engine room of the Ashtead batting order. At 85-6, with 37 overs still to bat, a long evening appeared to loom large.

Credit must be paid to the Ashtead lower order and tail, guided and anchored by long-term campaigner Paul Harrison. Defending the good balls, rotating the strike, and picking off the bad stuff meant the scoreboard kept ticking over and the overs remaining kept ticking down. With ten to go, Harrison was being partnered with Tom Homes and a draw seemed possible. It was not to be. The return of the seamers saw to Harrison, edging behind for a superb 54, and Homes would be trapped LBW in the next over with 37 balls left. Heartbreak again.

This result, and others around them, sees Ashtead sitting in 9th on the Premier League table as the month of June nears its end. Next week sees Ashtead travel to Esher for the next match in the longer format. Esher lie 5th in the table, having had an excellent start to the season, but were bowled out for just 92 on Saturday and were beaten by Ashtead in the same fixture a year ago.

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.