Champions round out the season in winning style

And so, as ever, all good things must come to an end. And so it was, that Ashtead travelled to Cranleigh, where they picked up a tight 19 run win to see out the 2015 season, as they head to the Premiership for next year.

Ashtead won the toss, and elected to bat, on a wicket that looked slow and low, with a lush outfield that would see plenty of running throughout the game. Michael Sanderson and Conor Young were to open the batting, but it would be Cranleigh who made the early headway, with Rob Lavery claiming both Young and John Vaughan-Davies in the first 5 overs.

Sanderson had made a steady start, and was now joined by Dom Sibley. The pair, having scoring nearly 1300 Championship ruins between them in 2015, made continued progress and saw off the opening spells. However, the introduction of spin in Johnny Gonszor saw the end of Sanderson in peculiar fashion, caught off the back of the bat for 31. At 55-3 after 14, the rate was good but wickets not.

Paul Harrison entered the fray, and stabilised the innings, and together with Sibley, ground out the middle overs. Scoring was clearly a challenge, although both occasionally found the boundary, including a beautiful straight six from Harrison to send Gonszor back to his mark. After seeing off Gonszor, the pair had to deal with the twin talents of Bruno Broughton and Jack Scriven. When Harrison finally fell for 27 in the 39th over, Ashtead were 128-4 and in need to a serious injection of pace in the final overs.

Enter Stewart Cameron, one of the Stags’ go-to hitters. However, with the spinners causing serious problems, he was unable to significantly up the pace – although his partnership with Sibley did see plenty of strike rotation. He also saw off two rather wild deliveries from Will Rollings, which saw him suspended from bowling for the rest of the overs.

It would be spin to the end, with Seren Waters, the Kenyan ex-international, finishing off the overs with Scriven. A very useful PowerPlay, taken in overs 43-47, ended with the wicket of Sibley, bowled for 72. A late flurry of both runs and wickets saw Ashtead finish on 188-7 from the 50 overs – a score that Cranleigh fancied, yet the visitors were relatively happy with.

The second innings started with pace and spin, as Tom Homes was thrown the new ball with Jordan Thomas. After 2 overs, a more typical service was resumed with Matt Friedlander replacing Homes, and he immediately caused the major breakthrough, Waters strangled by an excellent catch from keeper Young for 13.

Frieldander’s 8 over spell would be the difference in the early overs, as neither Thomas nor Will Pereira could find wickets. Friedlander, however, claimed two more in this time, as Lewis Bedford was bowled for 15 and Scriven fell exactly as Waters had done, for a slow 10. At 62-3 after 20, both sides were in the game.

At this point, Tom Deighton, the visiting skipper, decided spin was the option and brought both himself and Tom Homes into play. Their early overs still produced no further wickets, as home captain Matt Crump and Andy Hollingsworth kept them at bay. However, with some experienced bowling, both were to fall to Deighton in the middle overs, and by the 34th over, Cranleigh were 108-5. 81 from 16 with 5 wickets. Still anyone’s game.

The partnership of Broughton and Sutha Thanabalasingam caused problems for the Stags, and brought Cranleigh into contention. Sutha was by far the more dominant of the two, playing some powerful shots as the score raced along. With 7 overs to, just 32 more were needed.

But, as so often in the case, the game can change in an instant – and in just 15 balls, the final 5 wickets fell. Homes claimed the first, trapping Broughton LBW for 12. A valuable combination of a Pereira throw and Young’s sharp keeping saw a run out during the same over. With partners running out, Sutha took the PowerPlay and so Ashtead turned to the seam-up option of John Vaughan-Davies – who found two wickets in his only over, including the Cranleigh overseas, removed by a sharp catch from Thomas for 44. A simple slip catch for Deighton off Homes in the next over saw the season end.

Cranleigh were denied promotion both by this result, and the win for East Molesey – which means the Thames-side team will be joining the Stags in the top flight for 2016 – along with the likes of Sunbury, Reigate Priory and Sutton. However, the rivalry with Leatherhead will have to wait another year at least, as they were relegated from the Premiership. Join us in 2016, to see how the Stags fare in their 3 season at the top of Surrey club cricket.