A couple of points taken, but Cranleigh take the honours

After a close match against a very strong Reigate Priory in Week 1, Ashtead travelled to Cranleigh for their second match in the 2017 Travelbag Surrey Championship Premier League, hoping for a good points haul.

Ashtead won the toss, and elected to bat, at a ground that often promises much in the way of a batting surface, but with a slow outfield and long boundaries that would make runs hard to come by. Openers Guy Harper and Michael Sanderson started slowly, but with some strong attacking strokes, they began to put pressure on the hosts. After 16 overs, Ashtead were 58-0 and going well.

Cue a dramatic collapse. First went Sanderson, caught behind on the hook for 19. Two balls later, the late entrant Dominic Sibley departed the crease, after edging to first slip. The next over saw Ashtead’s new overseas player, Mahesh Rawat, depart to an excellent catch for the second duck of the innings. Stewart Cameron completed the job with an edge into the slips for 2. 60-0 became 64-4 in just 11 balls.

The recovery job would be hard-fought, and was made harder when John Vaughan-Davies was stumped for 4 a few overs later. Harper, meanwhile, watching the chaos from the other end, continued to build a well-composed innings. The lower order began to find some runs, but when Harper was finally bowled for 63 in the 36th over, the score had still only reached 108-7.

Yet, with a strong cameo from Harry Williams, ably assisted by the Toms (Homes and Deighton), Ashtead reached 163-9. The key was strike rotation, taking singles wherever possible and then executing some more expansive stroke play in the final few overs. 163, while certainly short of a par score, could be defendable if wickets fell early.

And with twin LBWs for Vaughan-Davies and Cameron in the first 7 overs, there was a glimmer of hope for the visitors. Yet Jack Scriven, and home skipper Matt Crump kept their composure, and continued to bat on – slowly, but surely, inching their way towards the target.

The spinners kept the runs to an absolute minimum, and as they continued to press, the wicket came as Scriven fell LBW to Homes for 31. At 63-3, the visitors still had a slim chance of pulling off an unlikely victory.

Yet Crump, and his new partner Bruno Broughton, just continued to accumulate. Slowly at first, they capitalised on the introduction of Sibley and then Williams into the attack. Two late wickets saw the victory tarnished slightly, but a slapped four off Homes’ returning delivery finished the chase with almost 10 overs to spare.

Ashtead took two points from the game, a poor result from a match ear-marked for a good haul, but every point may matter if the league comes down to the wire later in the year.

Next week sees Ashtead travel to Guildford for the third match in the opening 50-over block. Ashtead beat Guildford in their only completed match last year, and with Guildford also losing both of their opening fixtures, a win is crucial for both teams. Join us then.