Started with a six but ended second best

It’s a Sunday. And yet, in this strangest of seasons, 1st XI league cricket came to Woodfield Lane. After a damp and dreary Saturday ended early without play at Weybridge, Wimbledon visited Ashtead in a match rescheduled from the first week of the league season.

Skipper Tom Homes won the toss and elected to bat first on a wicket that was, for 2020, a typically slow and turning track, and an outfield that favoured running to boundaries. Not that that mattered to Guy Harper. Facing the very first delivery of the game, he flicked the new ball high over the square leg boundary for 6. A further three boundaries in the over and the Stags were 20-0 off 1. Game on.

The Harper innings was short lived, as he departed for 21 in the second over, and from there the innings settled. Michael Sanderson and Amith Sarma, in their first 1s game of the season, started accumulating slowly and building on the early momentum. But that was not to be, with Sarma, Conor Yong and Sam Homes all falling in the space of 5 overs. 46-4 off 13 and the hosts were in distinct difficulty.

The rebuild came from Sanderson and the skipper, starting slowly as the pace attack proved difficult to score off. It became clear that Tom was waiting for the spinner – and when spin was introduced, he plundered. The full array of shots came to the fore, and boundaries became commonplace. Ashtead reached 114-4 off 28 and were looking set for a representative total.

Yet, once again, crucial wickets at important times would strip the momentum away from the hosts. First to go was Sanderson for 38. A few over later, it would be Homes’ turn, bowled for 47. The lower order and tail fought on, but the runs became scarce and Ashtead staggered to 155-8 off their 40 overs. It would take a superb bowling performance to contain the Cup leaders.

The decision to open the bowling with spin immediately bore fruit when Senura Jayasinghe, another call up for today’s team, claimed an LBW. 4-1. Regular opening bowler Ben Sidwell kept the pressure on, but the wickets just wouldn’t come.

It would be Senura who struck again next, Guy Harper taking a smart catch to remove the other Wimbledon opener for 29. This prompted the change of bowling to bring in Jack Martin, an aspiring Ashtead junior, playing in his debut for the 1s. A nervy start was seized upon by the Premier League regulars, but in his second over, Jack picked up his first wicket for the top team, Sidwell competing the catch. Wimbledon were 91-3 at halfway, well on target but a surprise could still have come.

That never materialised. By this time, Jonathon Webb had reached 43 and was well set. He continued in a similar vein, running well, and scoring boundaries when presented with an opportunity. Ashtead fought valiantly but in vain. Webb and Nick Welch saw Wimbledon home with exactly 8 overs to spare. An extra mention for Sam Hunt, with excellent figures of 0-14 off his 7 overs.

This result, and the rain off yesterday, sees Ashtead in the lower reaches of the Challenge Cup table for 2020. Next week, all too soon, sees the final league game of the Stag’s campaign, as they host Reigate Priory at Woodfield Lane. The 2019 limited overs fixture, also played at the Lane, saw the visitors win by 63 runs. Let’s see if the Stags can overturn recent history and take a deserved win to finish off. Join us then.