Draw the story as the sun shines

The sun was shining, the weather finally with us. And Ashtead, searching for results, came up with a draw against Reigate Priory in Round 15 of the 2021 Surrey Championship Premier Division.

As is so often the case in English conditions, the toss would be crucial. And, with the visitors winning the first battle of the day, it would be Ashtead who batted first – on a pitch that would improve as the day progressed, drying more and more with some favourable weather.

Injury and illness had forced some changes to the Stags’ line-up, but two recognisable names would open the innings for the hosts. Left-handers Damien Shirazi and Michael Sanderson looked to apply the pressure immediately, seeing the quick bowling as an opportunity and crashing some early boundaries. Despite losing Shirazi early on for 23, edging to slip, the momentum was with the batters.

Tom Homes, not usually finding himself at the crease so early, was more circumspect in his early moments, and with Sanderson also focusing on building an innings, the runs began to slow down. The key, however, was to ensure that a platform could be set. The introduction of spin late on in the first session eventually proved wise, as Sanderson edged to the keeper right on the stroke of lunch. 92-2. Honours even.

Losing another wicket straight after the interval was not in the plan, but this brought Manoj, the effervescent Stags’ wicketkeeper, to the crease. He was expected to come out firing, and sure enough the ball was soon crashing to all parts. The trouble is, however, if you live by the sword, you die by it, and he soon departed for a rapid 22.

A long innings from Fred Davies, back in the side after a long absence, alongside the mammoth stay from Homes, saw the side past 150. Homes would eventually depart for 58, and with a fine attacking 30 from Ben Sidwell alongside Davies’ 36, the Stags would eventually reach 224-9 off their maximum 66 overs.

Reigate bowled so quickly that they would receive 56 overs in reply, and the fast bowlers initially caused some problems but faced some attacking strokeplay as well. Enter Sam Homes. With a point to prove after the batting innings, he struck in his first over, Manoj’s lightning hands removing the Priory captain for 12.

Wickets continued to come for Homes as the innings progressed, with an excellent caught and bowled and then a further lbw decision on the stroke of tea. Reigate were 60-3 at the interval. Game on.

Another wicket straight after tea left the visitors struggling at 70-4 – but there the rot stopped. Still at the crease was opening bat Luke Haughton, who had been extremely circumspect in his approach whilst wickets fell around him. Accompanied by Sam Hall, the fast and attacking youngster, the runs began to build. The erstwhile Stags skipper, Tom Deighton, went on the hunt for a bower that could make the breakthrough – and settled, finally, on himself – extracting Hall caught and bowled for 23.

That left 17 overs in the day, 5 wickets to find – and the visitors needing 95 runs. And it would be Reigate who had the best of the final act, continuing to score well as the Stags couldn’t find further wickets. A wicket in the final over, well caught on the boundary by Harry Williams, was not enough and hands were shaken at 7:15. Match drawn.

Most of the points for a draw go to the side that scores their runs faster – in this case, Reigate – so Ashtead take 6 points from the encounter. This leaves them still in 7th in the league table, part of a scrap that encompasses teams from 4th all the way to 9th.

Next week sees Ashtead travel to Weybridge for the final match in the long format. Weybridge currently sit second in the standings and must win to remain in the title fight. The limited overs game earlier in the season was a rain-affected win for the opposition. Let’s see what the Stags can do this time around. Join us then.