The Compleat Angler

Stoke Recreation Ground can only be described as providing a severe challenge to batsmen, a paradise for bowlers and a nightmare for umpires.

Having won the toss and decided to bat, Ashtead opened with Matt Jepp, fresh off a plane from the Far East, and PC Dan Price, fresh from providing the team a briefing as the nature of other uses the locals put Stoke Rec to of an evening.

Whilst Dan was relatively subdued at one end, Jeppy went off like a train at the other belying any jet lag and was looking very polished before getting an absolute stinker which shot along the ground to bowl him for 25. Richards Nichols was the first of five LBW's in the Stag's innings, but one where the pitch had no part to play as he tried to force a straight one through midwicket and missed.

Shortly afterwards, Dan, having hitting three forceful boundaries, chipped one back to the bowler who took a full length diving catch inches from the ground. At 41-3, the Stags were in a bit of trouble but cometh the hour cometh the man. Andy Storey was the man and the hour was shortly after two o'clock. It was still shortly after two o'clock when the man "wenteth" in the opposite direction, LBW first ball. Andy, as an allegedly fully qualified umpire, clearly needs to re-read the rulebook which states that "if the ball hit pad before bat, batsman can be out LBW", His immediate and vocal defence that he "middled" it addressed to umpire Alan Holland, co-incidentally his next door neighbour, was both misguided and inaccurate. Storey continued to mutter to himself and anyone else who would listen for the next hour or so. Alan, don't expect a Christmas card this year - on the other hand I wouldn't bother sending Andy one either!

So with Nichols and Storey both dismissed for ducks, the skipper, by this stage observing events unfold from the other end, was looking to both Ashit Jadhav and Mikhail Mursaleen to bolster the middle order and help build a respectable and defendable total, which was probably about 150 on this wicket.

However, both Ashit and Mikhail quickly went the same way as their previous colleagues for ducks, both missing straight ones. A bright start had now become 58-6 and Ashtead were in trouble, not for the first time this season. Marcus Caprano-Wint and Pete Sudell strike an odd couple at the wicket with Marcus at 3 foot 6 and Pete at 6 foot 3, however, a small but significant partnership of 16 then ensued before Marcus was caught on the back foot and was LBW for 4. Dan Trout then followed four balls later for the fifth duck of the Stag's innings.

At 74-8, Pete Sudell was joined by Alan Holland who hung around for a few overs before being out 1 when Gyan Vishnoi came to the crease and contributed an invaluable 4 not out in a ten over last wicket partnership of 29 which took the Stags to a total of 115 all out, with the skipper last out for 56.

Would 115 be enough on this wicket. Quite possibly as it was of extremely variable bounce and pace, but did the Stags have the bowling attack to exploit it?

Well, we had the perfect start in the first over as Dan Trout caused the Guildford skipper to play on for 0. With Gyan striking with an LBW in the 6th over to remove the other opener and Dan picking up two more in the 11th and 13th overs and then Gyan again in the 14th, Guildford were on the ropes at 30 for 5.

Both Gyan and Dan were exploiting the variable bounce, with Dan in particular getting some extreme lift at times not least due to being almost 7ft tall! So it was particularly galling, when Dan had to be taken off having bowled his first seven overs, this being the single spell limit for U19 bowlers under ECB rules.

However, it was not all plain sailing as the Guildford number 3, Menon, was looking ominously comfortable holding up one end. Marcus Caprano-Want was introduced to the attack but having gone for 24 off 3 was soon hit out of it by Menon. The veteran and soon to be Christmas cardless Alan Holland came on and with Gyan toiling away in a marathon spell at the other end, these two tried to stem the flow of runs as Guildford built a partnership of 50 and took the score to 80, only 35 short with 5 wickets left.

At this stage Richard Nichols afternoon was going from bad to worse. With a golden duck and two dropped catches to his name, he then tried a runout and only succeeded in missing the stumps by some distance and hence the backer-up and four overthows ensued. It would be fair to say that Richard's head was somewhat down at this stage but ironically it was this last event which ultimately led to our victory. The four overthrows meant that Menon was on strike and next ball he played on to Alan Holland and the main threat was on his way back to the pavilion for a lusty 51.

By this time, Gyan had completed his incredible spell of 14-6-16-2 and Trout could now be re-introduced to the attack. In his first over, having re-discovered the bounce and pace from his first spell, the now re-enthused Richard Nichols took a great catch at cover which reduced Guildford to 84-7.

With Menon already gone, the skipper re-introduced Marcus at the other end who responded with two wickets, the second being a quite incredible one-handed catch by Andy Storey at mid-on where rumour has it that he actually left the ground for the first time in twenty years without the aid of Qantas.

At 94-9, it was left to Trouty to finish the innings with our third LBW decision of the afternoon, and his first five wicket haul in senior cricket (12.2-6-21-5).

A fascinating afternoon's cricket which proves that even a total as derisory as 115 can be successfully defended, especially on a dodgy pitch. How bad was the pitch? Well, apart from the two top scoring batsmen on each team, the remaining 18 players only managed 14 scoring shots between them. That in itself tells a story, but the final word must go to the bowlers, Gyan and Trouty in particular who bowled incredibly well to exploit the conditions.