Tough day in the sun for Ashtead 2s leaves Stags looking over their shoulders

Summer has arrived! On a scorching day at Woodfield Lane, the Stags took on the, er, Stags in a keenly anticipated clash, with both sides desperate for victory. The coin landed favourably for the Ashtead version and captain Steve Tyson unsurprisingly elected to bat on the sun-baked deck. Unfortunately opener Nick Gavin-Brown departed in the first over, bowled by the lively Mander without scoring. Sam Homes entered the fray and, after miraculously recovering from a ‘broken’ thumb in just one week, set about building a platform with Gary Martin for the rest of the line-up to capitalise on later in the innings.

Some clean hitting, positive running and defiant defence saw Ashtead through to the first drinks break on 64-1 after 18 overs, but the introduction of spinners Boudville and Wightwick saw the run rate reduce as the batsmen found it difficult to work the accurate bowling away on a slow, low wicket. Martin departed to a fine catch at mid-on off Wightwick for a well deserved 52, which saw the arrival of Tom Dunn. The two Ashtead young guns then set about increasing the tempo of the innings, with more aggressive running seeing Homes to his half century. At this point, Ashtead had established the platform that was earlier being sought after, and it was time to accelerate. Homes deposited a full toss over the long-on boundary (thus making 2 sixes for the Homes brothers on the day - Tom surprising all at the club with one for the 1s!), Dunn unfurled some glorious sweeps and reverse sweeps, and Homes launched a rasping drive over the covers for a one-bounce four.

Homes then departed for 70 and some punchy hitting from Tyson, James Cullf, Hutter, Feeney and Waugh, combined with Dunn’s run-a-ball 53, meant Ashtead declared on 231-7, leaving Malden Wanderers 48 overs to chase the target. The pick of the Malden bowlers was James Marks who returned very respectable figures of 3-45 off 11 on a hard day emotionally for the club.

On such a pitch, and with the sweltering weather, Tyson opted to open the bowling with Homes and Nick Williams using the old ball. However, as with the first innings, Malden started positively. Opener Geiringer hit 7 boundaries in his fluent 34, before being spectacularly caught by Martin in the gully of the ever metronomic Dunn with the new ball. Burly left hander Barford came to join opener Edmonds, and together they struck the ball firmly, capitalising on anything either slightly off line or off length. The positive strokeplay, coupled with the lightning outfield, meant it was difficult to contain the two batsmen; and by the time Edmonds was expertly caught on the boundary by Dunn to Homes’ cunning bowl-a-full-toss-catch-on-the-boundary plan for 51 (11 fours), Malden were ahead on the run-rate and Ashtead were on the back foot.

Malden captain Murphy strode to the wicket and was soon dismissed for 8, well held by James Culff at backward point off Homes, which saw the entrance of Malden number 5, Patel. Ashtead had clawed themselves back into the game with some exceptional fielding – Tyson setting the example by diving full length at mid-on to save 3 – and, although it would have been difficult to take another 7 wickets in 12 overs to win the game, Malden’s required rate had gone back above 5 RPO and so all was not lost. However, after a nervy start, Patel played the innings of the day with some fiercely clean striking. His shotmaking over mid-off and mid-on was exemplary and, with Barford (67*), he saw the Stags of Malden to victory by 7 wickets with 4 overs to spare. Patel finished on 53* off 35 deliveries, and sealed the game with two sixes into the car park, smashing a windscreen in the process.

In all, it was a disappointing day for Ashtead who finished the game empty-handed. Runs for both young and old bodes well, but in truth, the total set was about 30 runs light for a Malden line-up that played very well in the baking July heat. The result leaves the club hovering just above the relegation zone, and a win against table-topping Weybridge next week would be most welcome.

T Culhane 06/07/2013