Facing the league leaders was always going to offer a challenge. And so it proved for the Ashtead Stags, as they left Priory Park on Saturday with just a solitary point after losing by 5 wickets to Reigate Priory in Round 8 of the 2024 Surrey Championship Premier League.

Ashtead won the toss and elected to make first use of a wicket that had a layer of grass atop its surface, but which otherwise appeared to be a good batting track. And yet it would be the hosts immediately on the front foot, as the Kiwi overseas pro Fraser Sheat extracted both seam and swing with the new ball to dispatch skipper Ben Geddes without scoring.

That set the tone for the first session of play – batters found the going tough, and whenever Sheat had the ball in hand, a wicket never seemed far away. The first four wickets would all be found caught in the slips or by the wicketkeeper as the Ashtead top order had no answer to the onslaught. Even the change bowlers found success as Jacob McLoughlin found a double wicket maiden to his liking and Conor Young, the only real symbol of resistance, found a edge to become Sheat’s fifth wicket of the innings. 59-7, and an early finish beckoned.

The fightback would come from Tom Homes and Jevan Kher, who withstood the initial pressure from the seam bowlers, and then also from the spinners, as the pitch quickly showed that lots of spin was possible. The pair shepherded the innings to lunch and beyond, and were beginning to build some momentum when Tommy Ealham teamed up with brother George to remove Jevan for 12 and the end beckoned. Some rearguard work from Ayantha De Silva saw the Stags past 100 but not much further. 112 all out.

The Llamas would get a whopping 76 overs for their chase, and early evidence showed they definitively wouldn’t need so long. The opening partnership of Richard Oliver and young Surrey up-and-coming batter Ollie Sykes made rapid inroads into the target, and all was going well – right up until Simon Keene, ever in the wickets this year, found the outside edge. 40-1.

Enter the Homes brothers. Spin form both ends seemed the way to go, and three quick wickets between showed what the pitch, and the Stags’ attack, was capable of. 66-4 had the hosts very worried, and another couple of wickets could expose a brittle lower order and tail. Could this game have a surprise yet?

No, was the resounding answer, as keeper James Crosthwaite put the bowling to the sword. Why worry about which way the ball is turning, if you can hit it out of the park before it has a chance to bounce? 5 fours and 5 sixes later, and the game was over. Fraser Sheat, not to be forgotten in the match, briefly combined with Crosthwaite but could not see the hosts home. It was not to matter, as another crashed boundary saw Reigate to victory with 5 wickets (and a lot of overs) to spare.

This result sees Ashtead slip to 7th in the league table, where definite gaps are now forming – the top three have stolen a march on a competitive middle order stretching from 4th all the way to the relegation zone in 9th. The Stags, however, are returning to Woodfield Lane next week to play the final match in the first half of the 2024 campaign. That will be against Weybridge – famously the opposition last year where the Stags made a record-breaking 444 runs. Weybridge sit rock bottom of the table, on just 22 points, having yet to win a match this year. Last week saw the visitors extract a losing draw from high-flying Esher.

You can follow Ashtead CC’s 1st XI matches live on our website (www.ashtead.play-cricket.com) or at our YouTube channel (Ashtead Cricket Club Live). We look forward to next week! Join us then.

Source: https://www.ashteadcc.co.uk/teams/56391/match-centre/1-14683621/report