Munday takes 8 as Llamas march past Sutton

An eight wicket haul by Reigate Priory spin bowler Michael ‘Magic’ Munday together with half
centuries scored by skipper Richie Oliver and Michael Burgess led the Llamas to a comfortable eight
wicket win at Sutton on Saturday.
The win keeps Reigate Priory on top of the league tables with maximum points possible of 176
from eight games. However East Molesey in a tight but thrilling win by one wicket with three balls
left in the game against Banstead remain close behind the Llamas with seven wins from their eight
games and a point total of 159.
Weybridge, last year’s league champions, and the Priory’s next opponents at home this
Saturday, are in fourth place with 104 points.
Reigate won the toss and Oliver put Sutton in to bat getting an immediate reward when Richard
Stevenson, opening the bowling with Will Hodson, bowled Sangram Reddy for 4 at 8-1.
But this was to be Reigate’s only success for the next 25 overs as opener Sam Seadon and Josh
Blake found batting uncomplicated on the first really hot day of the summer.
After Hodson and Stevens had bowled 17 overs between them, Munday and fellow spinner Luke
Beaven took over and were to bowl more than 40 overs in tandem for the remainder of the innings.
Munday, at first, was bowling from the Cheam Road end, finding the wicket not to his liking as
he was dispatched for 17 runs in his first two overs. Switching ends to the Football Ground End he
fared somewhat better but was still leaking runs at over four runs an over.
Beaven was bowling more tightly yielding only 11 runs in his eight overs before lunch.
Sutton did lose Seadon stumped by Sam Hall off Munday for 47 at 87-2 but at 102-2 at lunch
with Blake on 45 not out Oliver must have been wondering if his decision to put in Sutton was the
correct one.
And in the first 10 overs after lunch Sutton put on a further 40 runs without trouble.
Then Munday found his right length. The ball was now roughed up and more responsive to spin.
And the wickets started to tumble.
Untutored lower order batsmen are meat and drink to this canny spinner as they are unable to
differentiate between the leg-break and the googly. And Munday simply carves through the batting
order at will.
After taking just 1-64 in 14.5 overs, in his next 54 balls, or nine overs, Munday took seven
wickets for just 10 runs.
Josh Blake was the first victim of the afternoon, caught behind by Hall for 61 at 142-3. After a
Beaven over for one run, Munday struck again when South African all-rounder Chris Stevenson was
well held in the deep by Beaven for 29 at 143-4.
Luke Smith, Sutton’s captain, was next to go, this wicket going to the persevering Beaven, who
won a leg before wicket decision as Smith departed for 1 at 146-5.
But three wickets in two overs from Munday followed as his leg-breaks and googlies mesmerised
the opposition. Rehan Ratnasapabathy was bowled for 1 at 154-6. Daniel Edwards was caught by
Delmont for 0 at 158-7 followed four balls later by Aman Shinwari, bowled for 0 at the same score.

Sam Woods and Sam Blake put on 13 runs together, Woods scoring all 13, before Woods was
stumped by Hall off Munday at 171-9. Sam Blake followed one run later, caught behind by Hall for a
27-ball duck with Sutton all out for 172 in 62.5 overs.
Munday’s final figures were 23.5 overs, 4 maidens, 8-74. Beaven had final figures of 22-6-48-1.
Last week against Sunbury, Stevens’s seven wickets was the first time in 11 seasons he had taken
more than four wickets in an innings.
For Munday an ‘eight-fer’ is not that rare, his first coming more than 20 years ago when he took
8-34 for the Cornwall under 12s against Oxfordshire Under 12s.
But in club cricket and first class cricket his first ‘eight-fer’ (8-84) came in Australian grade cricket
in 2006, playing for Glenelg District Cricket Club in Adelaide.
His most famous eight wicket haul was for Somerset against Nottinghamshire in September 2007
when his 8-55 (10-65 in the match) helped Somerset to an innings victory.
This had been Somerset’s last game of the 2007 season but only Munday’s third game for the
Somerset first team. Wisden Almanack noted that in this ‘rare’ outing ‘applause mingled with
audible regrets that Munday had not been used more by Somerset.’
Munday was at Somerset for six seasons from 2005-2010, following which he played for
Horsham from 2011 to 2017 before joining Reigate Priory.
He was never under-bowled at Horsham and had three ‘eight-fers’ to his name at the Sussex
club – 8-68 in 2015, 8-64 in 2016 and 8-38 in 2017. So his 8-74 against Sutton is his 6 th such
achievement.
When Reigate went in to bat spectators from Reigate were treated to yet another Oliver-Hall
opening partnership extravaganza – this one for 71 runs in just over 15 overs.
Hall was the first to go, caught by the wicket-keeper Edwards for 42 in 50 balls, with eight 4’s at
71-1 in the 16 th over.
Oliver and Jake Lehmann continued at the same rate of scoring, at just under 5 runs an over,
before Oliver, on the stroke of tea, offered a caught and bowled chance to Woods, which was
eagerly snapped up.
Oliver had made a well-struck 58 in 71 balls with eleven 4’s, the tea-time score being 118-2 from
23.5 overs with Lehmann on 15 not out.
If Sutton were hoping for an easier time with Hall and Oliver both back in the pavilion they were
much mistaken as Oliver’s wicket wicket brought Michael Burgess to the crease.
In an unbroken post tea stand of 58 runs, Lehmann advanced from 15 not out to 22 not out,
while Burgess ran riot with a flurry of nine 4’s and one 6 to hit a 24-ball 50 as Reigate sprinted past
the post to 176-2 from 32.3 overs.
Reigate Priory are at home on Saturday with Weybridge as visitors. Last season Weybridge beat
Reigate at home in the penultimate game to pip Reigate for the title.
One of Weybridge’s star players is Tom Bruce, who has 14 T20 international caps to his credit for
New Zealand. While he was averaging only just over 20 in his first seven innings this season in the
Surrey Championship, the big-hitting Kiwi hit form on Saturday with 171 not out against Guildford in
152 balls, with 18 4s and three 6s. So a Munday-Bruce matchup on Saturday could provide both
fireworks and tears.