It was week three of the Surrey Cricket Championship. Richard Spiller surveys the Premier Division matches around the county.
Spencer v Dulwich
Dulwich won the battle of south London by 30 runs but Spencer remain top of the table by a solitary point.
Recovering from being 87-5 after being sent in – which included the prized wicket of Indian Test player KS Bharat for 25 – was key to the visitors’ victory. A sixth wicket stand worth 112 between William Jenkins (59) and Kaif Ramzan (77) ignited the comeback as they reached 263-9 from 50 overs, Troy Johnson and Max Hunt finishing with three wickets each.
Spencer’s reply was soon in trouble at 8-2, partially recovering to 77-5 with Will de Cani’s 36 assisting Freddie Horler’s 72. Jenkins removed them both, though, in his 2-37 from nine overs as the reply was terminated at 233 in the 48th over. Dulwich are now third, just three points off the pace.
Esher v Banstead
Half-centuries from brothers Ragu and Harri Aravinthan assured Banstead of their first win this season, although they remain bottom of the table.
That condemned Esher to their second defeat out of three, going down by a hefty eight wickets after being bowled out for 195 having being sent in. They might have lost rather earlier but for Teague Wylie holding the top-order together with 64 from 85 balls, Don Bouchart’s 48 the only other contribution of substance.
Surrey paceman Nathan Barnwell bowled him on the way to collecting 3-30 from 9.1 overs, spinners Tyler Meyer and Arsalan Abbas taking two apiece.
Banstead were given a sound foundation for victory by openers Arjun Gill (26) and Ragu Aravinthan putting on 66, the latter pressing on to 80 as brother Harri (56no) assisted in an alliance of 86 before they were split by Max Wallis, Patrick Rowe (21no) helping settle the match in the 39th over.
Esher lie seventh but their rivals, while holding up the rest, are only three points away.
Reigate Priory v Ashtead
Priory flexed their muscles again to despatch Ashtead by six wickets.
An opening day defeat by Sutton has been followed by first an overwhelming win over Dulwich and now this display, despite missing some key players.
Ashtead, who enjoyed an impressive victory over champions East Molesey to launch their campaign and then stumbled against Esher, were restricted to 200-9 after being sent in and were indebted to Pranav Khera’s 74 for a healthy chunk of that. Sam Homes (39) was the other major contributor, former Somerset leg-spinner Michael Munday’s 3-37 from 10 the greatest obstacle.
Luke Haughton (74) and skipper George Ealham (37) ensured Reigate overcame the early departure of Richie Oliver, Harry McInley’s unbeaten 41 wrapping up victory in the 45th over. Adam Thomas underlined his credentials as one of Surrey’s most promising young cricketers with three of the four wickets to fall, his new side slipping to eighth, two points off the basement. Priory are fourth, four points off the pace.
Sunbury v Sutton
Josh Blake’s unbeaten 82 was perfectly timed to earn Sutton a second victory in three games, leaving them just a point off the summit.
But for their controversial last-ball defeat to Spencer a week earlier, they would have a healthy lead but this win on top of beating Reigate in the opening match has given the Cheam Road side an encouraging launch.
Yet it was Kristan Baumgartner (64) and Hugh Weibgen (27) who gave Sunbury a fine start by putting on 82 after being sent in. Once they were split, the hosts rarely broke free against an attack in which George Compton claimed 3-46 and off-spinner Harry Gardner exercised tight control to finish with 1-29 in 10 as Sunbury finished on 232-9.
They hit back by removing Australian opener Ryan Hackney for two and then Cameron Tanner (21) at 36. Blake was the key, controlling the tempo and being joined by Rehan Ratnasabapathy (51) in a fourth wicket stand worth 100.
Sutton still needed 59 going into the final 10 overs but Daniel Peall’s hard-hit 42no included three fours and three sixes, Blake’s ability to pick the gaps seeing him hit just three fours and a six in his 110-ball innings.
Sunbury’s second defeat out of three leaves them sixth, four points off the bottom.
Wimbledon v East Molesey
Billy Sewell and Ben Twine combined to sink champions East Molesey, who lost by 65 runs at Wimbledon.
The hosts had been grateful to Adam Fox (41) and David Rushmere (52) for lifting them to 229-8 in their 50 overs after being sent in, left-arm seamer Toby Crowther confirming his promise by claiming 5-26 in 10 overs.
And their labours were rewarded when Moles – despite a typically breezy 53 from Sam Burge at the top of the order – found it tough going in reply. Tiam Afshar’s 25 was the next best, Sewell (4-25) and Twine (3-24) finishing them off for 164.
It was East Molesey’s second defeat, leaving them in an unfamiliar ninth spot, Wimbledon’s second success putting them fifth.
Best of the rest
Guildford hurried to their third victory in as many Division One outings, bowling out Normandy for 91 on the way to winning by eight wickets.
Nathan Sowter, Durham’s T20 specialist, was top-scorer with a modest 13 while his side were dismissed in 35.5 overs, Australian all-rounder Josh Bartlett’s 3-19 in 10 supplemented by two apiece from Zac Donohue and skipper Olly Birts.
Will Hamilton (41no) and Fred McMillan (25no) delivered victory in the 19th over,
Making the pace alongside Guildford are Weybridge – relegated with them last year – after dismissing Malden Wanderers for 152 and knocking off the runs four down.
Beddington, Valley End and promoted Camberley made it two out of three so far.
Sunday extra
A hop down the road proved highly successful for Sunbury in the second round of the ECB National Club Championship.
They bowled out Middlesex League side Richmond for 118 in the 31st over – despite the obstruction of old boy Adam London (55) – thanks to leg-spinner Colby Dyer’s 5-16 from 7.3 overs. Stuart Van Der Merwe’s unbeaten 55 assured victory by seven wickets.
That set up Sunbury for a trip to Middleton in the group 11 final on June 15. The Sussex League side made easy meat of Guildford, cruising to 265-8 despite James Mundy’s 5-65 before bowling out the hosts for 94.
It will be an all-Surrey final in group 16 on the same date. Ashtead will play hosts after a long trip to Whitstable earned them a 21-run success, Nathaniel Atkins making 107 out of 261-8 while Simon Keene’s 3-44 led the bowlers to dismiss their hosts for 240.
Their opponents will be Banstead, who had an even tighter win against Bromley. Harri Aravinthan made it a good personal weekend by top-scoring with 53no out of 212-6, the Kent side falling 12 runs short at 212-6.
Norman Parks
Norman Parks, one of the founding fathers of the old Surrey Championship, has died aged 92.
An all-rounder whose first love was batting, he captained Beddington for six years, playing for the first team for two decades. He had served in the RAF’s Bomber Command – where he opened the bowling alongside Fred Trueman – and turned down the opportunity to join the Surrey staff.
Playing as an amateur for the Club & Ground XI at The Oval in 1955, he committed the cardinal sin – in the eyes of county secretary Brian Castor – of changing in the professionals’ dressing room. A phone call saw him rapidly despatched to the amateurs’ room but the offer of becoming a pro was rejected given he had no intention of becoming a “serf”, in his words, existing on £8 per week. At the time his job as a shirt manufacturer came with a car and, in relating the episode, he wrote that “I had never been conscious of the English class system but now I seemed to be in the middle of it”.
When the Championship was born in 1968, it owed much to Parks, who was an early chairman and later president.
