It was back to 50-overs matches for round 14 in the Surrey Cricket Championship Premier Division – and once more the lead changed hands. Richard Spiller reports
CREDIT: Surrey Cricket Foundation
Wimbledon v Esher
A surprise defeat by Esher saw Wimbledon knocked off the top of the table as they went down by 65 runs.
It was a big win for Esher, who had only claimed one victory since the end of June. They remain in the relegation zone but are now just two points behind Sunbury. The two sides are due to meet in the penultimate week of the campaign.
Inserting the visitors rebounded on Wimbledon, who saw them make 265-5 in 50 overs. Nicholas Smit’s 83 was backed up by Alex Chambers (48) – the pair put on 99 for the fourth wicket – before David Brent cracked 53no from 30 balls. Ben Twine took 3-41 from his 10 overs.
Soon finding themselves 13-2, the hosts made swift progress through Jack Boyle (27) and David Rushmere (48) adding 72 in 13 overs. But they departed within eight runs of each other and Wimbledon never recovered, off-spinner Don Bouchart (3-28) filleting the lower order to bowl out the leaders for 200.
Ashtead v Sunbury
Snatching three wickets for one run saw Sunbury grab a tie at Ashtead.
Defending their earlier 164 all out, the visitors were all but beaten when Ashtead reached 163-8.
But Hugh Weibgen trapped Jevan Kher (10) from the first ball of the 47th over and then bowled Tom Homes with the last.
Sean Hunt (20no) took a single off the opening delivery of the 48th, leaving last man Sam Hunt exposed and seeing Stuart Van Der Merwe – bowling his first over of the match – castle him four balls later. It left each side with 10 points, Sunbury’s haul preventing them from slipping into the drop zone and maybe proving crucial at the end of the season.
Earlier on, Sunbury had owed Colby Dyer (32) and Weibgen (25) for lifting them to their modest total, Simon Keene’s 4-25 from 7.1 the main reason for their struggle.
It looked more impressive when the hosts stumbled to 8-3, former England opener Mark Stoneman’s 36 preventing a total collapse but his departure at 65-5 putting Sunbury back on top again. Conor Young (38) and Sam Homes (29) built what should have been a winning position. Tony Gilbey’s 3-34 was augmented by Australian all-rounder Weibgen’s 2-13.
East Molesey v Reigate Priory
Priory inflicted what may prove terminal damage on East Molesey’s bid to win the new league, having been champions of the old Championship last year.
In the process Reigate revived their own title hopes, Richie Oliver’s elegant 110no ensuring his side cantered to a six-wicket success.
Moles never recovered from stumbling to 31-3 after being sent in and although Clyde Fortuin (33) and Tom Cullen (41) fashioned a semi-revival, they slid to 181 all out. Chief architect of their decline was Surrey off-spinner Tommy Ealham, whose 3-32 from 9.1 overs was a happy recovery from a rough day in the Metro Bank Trophy a day earlier as he continues his comeback from a back injury.
Oliver, once of Worcestershire and enjoying himself without the restraints of captaincy, dominated the reply and enjoyed one escape, hitting 17 fours and a six. Tom Massey’s 17no helped him to finish the job in the 39th over.
That put Reigate back up to third – 25 points off the pace – but Moles have sunk to fifth, another 10 adrift.
Dulwich v Sutton
Jayden Broodryk’s taste for the Dulwich bowling knows no bounds.
He cracked 150no against them in June – a match eventually abandoned to rain – and followed it up with 113 at Burbage Road on Saturday, the centrepiece of Sutton’s 94-run victory which put them back on top of the table.
Despite missing Surrey’s Josh Blake, the visitors sailed to 300-6 after being sent in, Ryan Hackney (39) and Cameron Tanner (28) laying the table before Broodryk dined in, crunching nine fours and five sixes in his 83-ball stay. Rehan Ratnasabapathy (43) was the junior partner in a fourth wicket alliance worth 117, Kaif Ramzan collecting 3-53 in 10 overs.
Dulwich lost in-form Ahmed Khan early, Tommy Wright (65) and William Jenkins (32) ensuring they were not beaten out of sight but two wickets apiece for Aneesh Jhalla, George Compton, George Jackson and Harry Gardner rounding up the hosts for 206 to ensure the yellow jersey was returned along Thameslink. Dulwich now lie 30 points from safety.
Banstead v Spencer
Patrick Rowe’s unbeaten century secured a narrow victory for Banstead, whose fortunes are improving in sharp contrast to Spencer.
It was the home side’s third successive win, pushing them into fourth and still in with an outside chance of hitting the summit.
They could not stop Jack Scriven cracking 126 out of Spencer’s 283 all out from the final ball of their 50 overs, Troy Johnson (33) and Harry Allison (49) offering valuable support but a decline from 236-3 proving costly later on. Harri Aravinthan and England U19 left-arm spinner Ralphie Albert claimed three wickets apiece.
Rowe soon found himself confronting a crisis at 19-3 but the Australian repaired the damage alongside Aravinthan (43) in a fourth wicket stand worth 113. After that, Alfie Haxton (36) and Alex Dodson (25) made valuable contributions but it was Rowe who dominated, his 118no from 120 balls taking Banstead home with four balls to spare despite the best efforts of Max Hunt (4-64).
It was Spencer’s fourth defeat in five matches – the run of losses broken only by an abandonment – and having spent much of the campaign in comfortable mid-table, they are now in danger of accompanying south London neighbours Dulwich through the trap door.
Best of the rest
It’s a case of “as you were” at the top of Division One as all three leading teams won.
Guildford – nine points behind Normandy and one ahead of Weybridge – put a dent in fourth-placed Beddington’s ambitions, bowling them out for 124 on the pitch used by Surrey for two Metro Bank Cup matches. But for Jordan Reifer’s unbeaten 50, plus three straightforward catches being dropped, the visitors might have been dismissed much faster.
Leading a disciplined attack, skipper Olly Birts claimed 3-33, taking his tally for the season to 45, the best in the whole league.
His side were soon in trouble too at 22-3 before Fred McMillan (59no) and fit again Jason Soames (41no) mixed attack and defence sagely to knock off the runs in 23.5 overs.
Normandy had to work rather harder for their five-wicket success at Walton, Chris Jones claiming 4-34 in bowling out the hosts for 208. Tom Haynes (54) and Ollie Gibson (67) ensured victory was achieved with six overs in hand.
Weybridge’s 47-run win over Camberley was built around James Field’s 109no from 95 balls, driving his side to 265-5. The visitors made a strong start to their reply with an opening stand of 75 before declining to 218 all out, Mohammad Shahid (3-38) doing most damage.
League placings at week 14/18
Premier Division:
1) Sutton 217
2) Wimbledon 210
3) Reigate Priory 192
4) Banstead 189
5) East Molesey 182
6) Ashtead 174
7) Spencer 159
8) Sunbury 144
9) Esher 142
10) Dulwich 114
Division 1:
Promotion zone:
1) Normandy
2) Guildford
Relegation zone:
9) Cranleigh
10) Oxted & Limpsiefld
Division 2
Promotion zone:
1) Rutlishians
2) Horsley & Send
Relegation zone:
8) Cheam
9) Stoke d’Abernon
10) Wimbledonians
Check out all the 2025 Premier League Leading Run Scorers HERE
Sunday extra
Victory by 71 runs over Bromley earned East Molesey a trip to Sunbury in this Sunday’s Conference Cup semi-finals.
The holders made the most of batting first on a wearing pitch by making 253-6 from 45 overs, Michael Shean initially playing a supporting role to Sam Burge (33) in an opening stand of 56 before going on to make 79. That was built upon by Marcus Campopiano (33), Jake Kings (24) and Jamie Southgate’s 47no.
Bromley were on target for victory while Ryan Cartwright (30) and Ollie Streets were adding 68 for the fourth wicket but Burge held a fine catch at mid-off to remove Cartwright from Kings’ (2-28), fellow off-spinner Southgate (3-17) carving through the rest to dismiss the visitors for 182.
While Moles are heading across the Thames, the other semi-final sees Harefield hosting Hornchurch, the winners of both matches then competing to claim the Bertie Joel Trophy at Bishop’s Stortford on Sunday September 14.
