GW1 v Esher (A) - A Winning Start to the 2020 League Campaign

After a long wait for competitive league cricket in 2020, July 25th finally rolled around, as the 1st XI kicked off their league campaign away against Esher CC. 2019 had seen a disappointing campaign for both sides with Sunbury finishing 7th, one spot above their opponents.

Having done the double over Esher in 2019, thanks largely due to Virdi brilliance away and McGillivray brilliance home, the 1st XI travelled to New Road confident of kicking their shortened league campaign off with a victory! However, that was threatened to be put to rest before a single ball had been bowled, as ominous clouds and weather forecasts foresaw the threatening rain overhead. Quick thinking from captains and umpires alike ensured an early start (12pm) and a shortened format (T20) would provide both sides with the best opportunity to complete a full game of cricket, and so at 11.30am, stand in skipper Sam Burgess (replacing Kevin Smith, out due to injury) won the toss and elected to bowl on a wicket which had offered plenty of spin in the previous year.

Two debutants strode onto the field for Sunbury, batting all-rounder Kris Baumgartner, formerly captain of Windsor CC, and left arm fast-bowler Aaron Watson, with the latter to take the first over. It certainly didn't take long for Watson (1-23) to get in on the action, dismissing opener Birkby (0) thanks to an assured boundary catch from youngster Aaryan Pillai. Clarke and Lake proceeded to rebuild for Esher but found it difficult to get away, with the moving red ball being used to good effect from Watson and opening partner Matt Harpur (0-23). Burgess closed out the powerplay in 6th over, and beat Lake (16) in the flight with keeper Conor Fulton routinely completing the honours, reducing Esher to 33-2 after 6 overs. The sanitising break would not hold Sunbury's momentum, as the following 5 overs would bring 4 wickets at the loss of just 14 runs, as spinners Hughes, Manro and Burgess tore through Esher's middle order with disciplined and relentless skill. First, Alex Hughes continued his fine form with the ball, dismissing Martin (1), with the aid of a diving low catch from the ever present and agile Vishal Manro. Manro was then into the act, dismissing Esher skipper Edwards (7), before Burgess once again broke through with two wickets in 3 balls, dismissing opener Clarke (18) and McCallum (0) in a double wicket maiden, leaving Esher teetering at 47-6 off 11 overs. A partnership then arose between Collins (11) and Roberts (27), with Roberts' reverse sweep proving to be exceptionally difficult to contain, though offering the Sunbury batsman a sign on how to play spin bowling on the turning wicket. Despite the rebuilding partnership, Sunbury always had Esher within their grasp, and just when Roberts looked to press on the accelerator with 3 overs to go, Hughes struck with further good glove-work from Fulton. A late flurry of boundaries from Harrison (18) pushed Esher's total up above 100, as Hughes dismantled Harrison's furniture, finishing with exceptional figures of 3-16, not to be outdone by skipper Burgess (3-20) and Manro (1-22) - not a single Sunbury bowler went at over 6 an over - it was a performance resembling the Sunbury of old, as disciplined and skilful spin bowling, backed up by energetic and precise fielding ensured scoring runs was strenuous, inducing constant errors from the batsman.

Though satisfied with the first half performance, the rain was looming, and Sunbury knew the job was yet to be completed, on a turning wicket which had seemed to be exceptionally difficult to play spin. The key word being "seemed", as Baumgartner on debut saw to put these assumptions to rest, hitting two maximums in Winder's first over, one off the back foot over extra cover into the Esher Pavilion. Sean Ventham followed suit in the second over, and much like the friendly in the previous week, the two openers had got Sunbury off to a flier, 26-0 off 2 overs. However, unlike the previous week where the fun had to come to an end early, Baumgartner refused to ease up, hitting Winder's second over for 20, taking the score to 46-0 off 3, almost half way to Esher's total just half way through the powerplay. Wright and Lake attempted to pull it back for Esher, with the latter dismissing Baumgartner for a quite brilliant 33 off 14, but Ventham counterattacked in the final over of the powerplay, taking it for 15, leaving Sunbury on 72-1 (6) at the first sanitisation break. With the result seemingly now sorted, Burgess (12) sought to end the game as soon as possible, striking two glorious boundaries over extra cover before unfortunately chopping on, only to be replaced by Middlesex all-rounder Martin Andersson. Collins looked to the verbal battle to try and get under Andersson's skin, alas resulting in getting hit over midwicket, as Andersson got off the mark with a 6. Never looking troubled, Ventham (33*) and Andersson (18*) then took Sunbury to victory, as Sunbury chased down their target of 106 in just 10.1 overs, ensuring the season truly begun with an emphatic victory.

With no other league fixture being completed or played, the victory saw Sunbury claim top spot in the Surrey Challenge Cup, with an away trip to Wimbledon next week sure to pose a far more difficult challenge, yet one that Sunbury will be excited and confident to tackle following their tremendous performance on the opening weekend!