Ashtead vow to fight back after Normandy conquest

ASHTEAD chairman Richard Laudy is confident the return to 50 over cricket will help the Stags complete promotion to the Surrey Championship Premier Division.

After a fantastic start to the season the Woodfield Lane outfit have wobbled slightly in recent weeks, with two defeats and a losing draw in their past four outings.

Howzat? Ashtead's James Cameron goes up for an appeal during their clash with Normandy; the Stags' one-run defeat saw them lose top spot Photo by Richard Laudy

The Stags eventually lost their grip on top spot in Division One after an agonising one-run defeat at home to Normandy on Saturday. The result saw their conquerors and Pyrford go past them in the table.

However, Laudy believes Ashtead are still in an excellent position and will be helped by the return to limited overs cricket at the end of the season.

Ashtead won all four of their opening 50-over encounters and with five more to come at the back end of the season, Laudy insists there is no need to panic.

"Our team is ideal for the 50-over game as we have so many all-rounders," he said. "What you get sometimes in the timed games is one player doing much of the work.

"But when you have to have at least five bowlers bowling 10 overs apiece, you can't rely on one superstar player to get you through games. That works better for us as we have plenty of good cricketers with a good balance in the side.

"We are still in an excellent position and very confident that we can push on for promotion.

"I thought Normandy were the best side that we've faced all season, and to lose by a single run is nothing to worry about, we're still very positive.

"The standard of cricket in this league this summer has been very competitive. All the teams can beat each other and there's still plenty of points to play for."

Laudy also takes confidence from the overall strength of the club.

Ashtead's second, third and fourth XI are all handily placed for promotion.

"Next season we could have a situation where our firsts are playing Premier Division cricket, our thirds are in the Premier Division, our fourths are in the Premier Division and our seconds in Division One," he said.

"I think it's very important that you look at a club as a whole and we are doing very well.

"The new clubhouse is fantastic and we have had plenty of praise from visiting clubs this year."