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Old Hambledonians v Ashling

12th June 2005

Hambledonians 160-6 (40 overs), Ashling 163-2 (29 overs)

Nick Loubser 65 not out, Matt Sleep 63 not out

This has always been one of our favourite away trips. a beautiful ground in a lovely setting, only two miles from the home of cricket. The pitch was firm and flat and the outfield was fast and dry. A good toss to win, with the side batting first seeming to hold all the aces. We lost the toss and Hambledonians batted. In the early stages of the game our early fears seemed to be justified as Littlejohn (26) and Brindley (29) put on 38 for the first wicket without ever looking to be in any trouble on the placid pitch. Judd (8-2-14-0) and Ford 6-0-24-1) bowled well to prevent any real acceleration in the scoring and it was James Ford who finally made the breakthrough with Nick Loubser taking a sharp catch at second slip to dismiss Littlejohn. Once again Ashling used a lot of bowlers during the afternoon, with no-one taking more than one wicket, but everyone bowling tidily enough to prevent the home side from making the big score the wicket seemed to merit. Hambledon's final tally of 160 runs from their alotted 40 overs seemed like a modest target given Ashling's formidable batting line-up.
It became very clear early on that Hambledon lacked any bowlers of real quality, Nick Loubser hitting the opening ball of the innings for four, and the third ball for six over mid-on. Bob traylen contributed 7 runs and Paul Simmonds 13 before Matt Sleep came to the wicket. Some big hitting from both men in a partnership of 111 saw Ashling stroll to victory with eleven overs to spare, the only regret being the fact that six other batsmen never got to have a bash on this perfect track.
As ever the beer in the Bat and Ball pub at Hambledon was excellent, tasting all the sweeter for the fact that on current form Ashling seem unstoppable.