The 1st XI suffered a narrow opening day defeat at the Rec on Saturday. After promotion last season, it was their first game back in Division Two against Ewell CC.

Claygate CC were invited to bat first, on a hot early May day. A big shout out to everyone who helped prepare the ground as it was looking in fantastic condition. Jake Murray fell early in the innings, but Jamie Board and James Proudman batted solidly as they looked to build a platform. They put on 78 for the second wicket until Proudman was bowled for 27. Jamie (77) kept going, and on a slow pitch and outfield, he kept the scoreboard ticking and eventually reached a well-made 50. In the effort to push on the scorecard in the last 15 overs, wickets started to fall regularly. The majority of the Claygate batsman kept finding the fielder on the boundary but a quick 28 from skipper Luke Webb, meant Claygate posted a competitive score of 197 of their 45 overs.

In reply, Jefe Cervello picked up two early wickets to put Claygate on top early. Dawood and Bajwa saw off the opening bowlers and looked to re-build for Ewell. It was Dawood who took the attack to the Claygate seamers as he smashed his way to quick 50 as Ewell reached 120/2 at drinks. Nicky Ison came into the attack and managed to dismiss Dawood, with Jamie Board taking a smart catch on the boundary. The ever accurate Akram Syed picked up the next wicket as Claygate chipped away at the wickets. The opener Bajwa was finally removed for 41, as he was caught and bowled by Ison. Mushar Hussain smashed a quick 18, before he was ran out by David Andrews. Ison then trapped Rehman LBW for 0, with the game now firmly in the balance.

Luke Webb came back into the attack to pick up the 8th wicket as Claygate could see the victory line. Ewell had a player absent, so only one more wicket was required with 20 runs left to get. Sadly, Ahmed and Akbar kept their nerve and saw Ewell home with two overs to go. An excellent match for the first league game.

The Sunday XI took on Bank of England CC at The Rec on the hottest day of the year so far. Young Ariv Singh carried his bat throughout the innings and made an excellent 59* off 119 balls. He was well supported by Rafe Roylance who smashed 75 off 62 deliveries. The chairman Craig Schultz showing off his power hitting with a strike rate of 214 as he smoked 30 off 14 balls at the death.

Bank of England never got going in their reply, with Mike Cross the pick of the bowlers. The opening seamer took 4/10 off his 6 overs to end the game as a contest. Fellow opening partner Jon Law also bowled superbly as he finished with figures of 3/10. Bank of England were eventually bowled out for 81, also thanks to an excellent one hand grab from Damian Ross.