ECB Club T20 Finals day at Derby - Sunday 22 September

The Surrey Championship was heavily represented at Derby for T20 Finals Day

Cranleigh, having won the Surrey T20 title, had then gone to beat Hook and Newnham from Hampshire and Sandwich Town from Kent in the Area Finals which Cranleigh hosted and then trounced Penzance at home in the National Quarter Finals, to reach Finals Day.

The evening before ECB hosted a dinner for all 4 teams who had qualified with Geoff Miller as the after-dinner speaker and his endless supply of stories of his life as a professional cricketer for Derbyshire and England.

The weather forecast for Finals Day, with a lot of rain expected through the afternoon and evening.

Cranleigh played in the 1st semi-final against Swardeston, the Norfolk side who just 6 days previously had won the National Club 40-over knockout final at Lords. They were keen to become the first side to win both ECB Club trophies in the same year.

Cranleigh took 3 early wickets but this brought together their captain and former Sussex player Joe Gatting (61 off 29 balls) and Peter Lambert (70 off 48 balls) who both hit out aggressively against Cranleigh's attack, finishing on 200 for 6 off their 20 overs). In reply, Lewis Bedford took 14 off the 1st over but accurate bowling from Swardeston, saw Cranleigh unable to keep up the required scoring rate and wickets tumbled. Matt Crump batted well at the end of the innings, hitting 33 off 19 balls, but Cranleigh ended on 153 for 8, losing by 47 runs.
Though Cranleigh had lost, Surrey's representation on the day was by no means ended. Paul Witney, one of our leading Premier umpires had been selected to officiate in the other semi-final and the final.

As the teams came off, the rain started to fall heavily, and at one stage we wondered whether there would bde any further play possible. Eventually the rain stopped. The 2nd semi-final was delayed for 3 hours and reduced to 12 overs per side. A very exciting match saw Toft, a small club from Cheshire take on Sheffield Collegiate, the club which produced both Michael Vaughan and Joe Root. Sheffield scored 118 in their 12 overs. Toft needing 3 to tie off the last ball (and win by virtue of losing fewer wickets) managed to hit a 4, and reach the final, amidst much celebrating from them and dismay from Sheffield Collegiate.

In the final, a 20 over match under floodlights, starting at 7.30pm, Swardeston again batted well, reaching 178 for 7, with Peter Lambert again amongst the runs. Former England U-19 and Essex fast bowler, Callum Taylor took two early wickets in the powerplay overs, and after a fightback from the Toft batsmen, returned at the end of the innings to finish off the tail and win the Man if the Match Award with 5 for 18, as Toft were bowled out for 157 in the final over.
Swardeston were worthy winners, Cranleigh maintained the tradition of Surrey Championship sides going deep into the late stages of the national competition and acquitted themselves very well.

For the first time, The Surrey Championship Umpires Panel was represented at the T20 Finals Day, as it had also been the previous week at Lords when John Flatley officiated as Swardeston beat Ormskirk in the 40 over final.

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Competition Review
by Phil Trayner
This year's Edwards Cup attracted 40 entrants and after 4 Round 1 games, 8 venues enjoyed successful Super Monday events as the weather held fair.

Batting Highlights of the early rounds included 109 for Caleb Bate, Hampton Wick Royal (HWR) v local rivals Hampton Hill and 113* for Wimbledon’s Oliver Swann as they beat HWR in the Q-Final. Best bowling also went to HWR with Sunny Patel taking 5-8 v Bank of England.
Harvey Stiles helped Cranleigh advance to Finals Day taking 5-13 v Guildford in their Round 3 match and Weybridge also advanced to the final 4 thanks in part to 5-27 v Horsley & Send in round 2.

Cranleigh not only hosted a great Finals Day but deservedly beat both Weybridge and Sutton to be crowned Surrey winners. With Josh Blake top-scoring with 42, Sutton beat Sunbury by 4 wickets in the second semi to join Cranleigh in the final, but despite 5-25 from Connor Griffin, Cranleigh posted a competitive 131 in their 20, with Lewis Bedford top-scoring with 54. Sutton’s reply rather crumbled at 70-8, but they were given late hope by some fine hitting by Aman Shinwari, whose 37 included 4 big sixes. New Zealand spinner Ajax Patel was a key factor in Cranleighs success with 2-15 backed up by the teams all-round top fielding display.
Cranleigh then found themselves hosting the Area Finals Day just one week later and again distinguished themselves by beating both Hampshire Champions, Hook & Newnham by 8 wickets (captain Jack Scriven top-scoring with a fine 56*) and then a nail-biting 7 run victory versus Kent Champions Sandwich Town. Bruno Broughton held the Cranleigh innings of 138 together with 65). William Rollings and George Ealham both took 3 wickets as more great fielding proved the key difference between the sides.

Penzance made the long trip to Cranleigh for the National Q-Finals but was no match against an outstanding Cranleigh performance on Sunday 18th Aug. Seren Waters ton scored with an elegant 67* out of an above-par total of 169. Penzance crumbled to 58 all out against more tight bowling and energetic fielding. The pick of the bowlers was Jack Scriven (3-9) and George Ealham (3-19). A special mention for Callum Kent who kept wicket superbly throughout Cranleighs winning run.