On Wednesday evening, the Old Sutts Onions made their T20 cricket debut in their first ever Surrey Slam game. On a glorious early summer’s evening at Northey Avenue, The Onions prepared to grapple with the demands of the shorter form; there were fielding restrictions, free hits and a frenetic pace throughout the encounter.

The Onions were asked to bat by Sutton Green and after a watchful start, openers Kamran Ellahi and Waqar began to find their rhythm, with the latter in particular creaming plenty of lusty blows over the boundary rope. The rules state that batters must retire at 50 but Waqar made sure he maximised his time at the crease by bludgeoning a 6 when on 49 – a brilliant knock that included two 4s and six maximums. Kamran Ullah strolled out at number three and kept up the pace. When Kamran Ellahi departed after a trademark energetic innings, Farooq got in on the action with aplomb. Later, debutant and current Year 10 SGS student Agastya came to the creased and showed his potential with a cover drive that oozed class. After 20 overs, the Onions were happy to post 169-3.

There’s no tea and a quick turnaround in these ties and ten minutes later the Onions were out in the field and ready to be marshalled by captain and Slam mastermind Jon Dennis. Will Humphries opened up with the pink ball alongside Farooq, who bowled magnificently and ended up with figures of 2-23. Captain Dennis shrewdly changed his bowling and his field placings, and although he didn’t bowl himself, he should surely take plenty of credit for the wickets that fell. Young Joey Green bowled well on debut and picked up a wicket courtesy of a sublime catch from George Dennis behind the stumps. Luke Breeze and Peter O’Toole, bowling off-spin rather than his legendary seam, troubled batters constantly, and Kamran Ullah also helped turn the screw with some tidy seam bowling.  However, Sutton Green stayed in the hunt by crashing several boundaries and the tie could still go either way. With two overs to go, they needed roughly 30 to win but some quality death bowling from Breeze in the 19th over put the tie beyond the opposition’s reach, and Pete finished the job off as the low sun set at Northey. The full scorecard can be found here: https://oldsuttonians.play-cricket.com/website/results/6409714

It was a fine win in the Onions first foray into the Slam but, most importantly, it was also a thoroughly enjoyable evening and a great way to bring some young blood into the side. Big shout out to Jon Dennis for organising the whole affair and we look forward to next Wednesday’s encounter with Pampisford Penguins.