Beddington slipped to a four-wicket defeat in their Ryman Surrey Championship Division One opener at Camberley on Saturday.

Having won the toss, Beddington chose to bat on a good-looking wicket but were soon put under pressure by some disciplined seam bowling from the Camberley attack.

By the 20-over mark, Beddington were 71-5, with Simon Lewis making 25 of those.

Beddington's batsmen continued to struggle with the introduction of former England spinner Shaun Udal.

The only real resistance for the visiting side was a patience innings by Matthew Arnold who scored a stylish 33 but was eventually adjudged to have been caught behind off the left arm spinner Burns. Shaun Lewis, Fawad Bajwa and Daniel Baker managed to hold on and drag the Beddington innings to an under par 166 off their 50 over’s.

Camberley started in an aggressive manner, but were swiftly put on the back foot when Cummins claimed a hat-trick removing Miller, Shoveller and Sabey. Beddington's spirits rose at this point and it was clear that the only way back into the game was a constant flow of wickets.

It was then Dave Lesters’ turn to be part of the action as he removed, both Rodriguez and Young with a fine piece of fast bowling. At this stage Camberley were 59-5 and the game looked to be in the balance. Shaun Udal then entered the crease and managed to survive a couple of early scares, but then quickly managed to get the game back on track for Camberley chasing the under par total set by the visitors.

A fine partnership between Udal and Burns took the opposition up to 125, and even thought the Beddington attack bowled tight, well disciplined spells, no break through could be found.

The removal of Burns by Lester was a last ditch attempt by Beddington to regain control of the game however Udal continued in the same vain and manage to steer the home side to victory with a very well sculpted 72 not out.

It was a shame for Beddington to start the league campaign with a loss however it was good to see the opening attack is as potent as ever and that the spirit in the team continued throughout the game as they continued chasing victory even when the odds were stacked against them.

Next week sees the visit of Pyford to the glorious surroundings of Beddington and with the home team looking for their first victory of the campaign.