Pop-gun OCs draw with Headley

Headley 284 for 6 (J Midmer 72*, W Midmer 52, Bugge 4-46) drew with OCs 229 for 7 (Copleston 66, Hill 43*, Fawcett 37)

The annual Golden Oldies side was not, due to some late cry-offs, not altogether old and certainly wasn’t gold. We came away from a sunny, if windy, Headley with an honourable draw but paid for turning up with a bowling attack for which the label pop-gun would be overplaying its strength.

We fielded well, especially the indefatigable Damian Hill who seemed to be permanently charging around the boundary on the road side and diving to save fours. We held almost all the catches that came our way, and batted solidly. But with no front-line bowlers, and not many from the second string either, we were always up against it.

Tristan Rosenfeldt, with the hairline and girth of a Golden Oldie if not the sharp wit or tactical know-how, fielded on winning the toss. He had no option. We couldn’t have bowled out a blind school. John Wells and Hill shared the new ball but with enough loose stuff for a strong Headley line-up to feast. The change bowlers failed to stem the flow, but David Bugge did roll back the clock with some brisk offspin and he grabbed four wickets. Rosenfeldt risked his life by taking Bugge out of the attack when he seemed set for a five-for. Men have died for less, but he got away with it.

He then underlined his naivety by opting, against advice, to toss it up and invite Headley to have a go. The challenge was accepted with glee. Eds Copleston took two overs to pitch one on the cut strip, by which time several hours had been lost searching for the ball in the undergrowth, but when he did he took an immediate wicket, probably because the batsman was in a state of shock. Rosenfeldt rather interestingly brought himself on and only sped up the flow of runs. In the end Headley called off the slaughter at 284 for 6 off 41 overs.

Our reply got off to a poor start when Tom Merry was caught behind off a snorter in the first over, and then Iain Wilkie was bowled after some crisp leg-side shots. Copleston, unleashing some super drives, and Will Fawcett, playing from instinct and hammering a remarkable straight six, took the score to 106 and at a rate that had us right on course. It was hard work on a pitch where the ball never came onto the bat.

But Fawcett was undone by a straight one and then the game turned on a quite remarkable catch in the deep to remove Copleston for 66, the boundary fielder taking a one-handed diving catch an inch from the turf as he ran in at full speed. The outstanding legspin of Josh Pickering, a delight to watch, further applied the brakes and we were left needing double figures from 15 overs out.

Hill’s encounter with Pickering was beauty and the beast. Confronted with guile, flight and real turn, Hill leant back and heaved to good effect. Legbreak and googly were all thumped over midwicket with equal disdain and ignorance, and at the end John Wells joined in the fun as well.

On paper we were within 50-odd runs of the target but the reality were that we never seriously in the hunt as the strongest Headley side for several years always had the depth to shut things down. To their credit, they didn’t.