Well beaten but Bailey's champagne moment lives on

Headley 202 for 7 (Midmer 87, Henderson 4-40) beat Old Cranleighans 117 (Houston I 27, Houston A 24) by 85 runs

Steve Bailey takes the plaudits after his catch-of-the-season

Headley is our second-oldest club fixture and one which annually gives a chance for those less frequent players to try to find where they dumped their kit the previous June. Some years we win, some we lose as the strengths of the two sides is always variable. This time round we were well beaten but the sun shone throughout and there are always worse places to be than Headley in the summer.

 The pitch was not one of the best, the pace slow and the bounce variable, usually low. We made early breakthroughs and all seemed to be going well but we then came up against an Aussie, Midmer, who made a decent fifty, and a local, Hughes, who was more basic in his approach but hit a good 87. At 184 for 2 and with the bowling regularly disappearing over the road things looked grim. Ian Houston was the pick of the bowlers, looking enough like Jonny Gates to convince latecomers he was the man himself until they realised he was dropping more than one and over on a length.

Ian Houston shone with bat and ball

Ed Henderson, our skipper, is now in his thirties, an age when all bowler/captains realise that when the going gets tough you take yourself out of the attack, muttering how important it is that everyone has a game, until bringing yourself back when the batsmen are getting tired or careless. So back he came, took four wickets in five balls and even chief bunny-hunter Michael Chetwode could not have been prouder. A declaration immediately followed with Headley on 202 for 7. In other years this has been a 260-280 ground but this was a sporting total to chase even on that pitch

One incident is worth singling out. Midmer, the aforementioned Aussie, decided to clip Henderson off his toes and middle the ball sweetly, if uppishly. It was no more than seven feet off the ground by the time it reached Steve Bailey at mid-on, but for Bailey, who has not left the ground voluntarily in several years, seven feet is as good as 70. But he jumped (“you got at least six inches off the turf” Peter Hobbs gushed) and at full strength took a remarkable on-handed catch with ball seemingly past him. It was worth the day out alone.

When we batted we failed to master the conditions or the bowling. While Headley peppered the woods and the road, we failed to hit a six at all. Andy and Ian Houston batted well, Graeme Brown looked good before charging down the track and yorking himself. The rest offered little, and although we came within five overs of a draw, it was not an escape we would have deserved.

Our last man Ed Price is bowled and Headley celebrate