MATCH REPORT - Sunday Heathens XI

Friendly vs Old Dorkinians (Home) - Sunday 23rd May, 2pm
Result: Draw

(From our correspondent Ollie Craske)

The Sunday Heathens’ first home game of the season was a high-scoring draw on a beautiful sunny day. The dusty track belied its uneven billing as we batted first and amassed an impressive total. Admittedly, we were aided by some awesome batting from new Saturday regular Mike O’Mahony, emulating Andrew Strauss by scoring a ton (135 to be precise) on his Sunday XI debut, while Kevin O’Shea scored a fine 54, his first half-century for Blackheath. Together with cameos by McLellan, Horsting and Forshaw, we reached 249-4 at tea.

We made a confident start with the ball, Roger Cannon in particular looking dangerous as he took 2-17 in an eight-over spell. Old Dorkinians were wobbling at 68-3, but then compiled an excellent unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership. The chances that came our way were either spurned (three difficult catches and a run-out) or not given (batsmen getting the benefit of the doubt on two caught-behinds). It’s fair to say, though, that our bowling has lacked depth so far this season, and a victory would have flattered us. In our attempts to break the stand we tried to buy a wicket, various inviting deliveries being served up by O’Mahony and Craske. Despite the temptations on offer, OD’s never quite threatened to meet the asking rate, although they did bat very well, closing on 201-3.

Your skipper may have contributed little with the ball, but he did maintain his double 100% record on Sunday. Yes, I’ve won three tosses out of three, and drawn all three matches. Still unbeaten!