Headley (179 a.o.; Midmer 36) lost to Woodpeckers (180 for 2; Palmer 118 rtd)

It started well. Andy Pickering hooking a six into the woods off the first ball of the innings; talk immediately of the potential for 1000 runs...

But then things slowed. The bowling was tidy and Laudy and Pickering found the late season Headley pitch tricky to score on. After 15 overs the run rate had slowed to a more test-like rate. Laudy was out trying to force the pace and
Pickering was bowled by what looked like a 'good one', although it may well have just been a 'straight one'.

The captain's hockey skipper and the Australian Hughes (not Merv) began to steady the ship and the run-rate began to move tantalisingly towards 3.5 an over. Both played nicely, but perhaps weighed down by scoreboard pressure, both departed when looking like getting set.

Banks had a short stay at the crease and it was soon left to Josh Pickering and Skipper Midmer to nurture the innings towards respectability. Pickering was on his way to doing that before he slapped a full bunger straight to mid-wicket,
and perhaps reflected on a genuinely village dismissal as he strode back to the pavilion.

Hopper went out to join Midmer and was immediately informed that 'the mow' was a favourable option. Some quite horrendous moos followed and soon the scoreboard, if not Hopper, gained respectability. With Headley suddenly threatening an unlikely dash for 200, Hopper ran out his Skipper, encouraged Mitch Pickering to swing for the fences and watch him lob one skyward, and then decided that he would run out Geoff Moon without the latter facing a ball - the desperate throwing of the Moon bat like an Olympic javelin demonstrating the quality of the call.

Two Alan Clarke swipes later (the first a boundary, the second an air shot) and Headley were back inside for tea at 179 all out. Not great, but surely enough for this Headley side.

Clarke opened up and immediately found the spot. A swinging yorker bowled the opener and then not long after some immaculate line and length induced the number three to present a catch to mid on.

At the other end, Moon probed away steadily, looking to make up for his lack of batting with a monster haul. However it was not to be Moon's day as a fairly simple chance was spilled at short mid-off, and soon the skipper was calling for
Josh Pickering.

With a weight of expectation rivalling a rugby front row, Pickering was, one sensed, expected to wrap things up fairly quickly. Unfortunately, however, he struggled to find his range with the leg-spinner, and with a pitch so slow that anything remotely short was clobbered, the Woodpecker's left-handed opener started to make inroads into the fragile total.

Hopper was called into the attack at the other end, and started off with at least six pies in his first two overs. Things did improve, but unfortunately Banks couldn't hold onto a sharp chance at short cover, and the game was soon slipping away.

Hoping Pickering would come good at one end, Midmer brought himself on at the other to try and salvage a win. Within one ball, Midmer was screaming for an LBW; but alas, it just wasn't going to be Headley's day, and soon the total of 179 had been overhauled without a further loss to the wickets' column.

Many theories have been put forward for the dramatic turn-around in Headley's fortunes.

Astute followers of the club have long suggested that the absence of Barny Harrison could be pivotal in moments of low morale; the ability to laugh at a dropped sitter, the commando rolls in the field when retrieving a routine ball,
the under-rated batting, the immensely under-rated bowling... no-one can say for sure, but Harrison might well have made a difference.

And then there was the absence of Waller. So reliable, that he could be in an advert for something reliable, like a Volvo or Fairy liquid. How the skipper missed the workmanlike craft and skill of the village's premier wicket-taker.  The batting, too, could have made a difference. How many times has one heard the phrase '20 minutes of Waller and we'll be Ok'?  The trees often shake when he strides out to bat, and though low on form, not a year goes by without a blistering innings from the Waller bat... it could have been this Sunday.

Gordon 'Flash' Banks suggested the carrot cake was a topic to consider. Indeed Banks seemed to suffer from the recent tea-makers curse with a performance below his usual standards. But people understood. It's not easy to make the teas.  Never has been. Indeed as the game approached its close and Banks attempted a run-out which led to an overthrow and the left-handed century maker returning to strike, Midmer turned at him with a ferocious look and spluttered his frustration. Banks, I've been reliably informed, told the skipper: 'Sorry, but I did make the carrot cake.' Midmer turned, paused a moment, and then smiled, 'Yes, you did Banksy. Yes you did.'

And a final word for the skipper himself. This was his final game of the season and it was not the way he wanted it to end. Indeed even Hopper's promise of 8 wickets backed by a credit default swap couldn't tear the ball out of Midmer's hands at the end as he raged in and searched for a last gasp miracle.

It has been that fire that has led Headley to one of the greatest seasons in village history; and it has been that fire that has led the side to many wins when a loss seemed more likely; and it has been a thrill to play under, not to mention a lot of fun.

Chapman leads the XI in the final game of the season. Let's hope we win.