It was Horspath's last season in the OCA before joining the Trinity League and as such the club were keen to go out on a high. The Premier 1 title was out of reach with Great & Little Tew taking that prize, but Horspath were favourites to lift the cup for an eighth time when they faced Sandford St Martin at Chipping Norton on August Bank Holiday Monday.
The report from the Oxford Mail reproduced here relates how tight bowling from Horspath restricted Sandford to 189-7 off their 45 overs - although they were indebted to Martin Anson's unbeaten 59 from 38 balls for their final total.
Max then took centre stage, hitting a brilliant 114 off 134 deliveries with 18 fours and one six, to steer Horspath to a seven-wicket win. He shared in a second-wicket stand of 119 with Dick Decaires, who made a sparkling 49, before being out with the scores level as victory was finally secured on 190-3 with 6.2 overs to spare.
Max, seen in the picture with Gordon Hamilton and Morris Honey celebrating a Sandford wicket, recalls: "I can remember that I got 100, although I was dropped a couple of times. It was our last season in the league. We didn't win the league and we wanted to go out with winning something.
"My main memory is that it was certainly one of the best batting tracks we played on. It was fast and bouncy. We were favourites to win it before we went into the game. There was a big crowd - the Airey Cup final always got massive crowds in those days.
"They got more than they should have. Martin Anson got runs and we let them off the hook a bit. Instead of 150 we ended up chasing over 180. Sandford only had one dangerous bowler - Steve Cox - and Graham (Plested) faced all of him. I hardly faced a ball off him. It was like setting up a bowling machine at the other end and I was practising all my best shots and they were bowling exactly where I wanted it.
"Dick was just different class and when he came in Cox had pretty much finished his spell. He took the bowling apart and we were well ahead of the clock for what seemed like a challenging target in those days."
Asked if it was his finest hour for Horspath, Max adds: "I played a lot better innings than that when I got 100. The innings I remember most, though, was getting 90-odd against Aston Rowant in the Village Cup Final. That was my best innings, I think, when we sneaked in by one wicket. It was certainly the most satisfying."
Watch this space in the coming days and weeks as we delve further into the Horspath archives. If you've got a game you would like featuring or a feat of brilliant batting or bowling drop me a text or call me, Russell Smith, on 07866 953987. It doesn't have to be a 1st team game, it could be from the 2nd, 3rd or 4th XIs or a youth team fixture.
Posted by: Russ