Two members of England's legendary 2005 Ashes squad took part in a cricket match near Thornbury on Sunday.

The special guests were part of what is a new annual fixture between Oldbury CC and Old Down Estate.

Old Down were able to call upon a couple of ringers in the form of fast bowlers Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones, who were both part of the infamous 2005 Ashes team that beat Australia for the first time since 1986-7.

Captain Peter Banks won the toss and elected to bat, confident in his side to post a big total after agreeing to play the full 30 overs with unlimited wickets if needed.

However, Old Down experienced a slow start being one wicket down, for no runs off three overs.

The away team soon fell back onto the experienced special guests, who slowly built a partnership and steadily increased the total.

Hoggard then experienced Oldbury’s finest in Josh Little, who broke the partnership and began a middle order collapse.

Burgess then gave Old Down a last bit of hope and pushed for a quick 35 runs until the 30 overs was up. They finished on 138 runs and knew a good bowling performance was needed.

Big guns Coops and Sam Phelps stepped to the crease to lead Oldbury out in the Fox Hills Cup first ever run chase. Peter and Hoggard opened the bowling and straight away it was clear Oldbury had there usual game plan of go big of go home.

Unfortunately for Old Down it was a go big kind of day. Oldbury were cruising at 10 an over, before the openers heroically stepped off to allow others to enjoy the fun.

The first wicket came in the 14th over, but the damage had been done and Oldbury were now only six runs short of their opposition's total. By the next over, Oldbury had reached the total, but the two teams collectively decided to play on and enjoy the last game of the season.

Although as the game progressed and came to an end, it seemed to be more of an open net session for Oldbury rather than a competitive game.

Despite this, it was an excellent game played with good spirit and enjoyed by both players and spectators. Oldbury were clearly the better team on the day, but we all look forward to seeing the West Indies team at Oldbury next year.

Many thanks to Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones for playing on such short notice. Also, thanks Oldbury for hosting the game, and to the staff of Old Down for organising and preparing some great match teas, enjoyed by everyone.