Who knows where the third Test Match between England and New Zealand will be going by the time you read these words? For some, it will matter a lot - for others: willow, leather, bails, what the blazes! The point is, what is life like on the boundary?

For those who do care, cricket is the most tantalising, emotional and heroic of games. For Richard Bean, whose newest play this is, it is all that and, hardly surprisingly, more. He has laid this game of cardinal rules and trust and hope and teamwork as the backdrop to the lives of the members of a so-so XI playing against Farringdon on a blazing day. Twelve men occupy the stage most of the time, bustling, gossiping, reacting to match events, and of course trying to deliver a message for 2008 along the way.

The English Game is a play about middle-aged (on occasions middle-class) angst. There are two easy stereotypes: a cheap right-winger, played by Fred Ridgeway, and the stalwart organiser - Robert East (who, incidentally, has played high-level cricket for real). Then there is the rest of the team, inevitably full of differing characters who have set-piece performances to give.

There are two very fine ones. Sean Murray as Thiz scores easily as a Rod-Stewart look-alike - and extremely worried about what is going on in his cricketer's box. He's the vaguely starry, over-sexed, naughty storyteller that a cricket team probably needs. John Lightbody as Clive - playing an actor - is the most obvious talent in this Headlong Theatre touring company: it's a part to die for, and he pouts and postures really splendidly. He wields a bat well too (see above).

For the rest, it is all great fun: it may be too obvious plot-wise to have a black fast bowler and an Asian wicket-keeper shoehorned in to the team, but as actors, there is not a weak player in the ensemble. Runs are scored, personal stories are told, tea is taken, crises are faced. The Playhouse was by no means full on opening night, but the concept of a cricketing theme should not have put anyone off.

This is a clever effort, with a very hard-working ensemble cast, the actors mostly playing their age in bucolic - and angst-ridden - fashion. The message for 2008 was spare and unsurprising: everyone has problems of one sort or another - they need to be declared - and a cricket match is a clever environ during which to air them. Richard Bean is clever at dropping in jokes (the play, it should be remembered, is sold as a comedy) but a touch plodding when he inserts the personal bits.

To use cricketing terminology: The English Game is not a full-blooded six, but a very well-intentioned and efficiently run three.

The English Game continues at the Oxford Playhouse until Saturday. Box offifice: 01865 305305 (www.oxfordplayhouse.com).