When the little men had their day

Playing at Lord's is the dream of most club cricketers, and the National Village Knockout has allowed a few hundred lucky souls to live that dream over the last three and a bit decades . Starting before the leaves are on the trees in April, the competition culminates in the final at Lord's in late August.

From Troon in the 1970s, the names on the trophy are evidence of the diversity of the cup. One of the more remarkable stories is that of Freuchie, the winners in 1985, who brought their entire village down from Fifeshire (save the policeman left to guard the deserted base) to take on Rowledge from Surrey. The match certainly did not lack drama, Freuchie edging it by virtue of losing fewer wickets with the scores tied, and the celebrations, both pre and post match, are a delight. And how many umpires would dare to declare a winning leg-bye invalid - even as hundreds of Scots invaded the pitch - because the batsman hadn't played a genuine stroke!

But Neil Drysdale's entertaining account of the club's journey does more than just tell a story. It also highlights that the competition Freuchie won is far detached from the one that still goes on to this day. Whereas the blacksmith and the vicar might not have been the cornerstone of sides when the cup began, it was very much centred on locals. Nowadays, overseas players are common, disputes are regular, and the spirit of the event seems to have long departed, with the prize of a day at Lord's seeming to allow for the rules to be bent as far as they will go. Last year saw one side kicked out for playing Matt Sinclair, the New Zealand batsman, and the winners, Sully Centurions, contained four players who had already played representative cricket at Lord's as well. "If there is still such a thing as village cricket," The Times observed, "Sully do not play it."

The Freuchies of this world, genuine village sides who play by the spirit of the founders, certainly do but as a result are unlikely to win the competition these days. They were a grass roots side, and any club cricketer will smile at the recollection of their No.10 being told not to get out because the No.11 was hiding in the loo after smoking "about 30 fags in half an hour". To them, the fact it was in a game at Lord's meant only that the loos were posher than in their own pavilion.

I watched the final as a casual supporter, and recall it as a great day out. But how I wish I could watch the game again now that Drysdale has enable me to get to know the Freuchie side, and to realise that they really were no different to any of us who have played club cricket.