Village cricketers make history at Lord's with win

An amateur village cricket side made history at Lord's as they won the Village Cup on Sunday. Players and coaching staff from Cuckney, near Warsop, returned to a hero's welcome in north Nottinghamshire on Monday after victory over Surrey-based Blackheath by five wickets, with 19 balls to spare. The win was the second at Lord's for Cuckney's cricketers after they won the National Cup in 2023 - making them the first team to ever secure both titles. Captain Richard Bostock said it was a "special day". He added: "Everything about Lord's just brings it out in you - the excitement, the history, the privilege to play it where international cricketers are playing, it's amazing. "These days are special, they don't come around [for] every cricketer, so to put in all the work, to do all the organising and get all the players together for 22 league games is hard enough, never mind a 10-game cup run and then have to organise Lord's - but more than worth it. "For a tiny village to do what we've done is huge. I'd say there's not a lot of people here, but we all come together, one big team." Batting first, Blackheath captain Peter Melhuish, who flew in by helicopter for the occasion, notched 48 for his side, but it was not enough to combat Jake Tong's impressive four-wicket haul as they were restricted to 186 all out. An assured performance by Cuckney followed, helped by 62 from opener William Ullyott, and the Nottinghamshire team finished the job with one ball remaining in the 37th over. Fellow opening batsman Leighton Ambrick said: "It was unreal to be fair. I was so nervous until I finally got off the mark and then I was fine after that. "It was my dad that introduced me and I think they were getting a bit emotional when I was batting." Coach Will Butler said: "Three or four of them were actually there in 2023 so they would have lived the moment when we won it and probably got inspired through that. "So to have gone back with that team and to have done it with that group of boys was just fantastic. It's what dreams are made of really for a club like ours."