A TAMESIDE cricket club is ready to take that last step so it can go home – to the home of the sport.
But the message at Stayley is very much ‘Worry about it when we get there.’
The Millbrook-based side has made it to the semi-finals of the Voneus Village Cup and is set to face Gloucestershire side Dumbleton on Sunday, August 3 for a place in the Lord’s final.
Excitement is building ahead of the Oxford Street match, which should – weather permitting – attract a large crowd.
But chair Lance Bromley insists no-one at the club, which reached the same stage two years ago, is getting ahead of themselves.
He said: “There’s no point in looking that far ahead at the minute. We’ve got to look at this Sunday, hopefully get the job done. If not, the following Sunday.
“For any cricketer, to be given the opportunity to play at Lord’s is huge.
“It’s a spectacle to go down and watch at Lord’s, let alone be part of it and go in the Long Room
“But we’ve got to go game by game.
“Dumbleton, from what we’ve heard and seen, are a formidable force. We just need to play that game and then should we get there, that’s the time you start getting excited, booking coaches and hotels.
“Any big semi-final like this is a special time in and around the club. Fans, players, it’s not something you play in every week.
“The forecast isn’t great but there’s a reserve weekend next weekend and the main thing for us is we want to get the full game in.
“The lads have been preparing. They were down training on Tuesday night – again, dodging the weather we’ve had.
“But looking at the way the team are performing in the league as well, our form is probably better than it was the last time we got to the semi-final.”
Stayley reached the last four by defeating Halifax-based Thornton, with Liam Parkinson hitting 113 not out.
“It was a special moment for Liam, getting 100 in the Village Cup,” Lance added. “100 is good at any game, but especially in a quarter final of the Village Cup.”
Stayley’s national exploits have seen other benefits. One being the amount of kid taking part in junior sessions.
That base can lead to the first team, as a number of players have proved.
Lance said: “Children have seen the Village Cup run and the hype around the club, seeing the players, seeing it on the social media.
“I think parents as well are looking at this. ‘This is the opportunity where my child can go from junior into that senior set-up with the number of ex-juniors that are currently playing in the first team.’
“Young Leighton Parker, he’s just turned 19-years-old. Three or four years ago, he was playing junior cricket.
“There’s Jake Barlow, Rhys Downend, our captain Nick Woodhead. They’ve come through the junior set-up.”
Stayley may be looking forward to the semi-final but the club cannot help but look back after dedicated volunteer Lorraine Downend, auntie of Rhys, passed away on July 14.
And Lance admitted the woman described as ‘the glue that kept this club running for many years’ will not be far from their thoughts.
He told The Correspondent: “It was very sad news.
“Lorraine was massively associated with the club, even right to the end when she was still doing the darts for the local darts teams, organising the pool team
“It’s a very emotional time and the club carries on the performances and does them in honour of Lorraine. “