LIAM Parkinson summed up Stayley CC’s historic day in just two words – “that’s cricket.”
Firstly, the facts. Foxton Granta retained the Voneus Village Cup, winning by 145 runs as they scored 265 and bowled their opponents out for 120.
But Sunday, September 21 was about much, much more than that.
Hundreds of supporters travelled from Tameside to Lord’s for a day the majority thought would never happen – after 153 years, the club had made it.
Just looking at the faces of people looking around the Home of Cricket before a ball had even been bowled said it all.
And not just because the weather was perfect for cricket, whereas the conditions when they set off were more suited to a swimming gala!
They also made their mark in terms of atmosphere, with the first chorus of ‘Billy, Billy Bird,’ – honouring the man after whom the clubhouse is named – heard at about 11.40am.
“It’s fair to say it’s more raucous than last year’s final,” said one observer. “And that’s not a bad thing.”
Some had Stayley CC flags for the big day. However, they found themselves in the hands of stewards as rules at Lord’s are rather different to Oxford Street in Millbrook.
When Leighton Parker – who took two wickets – claimed Ashley Clark for a second ball duck, reducing Foxton Granta to 54 for 2, hopes of a win rose.
Casey Roche and Scot Devlin can also say they dismissed batsmen at Lord’s,
All you could hear was Stayley fans making noise. “You’re only here to see the Stayley,” was a popular chant.
“I hope the saying, ‘You’ve got to lose one to win one,’ proves right,” opening batsman Liam Parkinson – who made nine – told The Correspondent.
“If we come back here again, that would be amazing, because this is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“As hard as it is to lose and it is bittersweet, we’re here. We’ve just got to try and enjoy it, getting to Lord’s is huge.
“It’s hard to look past the disappointment, especially on a personal level. I knew I had to get something here, and I didn’t, which is a hard pill to swallow.
“But what we’ve done will sort of sink in down the line.
“This may never happen again.”
Those supporters, some of whom set off before 6am to see family members of friends take to the hallowed turf, even got on themselves as the public was allowed on to the field following Foxton Granta’ innings.
Only at Lord’s, it is not called ‘letting people on,’ – the correct term is ‘perambulation.’
“If you’d have been a neutral, you’d have said, ‘This section was the Foxton fans,’” Liam added.
“We were all sat up in the pavilion and we were all beaming.
“We were just looking across the ground going, ‘Just listen to them all. We’re dead and buried, and they’re the loudest.’”
The scale of what Stayley were facing, though, became apparent as record books were scoured.
Foxton Granta’s 265 from their 40 overs was the third highest team total in the competition’s history – Richard Kaufman’s 122 the third highest individual score in a final was as far as the delve got.
“They’re very good,” conceded Liam. “We had to be at our very, very best, and we just weren’t quite.
“And that’s the difference with these big sides. They’ve got so many good players who can hurt us, and we had to step up as a team.
“We just didn’t quite do it.”
The Cambridge side’s bowling attack did just as good a job, even though many Stayley plays can turn around and say: “I hit a boundary at Lord’s.”
Lewys Hill took three wickets, with Clark, Ravi Mahendra and Henry Campbell two each as Mehmood Ul-Hassan top scored with 23.
Jake Barlow scored five, Raja Sohail 17, Rhys Downend six, Muhammad Saqib 15, Nick Woodhead two, Roche six and Parker seven, while Dylan Barlow was out for a duck.
Ul-Hassan and Devlin – who ended on 14 not out – showed what they can do with the bat with several fine shots as they put on a final wicket partnership of 39.
“I’m just glad the lads put a bit of a knock on at the end,” Liam said.
“We didn’t want to be embarrassed and it was looking like it was going to be.
“However, we held our own at the end, and had a couple of key moments today, it could have been so different.
“But that’s cricket, that’s cricket.”