Mistley are two games away from a prestigious appearance at Lord’s, after coming through their latest National Village Cup Knockout tie.

John Manning’s team travelled to Rowledge, in Surrey, and defeated the hosts by four wickets after restricting them to 206 for eight, Bruce Leake taking three for 28 and Manning two for 32.

In reply, the Essex side got off to a sticky start, losing Daniel Goff first ball, but recovered and saw Michael Griggs and Simon Barlow put on 96 for the second wicket.

Kyran Young hit 39 to supplement the score and after a wobbly spell in the middle order, Matthew Bibby got the team over the line with a quick-fire 24, on a wicket that had yielded a massive 730 runs the week before.

Mistley will now host Dinton, from Buckinghamshire, in the quarter-finals on July 28, having reached the last 16 two years ago and skipper Manning said the potential opportunity to play at Lord’s in the final was a mouth-watering prospect.

“It’s probably the holy grail for us mere mortals and this is probably our best chance to win the competition,” he said.

“In our first year we did not know what the competition was all about, but now we are all too aware of it.

“The National Village Cup is the big one and, in truth, this year is probably our best chance of getting there.

“Richard Pineo is moving away from Suffolk at the end of the summer and a few of the other players are knocking on a bit.”

He added: “It’s a nice competition to be a part of, we get to travel on the mini-bus to away games and get involved in all the fun that comes with that.

“Rightly or wrongly, it is the competition that everyone wants to be a part of.

“To play at Lord’s is probably the pinnacle for every club cricketer.”