Foxton Granta set for Lord’s showpiece against Dumbleton in final of Voneus National Village Cup

Captain Lewys Hill and his Foxton Granta team-mates will realise a long held ‘dream’ when they run out at Lord’s on Sunday (15 September).

Around 350 clubs from across England, Scotland and Wales entered the Voneus National Village Cup during the spring – and now just two remain.

One of those is Foxton Granta, who will take on Gloucestershire’s Dumbleton at the home of English cricket for the right to lift the coveted trophy.

Skipper Hill said: “On a personal level, every young cricketer starts out dreaming of playing at a professional ground and Lord’s is the pinnacle.

“For me, I’ll not only be playing at Lord’s with my team, but these are my mates as well and that’s a special thing.

“It’s a dream come true for all of us. Everyone connected with the club is really looking forward to it.”

One of the biggest challenges for the Foxton Granta players will be guarding against becoming overawed by their surroundings.

Opening batsman Adam Webster captained Foxton (pre amalgamation) in their previous final appearance in 2015, but for many this will be their first experience of playing at Lord’s.

Hill added: “It’s one of those occasions where it obviously feels very big and you can quite easily lose sight of the fact that there’s a game of cricket to be played.

“But while there hasn’t been the ground element, we’ve all played in really big games before so we know how to cope with that side of things.

“You’ve got to allow yourself the chance to soak it all up and enjoy the moment, but then your cricket ability has to take over.

“We have our plans – like we do for every game – and if they don’t go right, we have plans B and C as well. Ultimately we will have to execute those to stand a chance of winning, regardless of where we are playing.”

Yet while it will be very much uncharted territory for Foxton Granta, opponents Dumbleton won the competition just two years ago.

Their current crop of players contains a number of those that were crowned champions in 2022, but Hill does not believe it gives them any big advantage.

“You could focus on their experience but then that would be losing sight of our own achievement in getting to the final,” he said.

“It’s all about what happens on the day. Regardless of the past, we know that if we play our best cricket we’ve got a good chance of winning.”