By Charles Randall

26 April 2012

The opening round of the National Village Cup -- with Yorkshire Tea as the new sponsors -- has endured a wet start, but the dream endures for the stronger clubs with a chance of reaching Lord's in the competition's 40th season organised by The Cricketer magazine.

This longevity is an amazing achievement by the magazine. About 300 clubs from England, Scotland and Wales have entered the Yorkshire Tea Village Cup, competing in 32 regional groups. The group winners enter a national knockout draw through to the final on September 9.

The numbers fall well short of the cup's heyday, reflecting league trends and problems with eligibility, but the competition is an old friend for club cricket. The magazine pointed out that the cup must be "the only sporting event in the world that provides such a genuine Roy of the Rovers experience for its 3,500 likely participants".

Mike Cassidy, the captain of Woodhouses CC, the 2011 champions from Mike Atherton's old club in Lancashire, endorsed that point. "It’s a fantastic competition with a dream prize, to take your own club to play at Lord’s," he said. "We were based in the England dressing room and were looked after like kings. Lifting the trophy was incredible, but I’ve also got to mention the food - it was the best cricket tea I’ve ever had. I’m normally a sandwich and cup of tea man, but with sea bass, roast beef and then home-made Bakewell tart on offer, I couldn’t turn it down..."

Yorkshire Tea, Harrogate-based family tea merchants, seem ideal supporters, joining an impressive list of former sponsors that include npower, Alliance & Leicester and most recently Persimmon. Yorkshire Tea brand manager Kevin Sinfield commented: "Every cricketer knows you can’t have a proper cricket match without a proper cricket tea, so Yorkshire Tea is very proud to be sponsoring the 2012 National Village Cup. We can’t wait to see how the tournament unfolds and we’ll be making sure all the teams taking part have the opportunity to enjoy a proper brew."

 Sinfield added: "We’ve had a connection with the game since the day cricketers first appeared on our packs over 30 years ago. These are really exciting times for cricket and now is the perfect time to deepen our involvement with clubs across the country."

The Cricketer editor Andrew Miller, an active player himself, summed up the new partnership within its widest cricketing context. "Most club cricketers tend to judge their opponents by the quality of the tea they lay on. And seeing as a strong Yorkshire is a strong England, I can't think of any alliance that will better serve such an invaluable part of the English summer."

This year, to commemorate the 40th anniversary, the MCC will be hosting a gala dinner in the Long Room for finalists, sponsors, officials and guests.

The Cricketer magazine, thecricketer.com website and Test Match Sofa are owned by TestMatchExtra.Com Ltd.