On Friday, the day before the ECB National Knockout final, Ormskirk’s players were settling into the visitors’ dressing room at Lord’s when there was a knock on the door.

“We were getting comfortable, putting our bags in, and a tour came in with 20 people,” captain Gary Knight recalled.

“The guide said, oh sorry, excuse me, do you mind if we do the tour? 

“I was like, you don’t have to apologise to us, we’re the guests here.”

The next day, Ormskirk proved they were no impostors at the Home of Cricket. 

Knight’s team became the first Love Lane Liverpool Competition side ever to win the ECB National Club Championship, seeing off Penzance by 25 runs.

Three of the key men were recruited by Knight at the start of 2023 to help Ormskirk make the step up from good to great. Three league titles, a Ray Digman Trophy, a Lancashire Cup and a National later, safe to say it worked.

Calum Turner made a brilliant 111 on a track where nobody else made 50; Sam Holden took 5/41 to wrap up the win; and Toby Bulcock claimed an unflattering 2/25 to squeeze the Cornishmen in the middle overs.

Knight – after a jubilant homecoming at Brook Lane – said: “It’s all been building up to something like this.

“I tried to get those three lads to the club because we had a solid foundation, we just needed a couple of lads who were at their peak years. 

“We wanted men who can count on themselves in really tough moments and all three of them have bought massively into this club and thrown their hearts and souls into it.”

All-rounder Holden’s contribution began with his first ball, which Penzance dangerman Christian Purchase slapped straight down George Lavelle’s throat at deep point, and ended with his last, which beat Pakistani seamer Mehran Sanwal all ends up.

It is likely to be his last action for the club, as he is expected to return to Prestwich over the winter.

“It’s been a really good three year loan deal,” said Knight. “If he does make that decision, that would be a hell of a way to sign off and everybody is extremely grateful.”

Purchase, who smashed a century in the semi-final against Wanstead & Snaresbrook, had made a run-a-ball 47 as Penzance set off in pursuit of 218 with an opening stand of 76.

It was a nervous time for Ormskirk, but Knight has always relished adversity.

“I always think it gives us a bit of clarity,” he said.

“We went back to basics – can I bowl a couple of dots, can I try and take a wicket.

“Part of the reason why we’ve been successful in the league and cup is because we’ve had real clarity in those moments.

“We knew it was going to be two different games with Purchase in – he was their game changer and if we could get him before 70 or 80, we knew we could put them under pressure.

“Every time we get a little bit of a sniff of taking a cluster of wickets, we put a really good squeeze on.”
From 76/0, Holden and Jamie Barnes reduced Penzance to 124/7, before Bulcock quelled any thoughts of a tail-end recovery and Holden returned to finish the job.

Knight believes Penzance, who won the toss, had allowed themselves to get carried away with the early cloud cover and a few signs of movement on the practice wickets.

Turner and George Politis quickly gave them a reality check with a stand of 74, but their seamers, in particular Sanwal and Tom Dinnis, fought back gamely.

Only Turner was timing the ball and his dismissal – fifth out on 188 – sparked a collapse of five wickets for 29 runs.

Knight was still confident due to intelligence from a well-placed source – Tom Hartley, who was unavailable for the final due to England commitments.

He said: “I spoke to Tom a few weeks back now and he said there had been mentions on the pro circuit of the Lord’s ground being a little bit slow, a little bit underprepared at times.

“Calum got to about 70 off 60 balls and all of a sudden started to struggle to rotate.

“I just thought, if he’s struggling now after how well he’s batted, it’s going to suit us massively. I thought 220 was par.”

Where Ormskirk go from here is a question to be answered over the next few months. 

There is a sense that they have completed club cricket now, winning almost everything – in addition to the post-2023 trophy glut, 2022’s Echo Cup triumph means the National T20, won last year by Northern, is the only prize to evade Knight in his five-year stint.

The captain said: “Every year we try and rebuild a little bit – it might be one of those times of people doing a few different things.

“It’ll be a November, December, January job to try to get the team back together and see what we can do.

“The foundations are still there, we’ve got a hell of a lot of runs in the side, our bowling attack is one to be feared, so we’ll go again.”

Despite the failure of Saturday’s commentators to mention the league Ormskirk play in, the win is a huge and deserved boost to the profile of the Comp.

Two national tournament wins in two seasons tells its own story, but the overall quality is what keeps pushing Ormskirk and Northern on to new heights.

“I’ve had so many nice messages from lads around the Comp who we go toe-to-toe with every week,” said Knight.

“The level of respect and friendship is massive.

“You can just go up against someone for 5-6 hours, both sides desperate to win, and then you can enjoy a beer and some stories after the game and I think that needs to be protected.

“It’s really tough cricket and there are some really good sides around that are producing top-level cricketers.

“It’ll be some other club’s day soon, I’ve no doubt about it.”