It was possibly the first knee-slide ever attempted on the main square at Lord’s, and it will probably be the last.

But Jamie Barnes can be forgiven for getting lost in the moment.

He had just taken the key wicket of Penzance captain Brad Wadlan, the last specialist batter standing in Ormskirk’s way, with their opponents still 94 runs short of their target.

“I’ve never done a knee-slide before when I’ve got a wicket and I’m fairly sure I won’t again,” said Barnes.

“You don’t see Jimmy Anderson doing too many knee slides. 

“But Wadlan is such a good player and he was batting nicely – we knew that as long as he was out there, it was going to be a tough game to win. 

“That’s probably what led to all the emotion – we thought, Christ, this could be happening.”

Barnes first played for Ormskirk as a nine-year-old, and is one of six out of Saturday’s XI to have turned out for every senior side at the club – George Politis, George Lavelle, Harvey Rankin, Ian Robinson and Nicky Caunce being the others.

Three others were recruited as more-or-less finished articles in 2023 – Calum Turner, Sam Holden and Toby Bulcock.

Captain Gary Knight came through the juniors at Longridge before moving to Ormskirk, while seamer Sam Marsh arrived in 2020 from Croston. 

All have played significant roles during the cup run and the season as a whole – as did Australian all-rounder Tom Brown before he had to cut short his English summer.

But for the players who have spent pretty much their whole careers at Brook Lane, the celebrations were all the more special.

Barnes said: “One of the nicest things about the weekend was that it was the club’s day rather than the 11 people who happened to be on the pitch.

“I remember my mum dropping me off for my first U11s game, which must have been about 24 years ago. 

“In the crowd at Lord’s was Graham Ford, who drove me to my first senior game in the 4th XI in 2004, and Scott Meredith, who was my first 2nd XI captain.

“I think it’s that sort of sense of shared history with so many of the spectators that made it so special.”

The conditions on Saturday were ideal for Barnes and his full length, wicket-to-wicket bowling – slightly cloudy, and a pitch that was doing just a bit.

During Ormskirk’s innings, batters returning to the pavilion spoke of how tricky they had found it to play medium pacer Jonathan Ludlam; Barnes sensed it could be one of his days.

“I was thinking, this might be tailor made for me,” he said. 

“If I can hit my length and hold my length for a decent amount of time, it might give the team a really good chance. 

“We bowled in the nets the day before and it seamed around a little bit, it was probably not quite as hard and true and as flat as you might imagine Lord’s to be. 

“So we were kind of hoping the wicket would be something similar.”

Sam Holden topped the figures with 5/41 while Barnes finished with 3/33, largely bowling in tandem with left-arm spinner Bulcock. 

He added: “He’s a dream to bowl with because he gives nothing away. He reads the game well, so he knows if you’re in good rhythm at the other end, he’ll sort of speed up and try and get through his overs and then likewise, if he thinks the game needs slowing down, he will do so. 

“He’s just such an easy man to bowl with, he makes my job a lot easier.”

Barnes – along with Caunce, Lavelle, Knight and Robinson – was part of the side that lost the 2017 final to Wanstead & Snaresbrook at Chelmsford.

Now he says he is expecting the magnitude of Ormskirk’s achievement to sink in some time in December.

“To win a trophy at Lord’s is something most international cricketers will never do,” he said.

“I remember during Covid, I was thinking I’ve been obsessed with winning this trophy for five years now, but it’s probably not going to happen. 

“We lost a few players as a club. Gary came in as skipper – we knew it was going to be a bit of a start again moment.

“This is a moment, to be honest, I probably never thought would come.”