As regular as clockwork at 6pm the cows come up from the fields to the water trough in the bottom corner near the pavilion.

The players and supporters are aware the gate needs closing and batsmen must be prepared to accept the distraction behind the bowlers arm. Car owners also realise that if the critters get near to the cars they have a liking for wingmirrors and windscreen wipers.

This is where every club has a "Clint Eastwood" style member on standby. At Thrumpton they have "Rocket Ron Priestley" a dairy farmer in the village who had played for the club for over 45 years.

Behind the pavilion he would park his old tractor. The mean machine was not in the best of condition and even Channel 4's Scrapyard Challenge would not be interested in it. When the cows got in striking distance he would pounce.

On a nice quiet sunny afternoon he could be seen shouting, bawling and blowing the tractor horn at the bovines to send them back to where they had come from. Unfortunatately the cows double-backed and returned to the same place as he had tried to move them from.

The mission was an udder failure which left him quite moo-dy