ANDY Harris says he would sacrifice Great & Little Tew’s Lord’s final if it meant they avoid relegation.

Tew captain Harris was delighted to lead his side to the Davidstow Village Cup final with a nine-wicket victory at Dinton.

But with Tew lying one place off the bottom, he stressed their priority was staying up in Serious Cricket Home Counties League Division 2.

“Reaching the final won’t affect us at all,” said Harris.

“For the next five weeks, we have some big league games.

“We are perilously close to the bottom of the table, but with the talent we have got, we know that if we perform to our potential we will get the points we need to stay up.

“I would give up this Lord’s final to stay up. The final is the icing on the cake.”

Tew will play Yorkshire’s Woodshouse Grange at Lord’s on Sunday, September 7, with the Oxon side handed the home dressing room.

And because the teams will report to Lord’s the previous afternoon, Tew must now rearrange their final league game against Dinton, which was scheduled for September 6.

Reflecting on their semi-final success, Harris said: “We set out with a plan to bowl and field very tightly and that really came off.

“I gave Lloyd Brock the new ball and he did brilliantly, and the other bowlers were great too.

“In this competition, we have usually got to 20 overs without losing more than one wicket.

“It was great to be able to do that again.”

Harris added that Tew chairman Dave Freeman may have forseen their victory.

“I think the chairman had a dream a couple of weeks ago that we were going to bowl them out for 60.

“He didn’t know if we won that one because he woke up!”

The victory over Dinton was the first time Tew had been able to select Oxfordshire junior star batsman Jordan Garrett in the national rounds.

Harris said: “Jordan has been a bit hit and miss with his availability, but it is great to have him in and around the squad.”

Having rotated his squad during the competition, Harris knows he faces some difficult selection decisions for Lord’s.

As he remarked: “Everyone is now available!”

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