Tetsworth captain Noel Humphreys praised his team for keeping their cool after seeing off Oxford Caribbean by five runs to win the Airey Cup.

In one of the most thrilling finals in the competition's long and illustrious history, the match was tinged with controversy after Caribbean captain Eddie Howard was run out as his team looked set for victory.

Tetsworth had posted a formidable total of 278-7, thanks to Hyron Shallow's one-man destruction.

The Windward Islands' star smashed an incredible 196 not out, resulting in several lost balls and spectators diving for cover!

But Tetsworth held their nerve in a tense finale - which saw a moment of madness following the run out of Howard.

With Caribbean just 40 runs short of victory and Howard smashing the ball to all parts of the ground, he was controversially adjudged to have been run out following a mix-up with his batting partner's runner.

Richie Matthews, who had earlier been injured, was using Franklyn Graham as his runner.

Trying to take a quick single, Howard scampered through and made his ground as the bails were whipped off at the other end.

But Graham had not left his ground, and the umpires adjudged Howard to be the man out, leading to mass protests from Caribbean spectators and officials.

After the meleé had died down, Tetsworth fielded and bowled superbly to restrict Caribbean to 273-7.

Humphreys said: "We bowled and fielded tidily throughout, especially in the final few overs.

"They started slowly, but Eddie found his feet and was smashing the ball all over the ground.

"When he was run out, we knew we were in with a real chance, but it took a lot of nerve to bowl at the end."

Howard, who had sportingly opted to field first after winning the toss, allowing several Tetsworth players to arrive late after being stuck in traffic, was left rueing what might have been.

But he refused to blame his controversial dismissal alone as the reason for their defeat.

"We dropped Hyron Shallow four times - we did not field well," he said.

"But we didn't feel the runs were beyond us because it was a fantastic wicket.

"The game did turn on the run-out decision, but I feel sorry for the umpires because when a player is batting with a runner, it can get very messy.

"If we had a bit more luck, we would have won the game. Shallow was a class above though and it would have been tough on him to finish on the losing side."

The atmosphere at Hendred was one of the best I can recall in an Airey Cup final.

It was a real carnival of cricket and some of the stroke play from Shallow and Howard was sensational.

With the weather being perfect and a large crowd watching, it really did have the feel of watching a game in the Caribbean.

Hendred should be complemented for putting on a superb day - and groundsman Ivan Mulford prepared a simply stunning wicket.

Howard added: "The atmosphere was electric. I think the crowd were kept well entertained."