STEEPLE Aston chairman Peter Higgins said that his side’s match against the Lord’s Taverners went better than anyone could imagine.

The chairman expects to have raised somewhere between £18,000-19,000 at a match which saw sporting stars, television presenters and actors take on the village side.

Chris Tarrant, Mike Gatting, Graeme Hick, Barry Norman, Nicholas Parsons and Charlie Dale were among the high-profile names who took part and helped their side to a three-run victory.

“It was a simply fantastic game,” Higgins said.

“To have so many big names here, and playing against us was just excellent.

“Chris Tarrant played, was on the PA system as well as walking around the boundary collecting money and chatting to people.

“Almost 1,000 were here and for a true village side to play a match of this magnitude was great.”

The Lord’s Taverners – a charity that raises money to try and get disadvantaged people to play sport – scored 190 batting first, Gatting hitting 31.

Steeple Aston needed a six off the final ball to win, but could only manage two.

“It was a great game,” Higgins added. “They were all great sports and we had some terrific laughs.

“It kept being suggested by his teammates that Mike Gatting needed more food brought out to him while batting to keep his energy levels up, while others did very well to keep playing after a somewhat liquid lunch.

“But to raise so much money is great, and certainly it was a match to remember – especially as I caught Gatting out!”