WOODHOUSE Grange Cricket Club will be striving to set a new record when they meet Acomb in the 50th final of one of the area's premier evening cricket competitions tomorrow.

The Sawkill Cup has been run every year by Stamford Bridge CC since it was first held in 1952 to honour the sterling efforts of former club captain Dr Philip Sawkill.

And after lifting the trophy last year, Grange joined Heworth - who they beat in last month's semi-finals - at the top of the winners' chart with ten successes apiece.

So victory in tomorrow's landmark final would see them go clear with 11 triumphs.

However, a win for Acomb, who saw off Dringhouses in the semis, would see them lift the trophy for the fourth time, their last success coming back in 1987.

Whoever comes out on top will be presented with the cup by Stamford Bridge club president John Sawkill, Dr Sawkill's son, who will fittingly carry out this year's presentation.

Stamford Bridge CC honorary secretary Norman Pearson, himself a former club captain at the helm for 23 years, said: "Dr Philip Sawkill was the local village doctor and captained our club for 25 seasons from 1927 to 1951.

"When he packed up the club decided to run a competition to recognise his efforts. He was a very well-known cricketer."

Matches in the knockout invitation tournament - in which the hosts themselves do not play - see both sides face 16 eight-ball overs, the format having remained the same since the inaugural competition, which was won by Ovington.

The number of competing teams, however, has fallen. Pearson said: "This year there are eight teams, whereas when it started there were 32 teams.

"It seems that over the last five or six years evening cricket is dwindling, but this is still regarded as one of the premier evening competitions in the area."

Tomorrow's 50th final, meanwhile, will be missing a familiar face.

Pearson said: "At every final so far, Mary Barton, who was competition secretary for 30 years between 1963 and 1992, has been watching. She's now 87-years-old and is missing her first final as she'll be away on holiday."

The final, at Stamford Bridge's Low Catton Road ground, starts at 6pm. The umpires are Jeff Pratt and Don Layfield, while the man of the match adjudicator will be York and District Senior Cricket League secretary and Evening Press correspondent Albert Pattison.

The match will be followed by the presentation of the awards and the annual draw, the first prize of which is £50 and a magnum of champagne.

The competition is sponsored by Hague and Dixon Solicitors.

Updated: 12:49 Thursday, July 05, 2001