THE prospect of walking out at a Lord’s final is becoming more of a reality for John Manning.

Mistley are two games away from playing in the final of the National Village Cup at the home of cricket.

They face Dinton, from Buckinghamshire, in the quarter-final at New Road on Sunday, starting at 1pm.

It is the first time the club has got this far in the competition, after falling in the round before last year, and skipper John Manning is beginning to see the prospect of making the final as more of a reality.

But captain Manning is also trying to focus on the job at hand as the prospect of a Lord’s final becomes more tangible.

Manning said: “It’s a bit of both really, trying to keep our minds on the game but also Lord’s is become more of a solid thing.

“There is an element of what could be creeping in now.

“Everyone at the club is very excited about the prospect of a Lord’s final.”

But Manning is not getting too carried away.

He added: “From our point of view it is pretty much business as usual – we need two good performances.

“In previous years, when we have been knocked out, we have not done ourselves justice and let ourselves down.

“But this is a different side and I have no doubt that with the talent that we have that we can do well on Sunday.

“We will be missing Matt Bibby and there is a question mark over opening batsman Kemsley Robb.

“Robb has been out for several weeks through injury but may be fit for the quarter-final.

But we have a good squad to choose from and I am happy with the depth of talent in the side that we have all the bases covered in all departments.”

However, it will be a leap in the dark for Manning and his team as Dinton are very much an unknown quantity.

He said: “We know nothing about Dinton.

“They have been particularly difficult to research because their scorecards from previous rounds haven’t gone up online.

“But, that’s not neccessarily a bad thing, having no knowledge of them can work in our favour.

“In a previous round a few of the players were worried about a West Indian fast bowler but it turned out he wasn’t much kop and they had been worrying unnecessarily.

“But each round has been a leap into the dark and we will play what is put in front of us.

“I am confident that with the squad we have that, if we perform well on Sunday, we will win.”