Cyril Davey believes he must be the oldest player in the Kent Cricket League - after turning out aged 84.

Davey, from Maidstone, has been lining up for Sittingbourne side Gore Court 2nds in Division 9 Knott since the start of July.

He’s attended keep-fit classes twice a week since suffering a heart attack seven years ago and can still keep up with the youngsters.

For a man who’s played since 1973, Davey, who lost his wife Val in April, was only too happy to answer the call from Gore Court. In doing so, his name surely belongs in the league record books.

“I can’t think of anybody else who’s playing at 84,” said Davey, whose previous club Loose folded last year.

“How do I do it? I just put one leg in front of the other. A lot of people still think I’m about 70. They’re shocked when I say I’m 84. They can’t believe it.

“I’ve played a few games for Gore Court in the past, and I’ve umpired for them as well, and I got a call to see if I’d be available. I said I’m available any day.

“They treat me as their equal. I’ve known a lot of them for years and we have a laugh. They treat me really well.

“They pull my leg and I pull theirs but they treat me with respect there. It’s not, ‘He’s an old git, look at him’.

“I can beat them between the stumps and they know I can. I’ve still got the capacity to run.

“I go to keep-fit classes every Tuesday and Friday, and I’ve done that ever since my heart attack. And they wonder why I’m fit and they’re not?”

There was a baptism of fire for Davey when he came out to bat at No.11 in his first game, a defeat at New Ash Green.

He was eventually dismissed for a six-ball duck but had to bite his tongue after being given out.

“This bowler was 6ft2in and pretty quick,” said Davey, who has made himself available for the rest of the season.

“The first ball he sent down went over my head, went over the keeper’s head and went for four byes.

“The next ball went outside off-stump for four byes and I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to have to come out of the crease here and see if I can hit the next one’.

“He bowled it right at my feet, almost knocking me over, but I managed to dig it out and it went down the legside.

“The bloke at fine-leg stopped it, and I was thinking, ‘Bugger, I thought I was going to get a run there’.

“The ball I was given out, I was two yards outside my crease, I went to play a defensive shot and the ball went under my arm and hit the top of the bails.

“It was over waist-height, it should have been a no-ball, but I just walked off. I’ve been an umpire for a long time and you shouldn’t criticise your colleagues.”