Cricket-mad veteran Trowbridge batsman Des Gingell is celebrating after scoring his 50th century for the club.

The 52-year-old, who has played for the club for 30 years, was relieved to have completed the club record feat after waiting six years since his last ton.

Opening the batting for Trowbridge’s second team on Saturday against Downend, he smashed 120 from just 111 balls to help his side to a 98 run victory.

Gingell, a train driver when not playing cricket, is glad to have reached the milestone.

He said: “It is fantastic, I’ve received a lot of congratulations from the club.

“I just love the game, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself in the summer if I didn’t have cricket.

“It has taken a long time but I’m really pleased to have made it.”

Gingell, who used to help prepare the Trowbridge pitch, has seen some of the world’s best players perform at the ground and has even batted with Viv Richards.

He said: “We had a charity cricket match for Bristol City footballer Chris Garland, who has multiple sclerosis, and Ian Botham and Viv Richards both came to play.

“I got to bat for 20 overs with Viv Richards which was great. Both him and Botham were really nice chaps.

“The Minor Counties used to put out a best eleven to play against touring Test sides at Trowbridge.

“Over the years Australia, India, Pakistan and the West Indies have come and played there.

“It was great watching legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Wasim Akram, Malcolm Marshall, and Courtney Walsh all playing on my home ground.”

Gingell started playing cricket for North Bradley at the age of 14 and joined Trowbridge at 22.

Despite being an all-rounder he told the captain he was a specialist batsman to avoid being batted down the order.

He said: “We were away at Hungerford.

“A friend of mine told me not to tell the captain I was also a bowler as I would be put down at number 11.

“So I said I was a batsman and came in at number three and scored a half century.

“That was 30 years ago and I’ve played ever since. Most of that time I’ve been an opener.”

The young Gingell also played football but quickly put a stop to that to safeguard his cricket career.

He said: “I used to play football on a regular basis but when I was 23 I got injured and missed a third of the cricket season.

“I thought to myself ‘I’m not doing that again’ and decided to concentrate on cricket.”

Gingell, who only stepped down to the second team last year, knew the pitch on Saturday was ideal for his landmark, but he is not ready to hang up his bat just yet.

He said: “The pitch was perfect for batting. I’ve come down to the seconds this year and hopefully I can lead by example and pass on some of my experience to the younger players.

“If the team still want me, I’d love to play for another four or five years.”