STOURPORT captain Allan Moss celebrated his 38th birthday by hitting the first triple century in the history of the Worcestershire League.

The left-handed batsman had only totalled 167 runs heading into Stourport Thirds’ final Division Five fixture of the campaign against Enville Thirds at Old Elizabethan School.

Moss’ unbeaten 302 – his maiden league century - eclipsed the previous league record of 259 not out by Steve Adshead in 2013 - and propelled Stourport to an astonishing 459-0 declared.

Moss is the latest Worcester News cricketer of the week and receives a £25 voucher from Fearnley Factory Shop.

Moss, who skippers Stourport, decided to open the innings because regular batsman James Cook was unavailable - and it proved a masterstroke.

Moss cracked 42 fours and 13 sixes in a remarkable knock and he was backed up by Mark Gleeson, who weighed in with 110 not out, before Stourport declared after 39.3 overs.

Bottom-of-the-table Enville were dismissed for 153 as Stourport, who finished runners-up in the division, completed an emphatic 306-run success.

“I made some good starts earlier in the season before getting out so it had become a bit frustrating,” said Moss, whose previous best was 128 in a Sunday match two years ago.

“There were times this season when I thought I would never get to 100 again never mind 300 in one innings because I kept giving my wicket away cheaply.

“Due to my job, I have not been able to attend nets and, at the start of the season, we were winning games comfortably and I was not getting to bat.”

Moss, a former player at Evesham and Badsey, batted at number nine the previous week and hit one not out.

But he decided to move up the batting order when Cook was unavailable.

“I knew Enville were bottom of the league so my plan was to get a quick start so we could reach a good total and then declare before bowling them out to claim maximum points,” said Moss.

“I had a lot of deliveries on middle and leg stump, so I could clip the ball to the leg side boundary.

“When I got my century, I wanted to get past 128 and when I got to 150 I wanted to reach a double century.

“In the 36th or 37th over, I was on 260 and I managed to get to 302 with three balls left of the 40th over so we decided to declare.”

Moss admitted it hadn’t been a faultless knock.

“I was dropped three times – once on 80, the next on 199 and then on 270,” he recalled.

“At times, I could tell I was getting close to a milestone because everyone around the boundary went very quiet.

“Getting to 300 was a bit surreal because it’s not something I thought I would ever do.

“It’s a club record and a league record and it might also be a record partnership for the league.”

Moss went out with friends in Bewdley after the match to celebrate his birthday and his cricketing feat.

“It was nice to have my best mate in the middle with me when I reached 300,” said Moss.

“Enville’s players seemed happy for me, too, and kept saying they hadn’t seen anything like it before.”