On this day in cricket, 23 May 1954

Historic cricket relic found

A long lost page from the diaries of 17th Century musician Samuel Peeks has been found among the belongings of the recently deceased ventriloquist Lilly Candle.

The page provides an insight into the pressures placed on the young Peeks by his mother Marjorie who was deeply ashamed of her husband Reginald's limited batting ability.

"Weakened from weeping she said to me 'take this tortured willow and restore our family honour'.

"Weighed down by unsolicited expectation, I traded the blade for the intimacies of a nameless creature of less demanding nature and a feast of ale and eel."

It is not known how Lilly Candle, best known for her thirty-year partnership with the daring Dolly Flapjoy, came to be in possession of the relic.