A VILLAGE cricket team plucked from obscurity thanks to its eye-catching website is set for an action replay at an international tournament.

Kirkby Malzeard Cricket Club, near Ripon, were catapulted to fame by organisers of the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes in Thailand while searching for competitors on the worldwide web.

Officials were so impressed by the ingenuity of the little club's offering on the Internet that they fired off an invitation for them to compete last season.

But what the club thought would be a one-off has resulted in a second invitation to compete in April.

While the minnows did not win any silverware against bigger rivals from around the world they performed with true Yorkshire grit against the odds.

The Kirkby club is famed for its tongue-in-cheek website which boasts its own agony uncle answering cricketing problems. It also mentions the Kirkby side's legendary cricketing collapse, as well as its players love of a pint or two of the local brew.

But just ahead of curtain up on their season in Division Two of the Nidderdale League, the clubs is preparing for another trip to Thailand.

Club stalwart Ian Fraser, who captained the Kirkby side for eight years, said: "We certainly put the place on the map."

When the Kirkby lads took to the field they were serenaded by Yorkshire's national anthem On Ilkla Moor b'aht 'at.

Fraser added: "We didn't win any silverware, in fact we won only one match. But it was a tremendous experience for a village side.

Now the club is aiming to find a sponsor for the trip, promising would-be backers that their name will but unfurled not just at the village ground but at an international event.

It will cost players about £1,000 each for the trip.

Any offers of sponsorship can be made to Ian Fraser on 01765 658292