CRICKET? On Boxing Day? Peter Kay would no doubt be apoplectic.

However, for the hardy sportsmen of Bury the annual Boxing Day cricketing clash was played as normal.

This year the honours went to Summerseat village side Brooksbottoms, who avenged last year's defeat at the hands of Elton Vale in fine style.

The frolicking festive feud for the Brian Statham Trophy has been fought out for the last 41 years.

Nothing has prevented the game being played, no matter what the elements have thrown up.

Snow, ice, fog, rain, the worst mother nature can conjure up has failed to prevent the teams pitching stumps.

The players wear their traditional whites, while the spectators, who can be numerous at this event, pull on thermal clothing to keep them warm.

The rules of this unique contest have remained unchanged, with each team bowling a maximum of 20 overs and no player allowed to bowl more than two.

This year's encounter took place at Brox's Rowlands Road ground, Summerseat, with the first ball pitched on the stroke of 11am.

Fortunately there was no sign of rain or snow, but the clear skies led to a drop in temperature that made fielding a less than pleasant experience.

Credit then to the home side for their disciplined effort with the ball, after Elton Vale had opted to bat first.

The innings never really recovered from the loss of two early wickets, although Harrison and Marsden built a solid base. With no-one in the Brox attack conceding more than eleven runs from their two overs, the batsmen were never able to cut loose.

That they made it to a respectable 95 was due to some late resistance from Brian Boys, switching allegiance for 24 hours, together with the visitors' tail-enders.

The Brox reply was impeccably led by Mark Churchill from the off and his 36 set up a comfortable march to the finishing post.

At the top of the order, Kannenberg provided a useful foil for the first teamer, before skipper Ernill and Gareth Williams settled the matter with an exchange of sixes against the struggling bowlers.

Harrison added to his contribution with the bat with a brace of wickets, but it wasn't enough to stop Brox running out winners by six wickets to guarantee the Brian Statham Trophy will be housed in Summerseat for the next 12 months, until next year's clash back at Elton Vale.