SKIPPER Dave Miller is hoping Poole Town can go one better when they fly the flag for Dorset in the ECB Men’s Indoor National Club Championships at Lord’s tomorrow.

Poole Town are one of only four clubs in the country to have progressed to the home of cricket and will represent the south west region after coming through a tough qualifying campaign.

They will face Kent champions Whitstable in the southern semi-final at the MCC Indoor School at Lord’s with the winners meeting either Blaydon or Walmley in the national final.

Poole, runners-up in 2010, booked their ticket after winning the Dorset stage and then seeing off county champions Great Bedwyn (Wiltshire), Hook & Newnham Basics (Hampshire) and St Austell (Cornwall), their last win secured by virtue of losing fewer wickets in a thrilling tied match.

Poole Town captain Miller said: “It is a fantastic achievement to have got this far and will be the second time we will have gone to Lord’s in three years.

“We reached the final in 2010 when we lost to Godmanchester. We felt that we didn’t perform to our best in the final so it is great that we now have another chance to hopefully go one better.

“Having been there once already, it made everyone hungry to try to achieve it again. There are a lot of games to be played and we managed to win the Dorset section which was very competitive.

“We then went to Taunton for the regional finals and went through after beating St Austell. It was a game we should have put to bed earlier than we did but we held our nerve and progressed.

“Everyone is really looking forward to playing in the national finals at Lord’s and, hopefully, we can give a good account of ourselves.”

The format of the competition is six-a-side, with each team receiving 12 overs. Batsmen must retire once they have scored 25 runs, although they can return to the crease when their team-mates have been dismissed. Runs are scored by hitting various walls and running between the wickets.

Poole Town will include Hampshire Academy new boy Michael Porter and teenager Ciaran Quinn, both products of the Dorset club’s colts section.

Poole Town: Dave Miller, Ciaran Quinn, Martin Ford, John Fairless, Steve Wilson, Michael Porter, Jamie Thomas.