Piers Morgan helps groom get helicopter to Lord's

Piers Morgan has donated £1,000 to help a groom get a helicopter so he can play at Lord's immediately after his wedding in North Wales.

Peter Melhuish, from Guildford in Surrey, is playing at Lord's on 6 September for Blackheath in the final of the Cawston Press Village Cup, but his wedding is less than 24 hours before.

A fundraiser was set up for the team captain and along with his donation, Morgan said: "As someone who also comes from Guildford and has also always dreamed of playing in the village cup final at Lord's, I'm very glad you will now be living my dream. Good luck Peter!"

Melhuish said he and his wife-to-be were "absolutely amazed and touched by the support".

He added: "I can't promise anyone runs or wickets on the Sunday. However, I can promise that if we make it to the ground and I'm able to play at Lord's, you will have helped make a young cricketer's dream of playing for Blackheath in a national final at Lord's come true."

Melhuish, who has been at the club since he was six, says regardless of the result, "I'll already have won when I marry Izzy".

The pair planned the wedding for the Saturday after Blackheath's local league fixtures finished for the season.

But they did not factor in the club's success in the Village Cup, a nationwide tournament played on Sundays by local teams across the UK.

Melhuish said if it was not for the one-hour flight, he would have to take a taxi at 05:00 instead "which wouldn't be much fun".

On the fundraising page, which received more than £6,000, it said there had been donations from club members, sponsors, other local clubs, and teams they had played in the cup en route to the final.

Any surplus funds will be donated to UK-based charity Kids for Kids, which supports children in Darfur in Sudan.

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