IRREPRESSIBLE Prestwick Cricket Club were crowned Scottish champions amidst scenes of jubilation on Saturday.

And elated skipper Shahzad Rafiq described the success as one of the "single best moments of my life".

The men from the Henry Thow Oval became the first West team to win the Cricket Scotland Grand Final, defeating East League champions Heriots by five runs in a low scoring final at Ferguslie.

The triumph came a week after they clinched the Western Premier Division for the first time.

Rafiq, who has been with the club for 20 years said: "Outside of my children being born and being married this is the single best moment of my life. The boys are the backbone of the team. We performed under pressure in the final and it's great to be the first team from the west to win the national title. It was an unbelievable day.

"Through adversity the boys showed great backbone and courage. Sachin Chaudhary and Mitchell Rao took some wickets and Fraser even took off his wicket pads and took a couple. I told my wife we had five per cent chance of winning after we batted. The fact that we only scored 97 but still won is testament to the character of the team. We batted poorly but the pressure got to Heriot's when we were bowling. The secret of our victory was that we dug in, had good fielding sense and bowled well. This week tops off the league title win."

Chaudhary, who took four wickets, said: "We bowled very well and made some good catches. At one time it looked like the game was away from

us but we still believed in ourselves. This is the best moment of my cricket career. I am so happy to be part of it. Winning the league was good last week but we have proved we are the best team in Scotland. Hopefully we can keep most of the team for next season and we can look forward to that."

Former skipper Gavin Pitt (35) has been at the club from the age of five 30 years ago and this success makes all the testing moments during his time at the club worthwhile.

He said: "It was really tough keeping the club afloat and at one point we were a couple of weeks away from not having a club. The Premier Division win was more meaningful because it was the league but this is a great achievement. For five years a west club hadn't won the Grand Final but to win it in the manner we did was amazing. It has been a great season."