The players of Grace's Cricket Club have never bowled a maiden over. In fact they're all out no matter what it says on the scoreboard. And, as some might even be heard to mutter, they're more than suspected of batting for the other side'.

That's because Grace's ae the first and believed to be the only gay cricket team in the world. The team were formed at the Central Station gay bar in King's Cross nine years ago, and relocated to their current ground in Mill Hill in 2001. Over the past four years, the club have grown in popularity and now number 60 members.

"A lot of people ask, Why do you need a gay cricket team? There's nothing gay about cricket'," said Duncan Irvine, the club's press secretary.

"It's not about a pink clubhouse, or meeting to discuss makeovers, or how we could rearrange the furniture. We are here because there still is prejudice. Some of our players have had to invent girlfriends at previous clubs they played at, as they were uncomfortable saying they had a boyfriend in the changing rooms. Here they have a place they can be themselves."

Cricket, with its connotations of genteel folk sipping tea on the village green, doesn't seem the most obvious match with the more flamboyant aspects of gay culture. But Duncan insists you won't find any cliched campery on the pitch. "Our first match was against Wendover in 1997 and to their amazement we won," he said. "We now play about 24 games a season and we do quite well for ourselves."

The team don't yet play in a league, but have had a fair run in a series of friendlies recently. Despite a disappointing loss to the Cockfosters thirds (they were all out for 107) they did beat Richmond's Actors Anonymous.

But the real message of Grace's is that cricket is for everyone, regardless of sexuality, and the old beliefs of gay men preferring musicals, makeovers and Minelli over masculine activities do not, in this case, ring true. However, it should be said, they do make a terrific lemon meringue for the interval. For more information on the club, email enquiries@gay cricket.org.uk