Freddie the Falcon retains Mascot Race title

NICK FRIEND AT EDGBASTON: Derbyshire’s Freddie the Falcon won the Mascot Race on T20 Blast Finals Day, becoming just the second mascot to retain the title

James Farnsworth, remember the name.

Derbyshire’s Freddie the Falcon won the Mascot Race on T20 Blast Finals Day, becoming just the second mascot to retain the title.

Cricket's answer to the Grand National was cancelled last year due to rain, but Farnsworth – the human aboard the Falcon – cantered clear to win by a stretch as Edgbaston watched on, just minutes after Somerset’s dramatic victory over Hampshire in the first semi-final.

Previously, only Gloucestershire’s Alfred the Gorilla had won the race in consecutive years – in 2016 and 2017.

Farnsworth first claimed victory in 2019, on the same day as Derbyshire’s maiden appearance at Finals Day.

In the build-up to this year’s race, he told The Cricketer: “I am a competitive person, so if I’m going to enter something, then I’ll give it my all.”

Farnsworth, a project manager at Rolls Royce, only ran in 2019 after attending as a fan in 2018, before complaining to his mother – an accountant at Derbyshire – that the county had not even entered the race.

Inside the Mascot Race, an annual bout of glorious silliness

This victory was rarely in doubt, however; he came out of the ball-pit with his head intact and in front of his rivals – he had described Alfred as “the yardstick” beforehand.

The aerodynamism of the Falcon no doubt played its part as he clambered through the climbing frame, under the netting, avoided being dizzied by two laps of the giant inflatable ball, and swept through across the perimeter of the outfield seemingly unhindered to win by several lengths from Sid the Shark from Sussex.

“The first obstacle is a big ball-pit, and that is usually carnage,” he said ahead of time. “If you get stuck in the chaos of the ball-pit, you’re usually done for. Really, you have to get in and out of it in a reasonable state with your full outfit on. When I did it [in 2019], someone went off way into the lead and it was only towards the end that I got out in front.

“I didn’t expect to win but when it’s just a straight leg-race at the end, I always thought I had an okay chance. I flapped my arms a bit as I crossed the line in a bit of a bird impression. It was Kelly Holmes-ish.”

This year, he leapt into the finishing tape while others were still clambering out of the first hurdle.

This year's Mascot Race will help to raise funds for the Professional Cricketers' Fund. Click here for more information; you can donate £5 to the Trust and win tickets to a Vitality Blast game next year.

Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on England's Test tour with George Dobell in Pakistan, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.