GRAHAM Ainslie is the last person you would expect to have a destructive nature.

But behind his mild-mannered, friendly exterior lurks a man who has been mercilessly ripping up record books and tearing apart bowling attacks for the past quarter of a century.

And now, after 25 years of wielding his bat in front of not just the cream of Northern Premier League bowlers but the best in the world as well, Darwen's record run scorer has announced his retirement.

At 41, there's no doubt that Ainslie could, if he chose to, continue well beyond his silver anniversary in the Darwen first team.

But, then again, why be greedy? Ainslie is well aware of the crop of young talent ready to inherit his batting position at Birch Hall - after all, he sprung from the same roots to make his first team debut at 16.

And, let's face it, there's not much left for him to aim for in terms of achievement. Darwen's title triumph in 2002 gave him a complete set of Northern Premier League championships in three different decades having also been part of the 1987 and 1999 successes.

On the individual front he has passed the magical 10,000-run mark, collecting half centuries against every club in the league, home and away, on the journey.

So it's time to put the bat down and the feet up and reflect on a good 25 years' work.

"I'm satisfied with what I've done," said Ainslie. "I've been part of championship sides in the last three decades and breaking the club run record was a great achievement.

"But I think that when you get to 41 your reactions aren't what they were when you were 21 and 31.

"I haven't had any injury problems but when you've played at a high and competitive standard all your life now is a good time to retire.

"Although I've played a couple of times this season last season really was a great one to finish on because we won the league without losing a game or even getting a losing draw.

"I was playing in the league at 16 and have been for 25 years. There are lads playing in the same team as me now and I look at them and think 'I made my debut before you were even born!' In that context, it really hits home.

"There are a number of young players that have the potential to go on and do well at first team level so you have to be honest with yourself because of them as well.

"You're on the downward slope so when you've achieved what you've achieved the younger ones should be given the opportunity.

"But I'm still going to be involved in the club as I have been all my life. I'm a qualified coach, and involved in the junior sides, which is where I first started and it was the catalyst for my development."

Rather like all good batsmen pick off certain balls to smash to the boundary, during our conversation Ainslie can't help dropping in star names he has shared the field with at Birch Hall.

"A couple of weeks ago we got a list of the first class players we've played against here - its more like a world XI," he said.

They include Malcolm Marshall, Gordon Greenidge, Brian Lara, Richie Richardson, Jacques Kallis, Javed Miandad, Mushtaq Ahmed and David Boon.

Despite his match-winning innings, including an 80 that helped Darwen to an Old Trafford cup final, it's the opportunities to rub shoulders with the greats of the game that give Ainslie fonder memories than any personal achievements.

He said: "In cricket you get the opportunity to play against world class bowlers so it's a good game in that respect.

"You wouldn't get those opportunities as an amateur footballer to play against Beckham, Vieira or Owen. So world class players playing at your local ground is a great experience.

"It's a great opportunity and the clubs in our league have been fortunate enough to get these people.

"The best experience was a bank holiday game I played for Rishton, whose professional was Viv Richards.

"We played Oldham, whose professional at that time was Joel Garner and I opened the batting against him.

"They were fabulous players, but I don't remember that much about the game - it was enough just being in the same dressing room as those guys."