There are two ways of looking at Dumfries' success in emerging as inaugural champions of the Western Premiership in the Cricket Scotland League. Either the Nunholm club have taken, not so much a bat as a battering ram, to the established order in the Greater Glasgow area and produced a shock of seismic proportions in the game. Or, their success exposes the spiralling decline in standards in the west of the country; an argument which was borne out by the words of one former Saltires luminary, who told me recently: "The second XI that I used to play for would beat the first XI at the moment."

Yet, while there might be some truth in that assertion, it would be churlish to dismiss the exploits of the Dumfries ensemble, during a campaign where their team performances have consistently been greater than the sum of their parts. For starters, this is a side without prima donnas, which decided not to hire an expensive overseas professional, and whose members have thrived on the sprit of collectivism. To that extent, their captain, Stuart Corbett-Byers, embodies the qualities which have steered his charges to their title triumph; a Musketeer-style "One for all" philosophy, allied to a hard-working mentality, and the conviction that a 20 here and a two-wicket haul there can prove pivotal.

"We have heard the criticisms about the standard of the [Western Premier] league, and it does seem that the game is stronger in the East at the moment, but you can only beat the opponents who are put in front of you, and I am very proud of the fashion in which our boys have responded to the various challenges throughout what has been a frustrating summer for everybody [with the weather]" said Corbett-Byers. "I used to play at Ferguslie and I believe too many teams in the West have grown overly reliant on one or two players, or on their overseas pros, and that can't be helpful in the long run. Whereas, at Dumfries, I don't think any of us have had what we would describe as our best season, but, week in, week out, different boys have popped up with important contributions.

"There was the match against Uddingston a few weeks ago, where we were struggling all afternoon, our last pair – Patrick Druce and Alan Davidson - needed 13 off the last over, and we were thinking we might have to settle for the losing bonus points. But the guys got the job done with two balls to spare and we had another victory under our belts. And there was also the game at Stirling, where we had to win it twice, due to a mix-up with the scoreboard. Even on Saturday, West of Scotland had us at 35 for three after 17 overs and it looked like we were in a fair bit of trouble. But there were key partnerships when it mattered and we eventually got to 196 [and an ultimately comfortable success].

"Towards the climax, the balcony at our ground was packed, the bar was full, there was a genuine buzz around the place, and it made up for the days where you are playing in front of two men and a dog. And the adventure hasn't finished yet; we face [Eastern Premier champions] Watsonians this weekend and that is being described as the biggest game in our history. Or, at least, the biggest game in our history since last Saturday!"

One detects parallels between Dumfries' heroics and what has happened at Ayr on the Scottish rugby circuit. In both instances, a relatively small, well-run, progressive organisation has prospered where larger – and more complacent – institutions in Glasgow appear to have presumed they had some divine right to flourish. And while Corbett-Byers isn't so naïve as to imagine that it will be easy replicating this success in the future, his attitude suggests that there will no down-scaling of ambitions during the winter.

"Perhaps we benefited from being an unknown quantity in the first half of the competition, but I would argue that we merited being champions, because we beat all our rivals and won more matches than anybody else, so what else can you do?" asked the skipper. "It has been a huge team effort, a whole club effort, from the committee to the volunteers, to the youth officials, and, of course, we have to move on. But I am confident the foundations have been laid for Dumfries to become a major cricketing force."

Hopefully, others in the West will look, learn and listen! It has been too simple for many in their ranks to keep posting anonymous slabs of vitriol on various cricket message boards, without answering the question: what are you doing to improve the situation? It's surely far more sensible to recognise what the likes of Dumfries, East Kilbride and Renfrew are doing, than wallowing in endless negativity.