It is only natural for a bowler to feel aggrieved if his wicketkeeper fumbles a crucial catch.

But two Sussex County Cricket Club legends are still feuding over an alleged blunder which happened more than half a century ago.

Wicketkeeper Rupert Webb fiercely disputes he spilled a vital catch as Sussex lost to Yorkshire in 1953, while bowler Robin Marlar claims it cost them the County Championship.

Now the argument has spilt over into the pages of the cricket bible Wisden.

Mr Marlar, a former Sussex captain and chairman, blames Mr Webb in an essay on the club's long wait for their first championship, which Chris Adams' men finally ended last year.

He pinpointed the 1953 match against Yorkshire - and one moment in particular - as the reason an earlier championship challenge failed.

He writes: "I was personally convinced we were going to win in 1953, David Sheppard's year, until Rupert Webb missed a vital catch behind the stumps at Hastings against Yorkshire.

"There may be an element of bias here since I was bowling at the time and had turned an off-break away from Vic Wilson, the left-hander.

"Webb went on to play the father of one of the brides in Four Weddings And A Funeral, which some may think constitutes greater glory than any championship win."

Mr Webb did indeed appear in the Hugh Grant film as part of a post-cricketing career which also included posing as a male model for travel brochures and London Underground adverts.

But he insists Mr Marlar is mistaken in remembering a missed catch and failed to see any funny side to the Four Weddings quip.

Mr Webb, 82, of Gratwicke Road, Worthing, said: "Marlar's allegation against me is not only untrue, it is snide and ungentlemanly.

"It is also the last sort of behaviour one expects of a team-mate.

"I have consulted all the surviving players who took part in that match and not one of them remembers the alleged catch.

"I have also been to the Sussex archives to study the details of the match and again, there is no reference to any dropped catch by me.

"On the contrary, the records show I made three catches in Yorkshire's first innings and helped to put Sussex in a strong position to win.

"To drag all this up 51 years after the event and to make that sort of accusation seems really spiteful."

He also suggested Mr Marlar should consider his own contribution to the Sussex cause after studying records of the team's final seven matches of the 1953 season.

They showed Mr Marlar took 11 wickets at a cost of 666 runs, averaging 60.5 runs per wicket.

Mr Webb said: "That is hardly what anyone would call a championship-winning performance."

He has written to Wisden to complain about the article and received a letter from editor Matthew Engel apologising for any distress.

Mr Webb's role in Four Weddings was non-speaking but he did feature in one of the film's pivotal scenes.

He had to restrain his daughter, played by Susanna Hamnett, as she lashed outat Hugh Grant's character after being jilted at the altar in favour of Andie MacDowell.

Mr Marlar, 73, who lives in Guildford, said: "Would I have written it if it wasn't the case? There isn't really anything more to add."