Even though I’ve been in the business of writing for many years, there is still a small thrill when I see my name on paper.

Each part, Craig, Brown and all of them, are quite common.

Craig Browns are plentiful, and this includes Craig Brown, who used to manage the Scotland soccer team.

In fact, unlike me, most of the other Craig Browns seem to excel at sport: there is an Australian cricketer called Craig Brown, an American curler called Craig Brown and a member of Jamaica’s taekwondo team called Craig Brown.

When I spot the name of any other Craig Brown in print, I still experience a twinge of pride, even though I know it’s not me. All Craig Browns want the same thing, no matter what.

Recenty, I’ve been following a couple in New Zealand named Colin and Donna Craig Brown.

Strictly speaking, theirs is a double-barrelled surname rather than, like mine, a Christian name-plus-surname, but that’s no reason why they should feel any less welcome in the worldwide community of Craig Browns.

Colin and Donna Craig Brown made headlines last August when they found a huge potato growing in their backyard. 

The potato was 17lb 3oz in weight, more than double the average baby’s.

Craig Browns decided to call their XXXL potato Doug.

Donna Craig-Brown holds a large potato dug from her garden at her home near Hamilton, New Zealand, last year

Colin Craig-Browns holds the same huge potato

Donna (left), and Colin Craig Brown (right) holding a large potato they dug out of their garden near Hamilton, New Zealand last year

The New Zealand couple dug up a potato the size of a small dog in their backyard, claiming it weighed 7.9 kilograms

New Zealand couple found 7.9kg potato in their back yard.

Doug made them so proud that they built a small cart for Doug to ride up and down Hamilton’s byways, New Zealand.

Doug, the gigantic potato, has been seen in papers and television across the globe.

It’s always tricky to gauge something as nebulous as fame, but I’d say that within the space of a fortnight Doug’s fame was on a par with that of Piers Corbyn or The Cheeky Girls; perhaps more so, bearing in mind his international reach.

Given our family connection, I’ve been tracking Doug’s progress and, to be frank, slightly dreading the morning I would open my newspaper to find he had been turned into a pan-full of chips or a great mountain of mash. 

Doug, fortunately, is still here.

The Craig-Browns announced earlier in this week that Doug was in their freezer. This followed concerns that Doug might lose weight.

Since digging up Doug back in August, they have been fighting to gain him the title of World’s Heaviest Potato in the Guinness Book of World Records.

One might have thought that Doug’s inclusion was a mere formality: after all, the present record-holder, a potato found in Britain in 2011, weighed barely 11 lb, so was a pathetic little shrimp in comparison.

Officials at Guinness World Records demanded a DNA test.

They want proof that Doug is a potato and not some other form of vegetable — a parsnip, say, or a swede.

Additionally, the Craig-Browns insist Doug’s DNA may not have been tested in New Zealand but instead in Scotland. White-coated boffins in Scotland will be able to determine Doug’s molecular fingerprint. According to the Craig-Browns, this lack of trust has made them feel dejected.

They have, they say, been on a ‘roller-coaster of emotion’ but vow to keep fighting for justice.

Colin Craig-Browns stands near a large potato dug out of his garden. The couple named the potato Doug, because they dug it up

Colin Craig Browns looks on as he stands next to a huge potato that he had dug up from his backyard. Doug was the couple’s name for the large potato they found in their garden.

The huge potato, pictured with a standard sized kitchen peeler on top of it, weights more than twice as much as the average newborn baby

This huge potato is pictured above with a regular-sized kitchen peeler. It weighs twice as much than the average newborn baby.

‘Do they think that I genetically modified it?’ asks Mr Craig-Brown.

‘While it’s extremely deflating, I want to prove them wrong. We will do everything they ask us.’

Of course, if they find that Doug is not a potato, then he must still stand a good chance of claiming the title World’s Heaviest Parsnip, or whatever they end up calling him.

He could argue that he’s veggie-fluid and has now identified himself as a potato, even if his heart is set on the potato crown.

To ease his transition, when Mr and Mrs Craig-Brown next wheel him around town in his little cart, they could dress him appropriately — as Dauphinoise, covering him in a creamy, garlicky sauce, or as a Spanish Omelette, surrounded by onions, eggs and olive oil.

Doug Craig Brown is clearly a potatoey cousin with a bright future.

What with his natural charisma and his uncanny resemblance to TV’s Gregg Wallace, he must surely be a shoo-in for the job of hosting New Zealand MasterChef.