Following the conclusion of the highly successful 2022 season, Mill Hill Village Cricket Club members have now selected their winners at the annual end of season awards dinner.

Both the 1st XI and 2nd XI sealed promotion in the Saracens Herts Cricket League this year. Saturday night gave a chance for club members to honour excellence across all four adult teams.

Director of Cricket Philip Smith said: “This event is important because this year in particular, we need to celebrate success. With the 1s and 2s both going up, there’s plenty of reason to celebrate. There’s not always an opportunity for all the teams to intermingle either - it’s important to get representatives of all four teams in one place at one time. It’s out of cricket season as well so it reminds us of what we’re all here for.”

Triple honours for Potter
MHVCC 1st XI captain Dan Potter won three honours at the end of season awards: player of the season, highest run scorer and most catches. “I found a bit of form, I got some runs, but more importantly it’s nice to see the team go up and actually we got loads of good performances from everyone. It was a really positive year,” Potter said.

Practice makes perfect for Shiban
2nd XI vice-captain Shiban Sayed, who stepped up as skipper for several games when James O’Sullivan was unavailable, was named player of the year by his teammates. Sayed (pictured above) played a key role as the 2nd XI clinched Division 8B, winning 14 out of 18 matches, taking 29 wickets and scoring valuable middle-order runs.

“I’m glad I got the opportunity to bat up the order," Sayed said. "Sometimes I played an innings where we were struggling and I could add to our score so that we were on the winning side. In terms of bowling, I practiced a lot before the season started. We had some really good winter sessions and before the season actually started some more practice sessions that helped me gain my momentum.”

He added: “A big thanks to the team management. They’ve been really good at supporting all the players and helping us maintain our consistency so we can continue to perform.”

Agha’s dream debut campaign
The arrival of exciting 18-year-old paceman Agha Shahmeer at MHVCC saw some devastating opening spells that helped the 4th XI to wins against St Margaretsbury 4th XI, Hatfield Hyde CC 4th XI and Old Minchendenians 3rd XI. In four appearances, Shahmeer took 13 wickets - more than one-third of the 4th XI’s total season wicket haul - including remarkable figures of 5 for 5 against Old Minchendenians in a 55-run win. His bowling average was 6.62 with a strike rate of 12.92. Sources close to Shahmeer said on Saturday that he’ll be available for MHVCC for the whole of next season - great news for the Village, less so for opposition batsmen in the Herts league.

MHVCC members selected their winners for the following categories:

1st XI
Player of the season: Dan Potter
Highest run scorer: Dan Potter (505)
Highest wicket takers: Ali Javed; Obaid Ur Rehman (24)

2nd XI
Player of the season: Shiban Sayed
Highest run scorer: Dinesh Johnson (496)
Highest wicket taker: Shiban Sayed (29)

3rd XI
Player of the season: Philip Smith
Highest run scorer: Philip Smith (484)
Highest wicket taker: Andrew Godfrey (12)

4th XI
Player of the season: Faraz Ahmad
Highest run scorer: Ken Shakoor (292)
Highest wicket taker: Agha Shahmeer (13)

Special achievements in 2022
Centurions: Dinesh Johnson, 154 not out for the 2nd XI vs Dunstable Town 3rd XI; Sunny Raval, 111 for the 2nd XI vs Bentley Heath CC 2nd XI

Hattrick takers: 1st XI’s Dan Potter (4-9 vs Old Albanians CC 2nd XI); 4th XI’s Kaneel Mathurata (5-35 vs Cheshunt Rosedale CC 4th XI)

Most catches (excluding wicketkeepers): Dan Potter (12)

Captains' Alternative Cricket Awards (chosen by Dan Potter/James O’Sullivan/Philip Smith)
Best Batting Partnership: Marcus Cara and James Thompson’s 100-run partnership for the 1st XI vs Old Albanians CC 2nd XI. While not the highest partnership of the season - that belonged to the 2nd XI's Dinesh Johnson and Shahme Farook for their 191 against Dunstable Town 3rd XI - Cara and Thompson's century-stand was a match winner in a narrow three-wicket victory that maintained the 1s' winning streak at a crucial stage of the season.

Shot of the season: Amit Chadha, who in the final over hit his second ball vs Potten End CC into the cow field for six to secure a four-wicket win for the 1st XI.

Most committed player of the season: Ali Javed, for his regular forays back from Pakistan to make an appearance for the 1st XI.

MVP Award: Mushtaq Ahmed, for his 409 runs at an average of 37.18 including three 50s and, as a bowler, six wickets at an average of 8.67 with a strike rate of 11.17 for the 3rd XI.

Catch of the season: Matt Hawkes’ spectacular effort in the 3rd XI running backwards from mid-off against Potters Bar 4th XI.

Cameo of the season: Lawrence Bird, who scored 40 in his only league outing of the season, for the 3rd XI away against Old Haberdashers' CC 2nd XI in an 81-run win.

The "I was robbed” award: Hamdard Jan Temori, who took nine wickets for the 2nd XI, seven for the 3rd XI and one for the 4th XI, for a total of 17 wickets at an average of 22.12. “Had Jan played in one team consistently he would’ve likely won highest wicket taker for that team,” Director of Cricket Philip Smith said.

The "I’ll give it a thrash" award: Bakhtiar Sahil, who scored two half-centuries and hit eight sixes on his way to scoring 242 runs this season with a strike rate of 101.32.

Best strike rate: Farzan Dulker Nain, whose strike rate of 175.00 playing mainly for the 2nd XI was the highest of any batter at the club.

The most argumentative player award: Mo Salahudeen, for “always getting into arguments with opponents!” joked his 2nd XI captain James O’Sullivan.

The honourable mention award: Neeraj Negi, with 231 runs at an average of 21.00 and 14 wickets at an average of 22.14 for the 3rd XI.

View a photo gallery of the awards event here.