Categories
1990s

1997

With wicketkeeper David Hanson as captain in 1997, the side topped the table for the third time in a row. Radlett became the first club to do the league and cup double, and the second team, under Richard Haxell, won their championship after three runners-up finishes in a row to complete a sensational season for the club as a whole.

Browne took 54 league wickets, and Campbell Horlock hit the winning runs at Hoddesdon to seal the title the day after Princess Diana’s funeral, but it was the cup that took the headlines.

The awe-inspiring 186-run victory over Bishop’s Stortford was a record margin in a final (until 2006). Horlock’s 249 not out in a 45-overs total of 358 for one was naturally Radlett’s highest individual score in the club’s long history. This was the first time Radlett had produced a 300-plus score in a competitive match and the second time in any match, passing the club’s previous highest score of the 347 at RAF Henlow in 1934. Amazingly, the 300-plus list was rise to 28 by the end of 2013.

Dave Robinson’s 64 passed unnoticed as the powerful figure of Horlock caned the Stortford attack for 19 sixes and 21 fours at Heath Park, the usual Hemel Hempstead venue. Club member Bryan Thompson described his early experience as a spectator. He had taken a bus and was walking along Station Road to the ground when he saw a white-clad figure in the distance crossing the busy road evidently to retrieve the ball. Thompson had walked only a little further when the hapless fielder visited the road again – and yet again before Thompson finally reached the match. ‘Something odd is going on here,’ he thought, by now recognising it was a Stortford player.

Results

03 May North Mymms 123 – 10 (36.2) Radlett 126 – 2 (22.5)

10 May Hitchin 127 – 10 (47.0) Radlett 128 – 2 (28.0)

17 May Barnet 71 – 10 (26.0) Radlett 72 – 1 (14.0)

24 May Knebworth Park 235 – 6 (51.0) Radlett 197 – 6 (45.0)

31 May Sawbridgeworth 195 – 4 (52.0) Radlett 197 – 5 (45.2)

07 June Hemel Hempstead 152 – 9 (47.0) Radlett 114 – 10 (39.0)

14 June St Albans 131 – 10 (50.0) Radlett 132 – 5 (35.0)

21 June Potters Bar 0 – 0 (0.0) Radlett 0 – 0 (0.0) Rain

28 June Radlett 0 – 0 (0.0) Stevenage 0 – 0 (0.0) Rain

05 July Cheshunt 200 – 6 (53.0) Radlett 161 – 8 (47.0)

12 July Radlett 237 – 7 (51.0) Watford Town 98 – 10 (40.0)

19 July Radlett 146 – 7 (53.0) Bishop’s Stortford 150 – 6 (46.2)

26 July Radlett 4 – 0 (0.1) Welwyn Garden City 0 – 0 (0.0) Rain

02 August Berkhamsted 162 – 9 (53.0) Radlett 163 – 3 (30.5)

09 August West Herts 191 – 10 (53.0) Radlett 192 – 3 (46.0)

16 August Letchworth 164 – 9 (53.0) Radlett 165 – 6 (45.0)

23 August Langleybury 198 – 7 (53.0) Radlett 120 – 8 (47.0)

30 August Luton Town 111 – 10 (52.0) Radlett 115 – 7 (41.5)

06 September Hoddesdon 84 – 10 (38.0) Radlett 85 – 0 (13.0)

Hertfordshire Premier Division Table

PlayedWinsDrawsLostNRBatBwlPenTotal
Radlett1911323814-382
Watford Town19102251121-382
Bishop's Stortford1997033237-369
Langleybury1974444243-335
Luton Town1985331443-327
North Mymms1968326150-311
Hemel Hempstead Town1955455159-310
Hoddesdon1961833134-295
West Herts1954645742-289
Welwyn Garden City1947435344-267
St Albans1946453654-260
Barnet1935735757-254
Letchworth Garden City1943834043-253
Potters Bar1951941644-250
Cheshunt1945643745-242
Hitchin1935745055-235
Sawbridgeworth1942943636-232
Stevenage1937634257-219
Knebworth Park1936643552-217
Berkhamsted1924854746-203