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
| Played | Wins | Draws | Lost | NR | Bat | Bwl | Pen | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radlett | 19 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 14 | - | 382 |
| Watford Town | 19 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 21 | - | 382 |
| Bishop's Stortford | 19 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 37 | - | 369 |
| Langleybury | 19 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 42 | 43 | - | 335 |
| Luton Town | 19 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 43 | - | 327 |
| North Mymms | 19 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 61 | 50 | - | 311 |
| Hemel Hempstead Town | 19 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 51 | 59 | - | 310 |
| Hoddesdon | 19 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 31 | 34 | - | 295 |
| West Herts | 19 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 57 | 42 | - | 289 |
| Welwyn Garden City | 19 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 53 | 44 | - | 267 |
| St Albans | 19 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 54 | - | 260 |
| Barnet | 19 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 57 | 57 | - | 254 |
| Letchworth Garden City | 19 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 40 | 43 | - | 253 |
| Potters Bar | 19 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 16 | 44 | - | 250 |
| Cheshunt | 19 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 37 | 45 | - | 242 |
| Hitchin | 19 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 50 | 55 | - | 235 |
| Sawbridgeworth | 19 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 36 | 36 | - | 232 |
| Stevenage | 19 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 42 | 57 | - | 219 |
| Knebworth Park | 19 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 35 | 52 | - | 217 |
| Berkhamsted | 19 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 47 | 46 | - | 203 |