Radlett Cricket Club captain Jono McLean bade farewell to the club in style as his side beat North Mymms by four wickets to retain the Saracens Herts League Premier Division title.

The South-African skipper announced his retirement, after four years at the club. exclusively to the Herts Ad at the conclusion of the hotly-contested play-off final at Home Farm, residence of their opponents Mymms.

Despite receiving a duck off his first ball in his final Radlett innings, that could not dampen his day as the defending champions romped to victory.

McLean told the Herts Ad: “That’s my last game now and obviously it was fantastic to win it.

“I told my team a couple of weeks ago so they knew what was going to happen win or lose.

“I think we have built a really good squad over the last few years and I know they will be hungry to win it again next year.”

He added: “The time had come for me to think about my options and I had been here for a while so decided I will do something else on the weekends. Maybe play a bit of golf or something.

“To come into the side and take over the captaincy was great. When I started it was a young bunch of guys here so to bring them on and grow and see them improve, as they have done over the past few years has been fantastic.

“They have all matured as players and as people and you can see that from our achievements since I joined.

“To win the league a couple of times in a row now and also hold their nerve in pressure situations like this is testament to the team and it has been great for me to be involved and let’s hope there’s much more to come.”

Things perhaps could have been more straight-forward than they turned out to be for Radlett , as they eroded Mymms’ resolve to leave them 125-8 at the end of their reduced 40-over stand.

In wet conditions that had delayed the start of play by two hours, the visiting run chase got off to a terrible start, and with four wickets down for the accumulation of just 36 runs, McLean’s men were in trouble.

William Wright’s 35 not out steered wobbling Radlett over the line and the captain was delighted with their response in the face of danger.

He continued: “We were really on the back foot after we lost those four wickets but the middle order really dug in and took their time which was fantastic.

“It was great to see the young guys batting sensibly and working hard for their runs.

“You don’t see that too much these days. It’s just about smashing it as hard as they can, as far as they can, but it was brilliant to see our side bat beyond their years and they got us over the line.”