Hampstead chairman Nick Brown praised the team after putting in their best performance of the season to seal a 27-run victory over local rivals North Middlesex in front of a bumper crowd.

Captain Callum Jackson won the toss and elected to bat first and Hampstead posted a score of 255-7 with the skipper (67) and Mubasher Hassan (58) leading the way.

In reply, they managed to bowl out last season’s Middlesex League Premier Division champions for 228 with Ben Frazer (5-38) and Rich Banham (3-32) putting in superb efforts with the ball.

Brown said: “It was our best performance of the season, it was a great game watched by probably the biggest crowd at HCC for a league match I’ve ever seen on what was a perfect day for cricket.

“Callum and Mubasher gave us a very solid foundation to build a big score. They will both reflect on this season as disappointing from a runs production perspective, but I think this performance against a solid bowling attack will give them pause for thought about the approach to adopt for next season.

“We had a wobble in the middle order, losing three wickets for no runs, but lots of credit to Fergal Walter and Archie Fellowes who batted excellently and got us up to a competitive 255. We hope this is a breakthrough season for Fergal and that he pushes on next season.”

The chairman then heaped praise on Frazer and Banham as they bowled North Midd out, but he did also praise North Middlesex youngster Max Harris.

“Rich Banham did the damage with the new ball again, I can’t overstate how dangerous a bowler he is and for long periods we had the game under control with Ben Frazer doing another excellent job with the ball, eventually collecting 5-38,” he added.

“However, Max Harris really shifted the momentum with some heavy hitting, I can’t believe there is a harder hitter of a cricket ball in the Middlesex League, but once we got him it killed off North Midd and the win just sneaked us above them in the table.”

Brown added: “Overall it has been a disappointing season for us, but we will recruit over the winter and look forward to the 2021 season.”