Stoke Green's Pavinder Bhachu named in Voneus Village Cup team of the season

Stoke Green’s Pavinder Bhachu has been named in the Voneus Village Cup team of the season, after Green’s magnificent run to the semi-finals of the competition.

Captain Sukh Dhillon felt you could write a book about Stoke Green’s historic season after they lifted the Julian Cup and clinched the Thames Valley League Division 1 title, but it was their run to the semi-finals of the Village Cup that really caught the imagination.

It was, to use their president’s words, the greatest season in the club’s 200-year history and, although they lost to eventual champions, Calmore Sports, in the semi-finals, they still played remarkably well in the competition.

Green had never won a game in the national rounds of the competition before this season, but they put out Woolpit, West Chitlington & Thakeham and Foxton in straight-forward fashion before disappointingly losing by 10-wickets at Calmore.

Scoring 297 runs with an average of 49.5, Bhachu was at the heart of that run and will be one of the players to keep an eye on again in 2022.

Capable of batting anywhere in the top or middle order he started the tournament with a solid 28 against Ballinger Waggoners before posting four successive half-centuries to help Green win the Buckinghamshire group and march on to the semi-finals.

Bhachu finished the tournament with 297 runs at a strike rate of 82.35 from six innings – just three runs shy of Golden Bat, Michael Rowlands, of Alvaney.