HATHERLEIGH skipper Rob Cockwill believes there has been more to winning promotion than the considerable efforts of Indian professional Shrey Ghosh.

With more than a thousand league runs to his name, never mind 22 wickets as well, it is hard to avoid Ghosh’s contribution to ending a four-year exile from the Premier Division.

Cockwill said Ghosh had ‘scored an incredible amount of runs for us’ but added it was far from a one-man show.

“Ryan Davies back after ACL injury, kept wicket very well and scored some very important runs for us in the middle,” said Cockwill.

“Our bowling unit produced week in week out. With the pink ball, on some flat tracks, we managed to take wickets and keep runs down consistently. 

"Emmerson Wood, a new addition to the club this year, balanced our side nicely and proved himself to be a great asset to the club on and off the field. 

“Most importantly our availability has been fantastic throughout the year. Competition for places has never been stronger making my decisions very difficult at times. Every player has contributed throughout the season.”

Cockwill, who replaced long-serving Mark Lake as skipper at the start of the season, never publicly made promotion a target, which kept the pressure off the players. That does not mean the prospect of going up did not cross his mind from the earliest exchanges.

“Our general approach to each game was very relaxed and, as I said man times, we just wanted to enjoy our cricket and let results look after themselves,” said Cockwill.

“The first two games of the season were massive for us. To beat two good teams – Bovey and Thorverton – relatively comfortably really set the standard.”

[O] Cockwill is the first Hatherleigh captain to win the A Division title outright since Terry Hubbard did so back in 1987.