As the club prepares for its annual club dinner, we look back on a memorable 2021 for Peterborough Town, with a record-breaking trophy haul to show for a summer of hard work.

Peterborough Town completed a hat-trick of Northants League Premier Division titles in 2021, and were also surprised to hear there was a trophy for the win/lose half of the Premier Division season, which they also won. This followed the Northants T20 Championship title in July, and the Rutland League Division One title under captain Alex Mitchell for a third season in succession.

The second XI also completed a Northants League hat-trick of Division Two title, T20 Cup and League Knockout Cup under captain Balaji Ganesan.

A hat-trick of Northants League titles (again)

PTCC didn’t lose a Northants Premier Division game all season, it’s now over two years since anyone beat them even then, though they still had to win the final game to secure top spot. Second-placed Finedon played 17 matches, so were able to keep the pressure on until the final day.

This was recognised at the Northants League dinner in early November, where the League’s ‘outstanding achievement’ award, which normally goes to an individual, was presented to PTCC for the unique ‘double treble’ of titles.

Photo: Peterborough Town’s cricketers enjoyed such a dominant 2021 season, the Northants League presented the club with a surprise extra award at the competition’s annual dinner.

The club brought home nine trophies in total, including individual awards for Josh Smith picking up the player-of-the season award and Sam Jarvis who was the young player of the season.

The culture at the club really is special

Looking back at the season, 1st XI captain David Clarke spoke to Alan Swann for the Peterborough Telegraph:

“This season has been very satisfying for a number of reasons.

“We were really unlucky with the weather, and we had a game called off for Covid which the opposition refused to replay.

“We literally had to win every game we played in the last four months, or we wouldn’t have won the league.

“But we were very consistent in our performance, with every player making sizeable contributions when we needed them.

“We tended to get a great start with the bat through Josh Smith and Chris Milner, and we had players score runs all the way down the order.

“Lewis Bruce bowled as well as he ever has, and he made big contributions with the bat when we needed them most.

“The culture of the club really is special, and I include the second team in that. We really are a close-knit club, with the seconds always coming down to watch and support the first team.

“(Captain) Balaji Ganesan has done a great job with a really young side, and now they are in Division One they’ve closed the gap in standard between firsts and seconds. They have players like Sam Jarvis, Danny Iqbal and Kyle Medcalf who are pushing for first team places.

“We also have a thriving youth set-up which promises to deliver first-team cricketers for years to come.

“This season, we’ve had Karanpal Singh (18) and Sulemain Saleem (19) playing together in the first team. They’ve been playing together at the club since they were eight and nine, and they don’t make the numbers up, they make big contributions.

“We should have everyone back again next year. Josh Smith is a class act, and he is bound to get offers from elsewhere, but he loves it with us, and he’s virtually committed to next season. He’s averaged over 50 with the bat in each of the last three seasons, and his bowling is more than useful.

“I doubt we’ve ever won seven trophies in a summer and it will be hard to do it again, but I wouldn’t rule out anything with these players at this club.”

Photo: Peterborough Town 1st XI celebrate a third Northants League Premier Division title in a row. Photo: David Lowndes

Photo: Peterborough Town 2nd XI celebrate winning the Northants 2nd Division Knockout Cup title, their third trophy of the season.