Smethwick captain Rawait Khan was delighted to lift the Birmingham Premier League trophy for a second time following his team’s win at Barnt Green.

While presenting the cup, league chair David Manning described Smethwick’s dismissal of all-comers and subsequent romp to the title in just 19 of the 22 available weeks as being one of the most emphatic and memorable league wins in modern history.

Smethwick’s skipper said this win ranks above the achievement of his club’s 2022 squad which he also captained.

“Winning the league twice in three years is a fantastic achievement,” Rawait said.

“In some ways winning it a second time is harder because of the expectation which is there and last year we missed out to Moseley by eight points so that makes this title very sweet.

“That first title was very special and we have kept the core of experienced players which has really helped us this year.

“We had belief from the outset and when we did so well in the early part of the season that really cemented confidence in our ability.

“We have been very fortunate to have the likes of Raj Beniwal, Bilal Shafayat and Yasir Ali around when we needed them because we haven’t seen as much of Kadeer this year with him being involved in the Hundred.

“Our overseas’ pro Deepak Khatri has also been fantastic. He came over from India into alien conditions in a wet summer and has fitted in superbly. Deepak completed 1000 league runs today which is a superb achievement and he’s also chipped in with plenty of wickets despite having a back niggle for some of the season.

“Lots of work goes on behind the scenes with our chair Mr Sandhu, our manager Arif and Zabair who puts so much time in and I must also recognise their very important part in this title win.”

Picture shows: Mohammad Zabair (BDPCL vice chair), Mick Corcoran (BDPCL president), Rawait Khan (Smethwick CC captain) and David Manning (BDPCL chair)