Histon seeking to overachieve again after last season’s runner-up finish in Onyx League Division One

Having ‘exceeded expectations’ in 2024, the challenge for Histon is to follow suit again this season.

Captain Ben Leach went into the previous Onyx League Division One campaign expecting that his side would be battling towards the bottom end of the table.

However, 12 victories from 22 outings saw Histon finish the campaign in an unexpected second place.

“We 100 per cent exceeded expectations. I thought we’d be in the lower half of the table,” said Leach. “To be fighting with four or five games to go to actually win the division, we definitely overachieved.

“We had Henry Wilson and Ed Hyde churning out the runs, John Turner had a great season with the ball, but overall everyone chipped in.

“This year – as always – everyone is capable of beating everyone, but we’ll aim to start well and see where it takes us.”

Histon will have to make do without the services of the aforementioned Wilson, who has opted to join Sawston & Babraham in the East Anglian Premier League.

And while Leach is disappointed to lose the youngster’s services, it is a departure that he was expecting.

“We always knew that Henry was destined for a higher level,” Leach said of the batsman that was sixth in last season’s run-scoring charts.

“We were lucky to have him last season and while we’re disappointed to lose him, we want to see him go as high and as far as he can. He goes with our best wishes.”

In terms of incomings, the bowling pair of Ben Kavanagh and Chetan Chauhan have both returned to the club, while Seb Harrison will bolster the batting ranks.

The top order batsman was one of the highest scorers throughout the region last term, with his Saturday form for Little Shelford alone seeing him score a total of 973 runs at an average of 88.45.

Harrison has also impressed at age-group county level and in 2023 he won the Rajen Mahendra Trophy for overall Cambridgeshire Boys’ Player of the Year following a campaign in which he scored 634 runs with an average of 53.58.

Leach said: “Seb is a very different player to Henry but equally as talented. We’re giving him a platform and I’m sure he’ll end up playing at a higher level.

“I’m sure he’ll do great things for us this season.”

Histon start the 2025 season at Eaton Socon on Saturday (19 April).