A few weeks after leading their sides to promotion, MHVCC captains Dan Potter and James O'Sullivan are sat in a Mill Hill pub happily discussing where it all went right over the summer.

Playing in the Saracens Herts League, Potter, who grew up on Burtonhole Lane yards from the ground where he has played since he could walk - led the 1st XI to the Division 5B title. O’Sullivan, who lives in Mill Hill, guided the 2nd XI to the top of Division 8B.

The two captains discussed improved performances founded on new blood; paid tribute to the volunteers that allow the club to thrive; and outlined the skillset required to make a successful village cricket captain - this as Potter admits he's not yet decided if he is going to remain skipper in 2023.

DH: Congratulations! What do you put your success down to this season?

Dan Potter: We’ve always had that confidence that on our day, we can beat whoever we're playing. For us as a side the issue has always been about consistency and selection: When some people aren't available, are we able to still deliver enough wins throughout the season?

What's really helped us this year was that when we had people coming in, whether that's Prasham Garg, Rahil Sharma, James Samarasinghe or Rahul Raman, they each had a telling contribution that got us over the line. That made a difference because it came down to fine margins. [The 1s won the title by four points].

James O'Sullivan: I put our success down to a little bit of planning. At the beginning of the season, me and Shiban Sayed, my vice-captain, discussed a couple of ideas. We got bogged down last year when we were batting and when we had two slower batsmen at the crease, the run rate would drop dramatically and the pressure would start building. I said I've always wanted to rotate the batsmen with one strong scorer, such as Dinesh Johnson [who averaged 43.00 with a top score of 154 not out] or Shiban and one who's a bit more stable, such as Shahme Farook or myself, and then work from there.

The other thing this season was bowling in tandems as well, which proved to be really effective. I discovered Inthi Mazeez was a bowler, which I didn't know last season. He hadn't bowled since I've been at the club and someone said, "Give him the ball!" So he ended up opening for us pretty much all season and was second-leading wicket taker [25 wickets at an average of 12.24]. He opened in tandem with Alam Khan for the first couple of games, but then Alam went to the 1s. And the other main partnership was me and Sheron Vanarkadi, we worked really well together. After the opening bowlers, me and Sheron kept the pressure on and then Shiban would normally just clean up the tail.

DH: Was there a turning point during the season when either of you thought, "We can win the title.”

DP: We had a very stuttering start. We were mid-table halfway through and then won the last nine games to win the league. So in that sense, there was a very clear turning point. I think the moment that sticks in my mind was actually when I was missing [vice-captain James Thompson skippered] and I was getting constant updates. Sometimes when your captain and you're missing, especially because we'd been gathering a little bit of momentum at that point, you’re even more into the game than if you were playing. We managed to beat Potten End away and they were top of the table at the time in a close game. Ali Javed and Alam opened up and just ran through their top order and at that point you go, “Well, we've taken points off them, this is on!”

JOS: The first game was a turning point for me. I remember the way we performed with the ball and I said to the lads at the end of the game that it’d been by far the best performance I'd seen from the 2s since I’d been at the club at that point. We were playing a decent side [Harpenden 4s] and we hammered them. And then the week after, same again, we just hammered them. I was like, “Wow.” I said to the team at that point that if we carry on like this and keep our team together we could go on to win the league. And we did.

DH: What’s the secret to managing the different personalities and making them gel into a successful unit?

DP: That's one of the great lessons of captaincy at this level. You don't really know what you're going to be met with when you turn up for the match. Especially with some of the people in my team, I don't know if they've been out the night before and not feeling their best or whether they're well up for it. So it's about trying to get everyone onside, pulling in the same direction on the day, which is sometimes easier said than done. It's a challenge. In the past it's held us back, having too many competing characters and too many arguments, not enough people moving in the same direction. These days, in terms of characters, you’d look at Marcus Cara, who is probably the loudest. When he’s positive and really into it, because he’s one of our best players, it does raise the standard for us as a team.

JOS: The secret is good man-management really, learning what players you can push a little bit more and being very careful what you can say to some people. I've noticed that, the slightest little out of turn phrase and it can be misinterpreted.

DP: We're all quite proud and we all want to do our best, so you've got to be really aware of that when you're speaking to people and making sure that they feel valued.

JOS: I listen to people, I'm not really a superbrash character. I try to let people have their input. In previous regimes, I know this myself, it wasn’t always easy to have your points taken on board by the previous captain. If someone really tries to listen and gets to know what other people want to input, that can make the team stronger.

My vice-captain Shiban has been really helpful this year. He skippered about five or six games. He's got a good cricket brain, he's on the ball, alert. He’s very positive. He's good in all aspects of cricket. If I don't spot something - the last time I was captain was at high school, so I'm very inexperienced and I haven't had a lot of cricket, before I joined the club I hadn't played for 20 years - so if I'm missing things with fielding positions, we'll have a word together and discuss it. It's worked out really well.

DH: So as captains would you say the man-management aspect is the biggest challenge?

DP: Yeah. Captaincy at our level is all about man-management. It's 99 percent of what it is. It is incredibly challenging and at times quite draining because there are so many things you don't see. Some dramas come out of nowhere that you have to fix that week and then it's a different thing the next week.

JOS: Not knowing who your team's going to be week in, week out is a challenge. Obviously if Dan needs players, then hopefully I can accommodate him. We've had a few dramas with that this season, but it's evened out towards the end. So team selection and man management, trying not to upset people.

DH: Tell me how you were able to foster a winning mentality?

JOS: A winning mentality comes from togetherness and listening to each other. For me, this season we were turning over a new leaf, with a new captain. I was really pumped this season being captain for the first time in a long time. I wanted to lead by example and really give it my best. I think a lot of players have improved since the previous year, which just made that little bit of difference. I think I recognise talent a bit better than the previous skipper. It's a pretty similar team [to last season] but I think certain players weren’t doing jobs they should’ve been doing. Inthi is a prime example.

DP: I think the 2s fostered that winning mentality better and sooner. I definitely sensed with the 2s more of a direction than usual. With the 2s, you know you might lose your best players any time. So it’s quite hard to maintain a sense of direction. It's really impressive that they maintained this "we're going to win the league" mentality. With us, we'd had a few years of stuttering and not getting promoted. And so I think there wasn't quite the belief there and I must admit, after we started winning a few close games in the middle of the season, it was only then that it felt like we could actually win this.

JOS: I know that in everything I do I always want to win. I've been like that since I was a little kid. I compete and even if I don't win I give 100 percent, I think that rubs off on the team a little bit.

DH: Can you pick out a champagne moment from the 2022 season?

DP: The one that sticks in my mind was actually against Potten End early on in the season when we were stumbling towards the opposition’s total and we were getting a bit bogged down and it looked like we were going to run out of overs. And Amit Chadha came in, he's basically new to the team, quite a slight guy, we're not expecting him to smack it around, we're just hoping he could nudge and nurdle. I think we needed five to win and we had about three or four balls left. And he hit the penultimate ball into the cow field out of nowhere, for six. They thought they'd done enough up to that point so they were crushed.

JOS: It was in the second-last game of the season at Boxmoor. We were bowled out for 118, and we managed to get them out for 99. I top scored that day and took a couple of wickets and my mum came to see me play that day for the first time since I was a kid so that was nice.

DH: Dan, this season you scored 505 runs at an average of 42.08 and took 20 wickets. James, you took 14 wickets at an average of 12.79. What do you put your form down to?

DP: Just that cricket is a weird game! I started the season scoring absolutely no runs. I think I got really badly triggered by umpires the first three games in a row, which I was furious with. I remember saying to my brother, "You know what, I'm not even going to get stressed about cricket because when an umpire can just trigger you like that, there's no point in getting upset about it. I'm not saying that shift in mindset actually made a difference, but I just started getting some breaks. And once you get some breaks, you're out there in the middle for a bit more, you get your eye in and you’re better placed the following week to score some runs.

JOS: I think from a bowling perspective the nets in the winter season helped. My line and length were better this year. And then not overdoing nets during the summer. Last year I was always feeling aches and pains, I went to nets twice a week - I'm 41 now. And it was causing me pain and I wasn't running in as smoothly. And once this season started, I was playing on a Saturday and wouldn't play again until the following Saturday and that was the rhythm I built up.

DH: Who has inspired you as a captain?

JOS: Steven Gerrard. He gave inspiration on the pitch. I'm not one for speeches. If you listen to the lads, my speeches were cr*p! But I tried to inspire by giving it 100 percent on the pitch. That's why my inspiration is Gerrard - a man of few words but who can give it some when he's out there.

I'd also put you down as an influence, Dan. You were my first captain. I hadn't played since I was 20. I picked up a few things: You’ve got a good cricket brain and communication skills.

DP: In terms of cricket captaincy, most of my experience has come from playing under MHVCC’s own Dave Overton for six or seven years. To say that his style and personality is different to mine would be an understatement. He is one of those big characters, very sure of himself, very loud. But a good cricket brain. I learnt a lot from him and my captaincy will be somewhat based on him.

I think I've had difficulties coming to terms with maybe the assertiveness, the confidence he showed as captain. At the end of the day you need to be able to tell people, "This is what we're doing." If you're always unsure or show weakness, you're a bit rudderless. I'd like to think I picked up some of the stuff from Dave over the years.

DH: Dan, this was your third season as captain. Does it get easier?

DP: On the field it has got easier for me, although it's never easy. When I started I was inheriting a team and we had a lot of senior players who'd been playing in the team for a long time who thought they were senior players and had an opinion. I walked into a position where I had six or seven people telling me what the right thing to do was. They had very strong views. A few of those people have moved on and the rest have become accustomed to me actually deciding things.

DH: How would you describe the mood around the club right now?

JOS: It's very positive at the moment with two winning sides compared to the previous season where we were getting beat every week and people were getting the hump a little bit.

DP: I think the mood is immensely positive. I'm comparing it to having been at the club my whole life [Potter is 34 now] and I've seen it at a pretty low ebb to be honest. It has been poorly run in the past, struggling to continue, during the noughts.

[Director of Cricket and 3s captain] Phil Smith, the fact that he's brought through the juniors, boys and girls, he's built up the club so it's now in a better financial position. Really it's all about juniors cricket, because not only is that a revenue source, it brings constant talent into the adult teams. Otherwise all you're going to do is slowly lose people year on year. That's kind of what we saw in the past, year on year - a weakening of our sides. With the number of teams having shrunk down, he's managed to reverse that and get back to four Saturday teams and regular Sunday fixtures. That means there's more people at the club, which is always good. Honestly, it's such a joy every season when you get someone new, like Amit this year, Rahil, Will [Wyatt]. Out of nowhere they come in and suddenly you're like, “Wow, that fills a gap I had.” Then we're stronger than we were last year. I think that ultimately has led to more strength in depth and with both the 1s and 2s being promoted in the same season, that’s testament to that. There's more reason to be optimistic too with the state of the art nets being built [scheduled for completion in autumn 2022].

DH: Did the club ever come close to closing?

DP: I think it's definitely not an exaggeration to say it came close to closing. Clubs all up and down the grounds are struggling year on year, relying on volunteers to keep them alive. All it takes is to lose a couple of key people. There's a lot of key-person risk at cricket clubs because there's certain people that do an awful lot and if you lose them, then clubs do struggle to continue.

DH: Is there a succession plan?

DP: Phil Smith would love there to be a succession plan. I think the remit of those currently doing the jobs is continually to try to find people to give up some of their time. Really we need to share it around and not put so much on so few people.

DH: Looking ahead to next season, what are your hopes? Back-to-back promotion?

JOS: Aw, can you imagine it? That would be my aspiration. It might seem a bit far fetched to think you're going to get back-to-back promotions but that’s the goal. I don't imagine the jump up in quality is going to be huge. I think we're still going to be able to compete to a good level. As long as we don't lose players we can build on what we've got and I think we'll be amongst it, hopefully.

DP: When MHVCC moved over from the Middlesex league in 2011 and had to start from the bottom, I remember Phil saying at the time that he thought Division 4 would be our level and so it's good that we've got to that level now. But I have no doubt that we are capable of getting promoted out of Division 4. All it takes is a couple of new players to come in, to strengthen us.

DH: Will you be both captaining next season?

JOS: I think so. Having been successful so far - I had a 100 percent win record as captain up until the fourth-last game this season. I enjoy it. I've been out of cricket so long it's just nice to be back involved. It's a new experience for me, being skipper.

DP: We're reviewing my position. It has been a successful season, which does make it a little bit harder. It's time-consuming and it's one of those things where there'll never be a person desperate to take it on - it's rare that happens.

DH: What would make you want to continue as captain?

DP: I just want the players to play at as high a level as they can, I really do. That's what I want for Mill Hill Village. It was so satisfying at the end of the season to get promoted. So it does make you want to continue and see where you can take the team. What I'm all about, I just want to play proper cricket: bowling on one side of the wicket; not spraying it all over the place; batting sensibly, not just slogging. And fielding - it makes such a difference to me if people know what they're doing in the field, if they're switched on, if there's enthusiasm. That's what hurts the most, if I don't see that.

DH: Do you have a final message for MHVCC members and friends?

DP: I'll finish by thanking the guys that do all that work: Phil Smith, Pete Jaffe, [Treasurer] James Thompson, Richard Downes. It's like a second job to them and they just do it without questioning. When I turn up early - what I think is early - on Saturday morning for a match day and find that Pete is already rolling the pitches or find that James has already submitted the team and done my admin because he's worried I won't be able to do it properly. Richard for his time and effort as our regular umpire, it's an invaluable contribution and we love having him involved. They all just do a huge amount. Hopefully they're proud that we got promoted because it vindicates all the efforts they're putting in.

JOS: I feel lucky that I picked the right club. I could be here for a long time. I've only been here three and a half years. Ever since I've joined, everyone's been very welcoming and supportive. You can tell straight away, it is a good bunch of people that run it.

DP: The club is in a beautiful setting and the clubhouse might improve in the future. We’re likely to get funding. We’re moving in that direction, with the nets as well. So I think if as a junior or a member or friend of the club you stay in it for the long haul, you'll see.