Guru shows Radlett it's all in the mind

Radlett's players paid tribute today to the man who masterminded their triumph in club cricket's premier knockout tournament, despite knowing virtually nothing about cricket.

After his team's 54-run victory over Lordswood in the Evening Standard Challenge Trophy final at The Oval, veteran wicketkeeper David Hanson highlighted the crucial part played by a Scotsman called Jack Black.

Hanson explained: "Jack is a motivational speaker from Glasgow who specialises in talking to Scottish sports people. He has worked with their national rugby team, Celtic's footballers and athletes like Liz McColgan and Yvonne Murray.

"I knew him through a good friend of mine who is one of his proteges. Jack normally charges £30,000 for his services but he gave up his time for free to have a two-hour session with us when he was down in London a fortnight ago - and it went brilliantly.

"It was just to try to give us a psychological edge for the final, to give the team a real feeling of togetherness so we were properly prepared for the biggest game of our lives. The record books will show how well it worked."

Radlett's captain, opening batsman Nick Fielden, who top-scored with 72 out of 230 for seven before the Kent side were bowled out for 176, said: "Jack's talk was excellent and put us in a positive frame of mind. We are very much a unit and rely on each other for support in the field." Another man who played a crucial part in the Radlett triumph was coach Dave Houghton, who guided the team to the final before leaving to become director of cricket at Derbyshire.

Fielden said: "Dave's absolutely delighted for us and we are all better players for having worked with him for two seasons."

Fielden and Nick Hampton had given Radlett a solid start at a sun-drenched Oval with 76 in 19 overs on an unusually slow wicket.