CALLINGTON skipper Aidan Libby feels it’s been ‘great to turn it around so quickly’ as the Greens secured a 15th Hawkey Cup crown on Tuesday night with a convincing 75-run success over St Austell at Wheal Eliza.

The East Cornwall outfit racked up a hefty 201-4 from their 20 overs led by professional Chris Dent’s 126 from just 56 balls, before Ben Ellis, Ben Alford and Mohammed Danyaal all took two wickets apiece to secure a fine victory.

Libby, who returned to the role at the start of the season and made 24 himself at the top of the order, said: “We knew it’d be tough against St Austell on their own ground, but we wanted to put on a big score and then make it difficult for them, and thankfully it came off.

“Chris produced the sort of innings which propelled us to where we needed to be, and a bit of help from Jake (Rowe) and (Matt) Whalley got us up to above 200. And then we did really well with the ball. The plan was to make the batsmen hit the ball square of the wicket, particularly with a very short straight boundary on one side, and they pulled it off.”

Callington endured a disappointing summer last year having won the Hawkey Cup and finished second in the ECB Cornwall Premier League in 2024 as they finished seventh in the league and lost in the last four in the T20 format.

Over the winter they brought in Dent as their professional in place of Graham Wagg, while the likes of wicketkeeper Matt Thompson and all-rounders Jake Rowe and Matt Whalley all arrived.

Libby continued: “It’s great to turn it around so quickly as shown by picking up the first trophy of the season, and it shows that everyone is buying into what we’re trying to achieve as a team and as a club.”

Callington haven’t represented the Duchy at a South West Area T20 Finals Day having not the WT Edwards Cup crown since 2000, something Libby is keen to change, adding: “It’s next on the list as we haven’t won it for so long. I’ve played in a couple of finals but never managed to win it, but it’d be great to do and represent Callington and Cornwall on the national stage. But first we’ve got to win a big game against either Penzance or Helston.”

While the T20 format is important, winning a red ball trophy is even more special, starting with a crunch clash at nearest challengers Penzance on Saturday.

The St Clare outfit have come into form, and with Cally losing at Werrington on Saturday, the deficit is down to six.

“There’s still a long way to go, but it’s obviously a big game down at Penzance”, said Libby. “But so far it’s been solid performances all of the way through with everyone putting their hand up, so hopefully we can keep that going during the second half of the season.

“They’ve got a lot of top-class players, as do we. I’m expecting it to be a high-scoring game on what will be a really good pitch and quick outfield. They’ll be up for it just like we will, so we’ll see what happens.”

Libby’s final words were for their supporters who headed down to Wheal Eliza in their droves.

He concluded: “It was great to see such a fantastic following down there from Callington, they packed out the place.

“It goes to show the club spirit at the moment and last night was a reward for everybody’s hard work.”