Alex Dore, the Southampton Rangers captain, has hailed his team’s successful Premier Division 50 overs title conquest.

Herbie Bascome’s team sealed the championship with a game to spare on Sunday after nearest rivals Warwick Workmen’s Club were forced to settle for a share of the points after their contest against Bailey’s Bay was abandoned because of rain.

The abandonment eliminated Warwick from title contention and handed the league championship to an idle Rangers, who now hold an unassailable lead at the top of the standings heading into their final fixture against Somerset on Sunday.

Dore is delighted to see he and his team-mates reap the benefits of hard work.

“We put in the work and we achieved another title,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“We work hard in training and then we show up game time regardless of the opponent and produce — and I think this season, especially in the league, it showed.

“Our main objective is whenever we step on that field we want to show a different level of cricket, and I think that every game that we played there was a distinct level of cricket that we were trying to play. I think that our fans as well as other cricket fans would agree to that. You saw that whether it was fielding, bowling or batting.”

Rangers, who remain unbeaten in all competitions this season, have enjoyed enormous success since returning to the top flight at the beginning of the campaign. They lifted the First Division Champion of Champions trophy in their first outing of the season before achieving the Premier Division T20 league and cup double and being crowned Western Counties champions.

Dore is delighted to see the club re-establish themselves as a dominant force in the top flight.

“I started playing cricket for Rangers at 12 and have known it to be a winning club so to see the trophies coming back to the club in ten-fold just means a lot to me and I think that the community are very proud of us,” he said.

With the title race over, it now remains to be seen who will be relegated along with Willow Cuts, whose fate was sealed after losing to dethroned champions St David’s last weekend.

As it stands, the Islanders are second from bottom with 20 points and will be relegated should they lose their final 50 overs contest against Warwick on Sunday.

Warwick, Bailey’s Bay, St George’s and Somerset all sit on 25 points.

Bay are the only team to have already played their quota of matches while St George’s and Warwick have a game in hand against each other scheduled for September 5.