“I still think there’s a lot more to come from Hollie.”

It’s the view held by James Carr, the director of cricket for the Northern Diamonds, and an exciting prospect at that given he is talking about captain Hollie Armitage less than a fortnight after the all-rounder went across the board at the region’s 2022 player of the year awards.

Armitage, 25, claimed a trio of senior awards from five available.

She was named fielder of the year, players’ player of the year and overall player of the year, Katie Levick and Lauren Winfield-Hill scooping the bowler and batter of the year respectively.

Armitage was clearly outstanding last summer, leading from the front as her side won a maiden Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Lord’s in late September.

The Huddersfield-born star scored 494 runs across the RHF Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup competitions combined, including one century and a fifty in the top order. She also claimed 15 wickets with her leg-spinners and took 10 catches.

Her standout display came in a late season RHFT group win over Somerset at Taunton when she hit 131 not out with the bat before taking two wickets and two catches. Her ton was her first in senior domestic cricket. 

“On the pitch, Hollie’s performed really well,” said Carr. “Off the field, she’s a really popular member of our dressing room.

“To get both player of the year awards, plus our fielding award, speaks volumes for what kind of year she had.

“She’s a presence on the field with her captaincy - her leadership qualities are a major part of why she won those awards - and bowling and also running around on the square at short mid-wicket and short extra cover. 

“So the volume of catches she took doesn’t surprise me at all. She always wants to be in the game.

“I think Hollie’s matured a lot, that’s the key. She was fortunate enough to go to an esteemed University in Loughborough, she’s had access to the old England Academy programme. 

“She clearly had a lot of talent, going shoulder to shoulder in men’s cricket as well.

“I feel like this last couple of years, after some hard yards and difficult injuries, all her determination to overcome them is paying off.”

Last season was Armitage’s second full campaign in charge of the Diamonds. But she is a vastly experienced cricketer given her tender age.

In all senior List A and T20 cricket, including for the Diamonds and Yorkshire, she has made 147 career appearances.

“She’s 25, and really she’s approaching the peak of her career,” continued Carr. 

“One thing we’ve never really been afforded is the opportunity to develop cricketers into their mid-twenties before and allow for mistakes and allow for development. 

“The regional programme has allowed for that.

“It should be a development space for aspiring young cricketers but also a finishing school and breeding ground for international cricketers. 

“Hollie is in that space now. She is fine-tuning her game to hopefully knock on the door of England one day. It might not be over the next year, but why can’t she peak at 27 or 28?”

Last year, Armitage also led the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, and her best form in regional cricket came after that in September when she hit that aforementioned 131 not out at Taunton and struck seven times with the ball in the final three games of the season.

Carr believes it was no coincidence. 

“The Hundred, and franchise cricket in general, can be quite an intensive period,” he added. “It is play, travel, rest, prepare, hotels, motorways - all sorts of things. 

“Don’t get me wrong, the domestic season is still extensive, but there is a bit more space between games. There is also a bit less fanfare around it all.

“It just seemed that when everybody came back from the Hundred last year, everybody was really relaxed and at ease during that month of September.

“I’m not saying we weren’t relaxed before the Hundred, but definitely when they came back in September it was very noticeable and they could almost breathe a bit more.”

Alongside the senior awards, Grace Hall won the Diamonds’ Academy coaches' player of the year, while Harriet Robson scooped the players’ player award.