On his Hampshire League debut for Ampfield & North Baddesley back in early May, the batter struck 136 not out in a Division 4 South fixture against Folland (Hamble).
It set the tone for a stunning season in which Behar broke through the magical 1,000-run league mark.
After starting with a century, he finished with one as well - 115 against Fareham & Crofton 2nds.
In between, Behar compiled FIVE more hundreds, including a stunning 233 not out against Ryde 2nds in his penultimate HL innings.
That proved to be the highest individual score made anywhere in the HL in 2024, with only nine higher scores ever made in the league’s history dating back to its inception in 1973.
Behar faced just 144 balls for his 233, hitting 41 boundaries and a solitary six as Ampfield racked up 412-3 in 45 overs. In a embarrassingly one-sided affair, Ryde were skittled for just 38 to lose by 374 runs.
Behar had made three centuries before May was out, with 119 against Portsmouth 3rds and 132 not out against Calmore 3rds.
He finished with 1,221 runs from only 15 innings, with seven centuries and three half-centuries, at the Bradman-esque average of 174.43.
It is unknown whether that total figure is a new seasonal Hampshire League record, but it is certainly the highest in recent times.
In 2023, Mahesh Sasi (Gosport Challengers) topped the charts with 859, while Bramshaw’s Tom Arnold totalled 1,152 in 2022 from 16 visits to the crease.
Second to Behar in this year’s list was Penton’s Shervin George.
The West Indian hit 869 runs in his debut Division 4 North campaign for the club, ending the season with three successive hundreds - 100, 109 not out and 103.
Third was Andy O’Neill, who amassed 819 runs from 13 Division 5 North West innings for Dinton.
In fourth place was former England international Rikki Clarke, who compiled 816 runs from just seven innings - six of which ended with three-figure scores, as reported in last Friday’s edition of The News.
The highest-placed batter playing for a Portsmouth area club was Dom Sampson.
He scored 737 Division 5 South East runs in his debut season for Portsmouth Community, having previously played for Sarisbury.
In one purple patch, he scored three hundreds in five innings - a career best 159 v Portsmouth 4ths, 131 v Petersfield 2nds and 105 v Gosport Borough 3rds.
*Matt Metcalfe finished as the Hampshire League’s leading wicket-taker.
Playing for East Tytherley in Division 6 North West, he bagged 42 wickets at the phenomenal average of just 3.76!
He took 4-8 on debut and ended the season with 6-13, 4-35 and 5-27 in his last three matches.
Such figures should come as no surprise - in 2019, Metcalfe became only the second bowler in history to take 500 Southern Premier League top flight wickets!
The former Lymington captain and Dorset all-rounder is part of an East Tytherley side who had to start at the very lowest level of Hampshire League cricket in 2024 as they were a newly-formed club.
Helped by Metcalfe running through opposition line-ups, Tytherley won all 14 of their completed fixtures in their debut campaign.
