A TRIO of cricketers took the honours at last night's Darlington Young Sportswinner monthly awards.

Thirteen-year-old Mark Dobinson was presented with the overall award, sponsored by Orange, after a year in which he played for a total of 11 teams.

Mark, from Carisbrooke Walk, Darlington, was jointly nominated by Haughton and Darlington cricket clubs.

For Darlington, he has played for the second and third XIs, under-17s, under-15s and has been captain of the under-13s.

For Haughton, he was captain of the under-13s, vice-captain of the under-15s, and played for the under-17s and second XI.

During the 12 months, he also played for the Darlington and District Under-21 League XI and Durham county under-13s side.

His nomination stated: "Mark's dedication to cricket is amazing. He rarely misses a practice session, he scores every Saturday for Darlington CC second XI, will do anything asked of him to do with cricket and will always do it with a smile on his face.

"He has, this season, been justly rewarded with four matches for Durham county under-13s cricket team - the only player in Darlington to achieve this accolade."

The second and third places in the awards went to cricketers Warren Spark and Ryan Pritchard.

The winner of the coaches' award, sponsored by Master Skills Sporting Academy, was Diane Pallister, for swimming, with Dorothy Hodgson of Disability Sport England, collecting the Darlington Borough Council Service to Sport Award.

Cricket was also the winner in the team award, sponsored by Amec, which was taken by Haughton School girls' under-12s.