A SIX-wicket haul including a hat trick and 68 runs has won Worcester Nomads' Azmat Riaz the Evening News/Duncan Fearnley Cricket Sales Ltd. Cricketer of the week award.

His efforts ensured that his side earned a draw in a friendly match against Birmingham side Weoley Hill.

Azmat, 19, took his first wicket at the end of the sixth over and added the next two with the first two balls of the seventh.

He said that at the time he didn't even realise that he had taken a hat-trick and just carried on as normal, but was soon put right by a team-mate.

The 68 runs that followed the medium-fast bowler's triumph further highlight his achievement.

It is without a doubt his greatest cricketing moment.

"I've never done it before.

"The overall performance is the best I've ever had," he said.

To show it was no fluke Riaz, who lives in Wylds Lane, Worcester, took six wickets for the first time in a match just a week earlier. The best he had managed before that was five.

He added jokingly: "I think I've peaked in my cricket career last Sunday."

The Worcester-based all- rounder has a top score of 80, made when he was 15, and so wasn't far off beating that either.

He is currently on holiday from Swansea University where he reads business studies.

Although he is playing for Nomads this season, Azmat played for Kidderminster three years ago while he was still a pupil at the Royal Grammar School, Worcester.

But, with his career still ahead of him, such performances are possible again and he is enjoying his success. "I'm not complaining," he added.

He wins a £30 voucher to be spent at Duncan Fearnley Cricket Sales Ltd. in Sherriff Street, Worcester.