It is the second time he has won the award. He was a previous winner in 1998. He thus joins Chris and Robin Smith, Mark Nicholas and Shaun Udal as double-winners since the inception of the award in 1982.

He hit the ground running as he made telling contributions in Hampshire’s first four matches of the season. Three were won as the County firmly established their spot in the promotion places, where they were to remain for the rest of the season.

First, after an economical bowling performance, he, with Will Kendall, steered Hampshire to a 3 – wicket victory over Durham at The Rosebowl. Needing only 109 to win, the County were reeling at 52 for 7 before the pair added a forthright 60 in 12 overs without being separated. They may have been fortunate with the sun making an appearance to quell the devils in the pitch but their positive response was to become one of the trademarks of Hampshire’s cricket throughout the summer. Mascarenhas finished on 33 not out.

He was then mainly instrumental in Hampshire racing to a two-day innings victory in the following match against Leicestershire, again at The Rosebowl. Sporting a red mohican haircut, his whippy, medium pace bowling, unrelenting accuracy and late away swing gave him match figures of 8 for 44 in 25 overs.

The Rosebowl proved a productive hunting ground for Hampshire in their opening three fixtures and Dimi Mascarenhas prospered with both bat and ball in the next match with Derbyshire. First, he scored 46 in the Hampshire first innings, during which he helped Nic Pothas (131 not out), also in good early season form, add 119 in 33 overs for the sixth wicket. The pair flogged a weary bowling attack and capitalised on the old ball. As usual, he drove powerfully and was prolific through the leg side. When Shane Warne eventually declared Derbyshire moved without alarm in the early overs before he induced a collapse. The first five wickets – four to Mascarenhas – then fell in only 8 overs. Derbyshire’s last pair managed to bat through the last 14 balls as Hampshire strove desperately to take the final wicket. Mascarenhas finished with a season’s best six for 25.

It was Yorkshire’s turn next to feel the effects of his dynamism at Headingley where he returned his best all-round performance of the summer. He shared two crucial partnerships with Pothas; the pair added 80 and 74 which were to remain the most productive associations in the match. Their first efforts rescued the Hampshire innings and ensured a competitive and, as it transpired, match-winning total. He then bowled his County to victory by taking 5 for 44 in the final innings.

Limited overs cricket now began to intrude on the season as Hampshire went almost three weeks without a four-day match. Though scoring a half century in the C & G Match at Bristol, this interlude interrupted his momentum but, ironically, he regained it in sensational fashion in the Twenty 20. Before the television cameras on a damp night in Hove, where the ball zipped around to create the batsman’s ultimate nightmare, he took the competition’s first ever hat-trick thereby extinguishing any hope of Sussex attaining a reasonable total. Mark Davis was caught behind off a leg cutter, Mushtaq Ahmed was comprehensively bowled before Jason Lewry was snaffled low at second slip by Michael Clarke. Sussex were dismissed for only 68, with Mascarenhas taking a remarkable five for 14 in 3.5 overs. However, Hampshire found the conditions no easier and it took the long handle of Chris Tremlett to ease the County home in one of the season’s most compelling matches in any form of cricket.

He then returned to The Rosebowl where before his adoring faithful – by now he had achieved almost cult status with Hampshire supporters – he plundered 52 heady runs off only 22 balls against Middlesex, before bowling four economical overs. Two days later, after Shane Watson’s impressive 97 not out, he claimed the wickets of three Kent batsmen for only 20. At one stage he was on a hat-trick once more.

Upon the completion of the Twenty 20, the County travelled to Canterbury in the totesport League for yet another thrilling television encounter. Though Hampshire’s spin twins Warne and Shaun Udal and brilliant fielding by Clarke, eventually ensured a memorable Hampshire triumph, the fact that they had any total to defend was entirely due to Dimitri Mascarenhas. In a match that had more twists than a grand prix circuit, Hampshire were seemingly down and out very early on at 54 for 6. However, he then controlled the rest of the innings discerning strokeplay accounting for over half of his side’s runs as he made 79, to equal his best score in limited overs cricket. He was last out with the total at 146. Clarke was the only other batsman to reach double figures.

Upon the resumption of four-day cricket, he continued to capture crucial wickets. He (3 – 53) and Warne (6 for 65) caused a Glamorgan second innings collapse at Sophia Gardens which lead to Hampshire’s eventual 9 – wicket victory. In the return match at The Rosebowl he completed yet another five wicket haul, taking 3 wickets in three overs in the process. When he was on a roll last summer, he was virtually unstoppable. He continued to prise open opposition innings until the end of the season. However, he still had time to compile a much coveted century when he struck a fine 104 in 221 minutes against Durham at a damp Riverside.

Hampshire supporters were justifiably in high dudgeon when he was not named in the original 30 for England’s ICC Trophy squad. Given he was vying with Andrew Flintoff for the all-rounder’s spot, it is doubtful that we would have made the final selection, but not to have included him in the first 30 seemed incomprehensible. He received some compensation when, with Chris Tremlett, he was picked for England’s Hong Kong Sixes team. He was in irresistible form throughout, none more so than in the first group match against Sri Lanka. When he arrived at the crease England still needed 12 off three balls. He proceeded to drive two straight sixes off his first two deliveries.

Dimitri Mascarenhas has proved in the last two seasons that he is as accurate a bowler as any in county cricket, and if the wicket offers any assistance he can be devastating. However, undoubtedly aided by his extensive experience in the hard school of Australian grade cricket in Perth, his control of line and length commands respect on all pitches. In the pointless run glut on a Trent Bridge featherbed last summer he bowled more economically than any other bowler. Indeed, a table in the November edition of The Wisden Cricketer indicates he was the most economical English-qualified bowler in 2004. He conceded a miserly 2.58 runs per over. He was third in a similar chart last year. His consistency therefore is proven.

If he can convert his attractive cameo 30’s and 40’s into something more substantial – his century at Durham was his only score over 50 in first-class cricket last summer – then another international call may yet be forthcoming. Significantly, he still feels he has time on his side, having rejected an opportunity to join Western Australia’s squad for the Pura Cup competition this winter. The invitation demonstrates that Dimitri Mascarenhas has indeed become a cricketer of considerable substance.