As the sun sets on a disappointing season for the 1st XI, it would go amiss not to acknowledge the fantastic season had by David Christie. 26 year old Dave or DC was born in Port Elizabeth in the South African Eastern Cape, and joined us at the start of the 2026 season as our professional on an ancestral UK visa.
Dave smashed the previous club record of 902 league runs in a season (set by Kyle Coetzer in 2016), finishing with an amazing 1059 league runs. Dave recorded 4 league centuries - 141 v South North, 135 v Castle Eden, 106 v Hetton Lyons, 102no v Shotley Bridge - as well as 4 half centuries, finishing with an average of 52.95.
For the record in total only 11 players have ever scored 1000 runs or more in the NEPL Premier Division (4 of them were in 2026), Dave sits at number 6 in the list. Many thanks to Dave McKay for providing the full list below.
- SJD Bell (South North) - 1134 runs in 2026
- TWM Latham (Gateshead Fell and New Zealand) - 1102 runs in 2010
- CJ Hewison (South North) - 1085 runs in 2003
- Mandeep Singh (Castle Eden and India) - 1077 runs in 2026
- TH David (South Shields and Australia) - 1073 runs in 2016
- D Christie (Benwell Hill and Boland) - 1059 runs in 2026
- AL Smith (Chester le Street) - 1052 runs in 2010
- M Bekker (Gateshead Fell and KwaZulu-Natal) - 1027 runs in 2006
- DA Jospeh (Stockton and Windward Islands) - 1023 runs in 2000
- JR Oswell (Burnopfield) - 1006 runs in 2026
- AM Thorpe (Chester le Street) - 1003 runs in 2001
In total Dave finished the season with 1684 league and cup runs for the Hill, with a total of 6 centuries - the addtiional two were 131 v Gems (in a 20 over game) and 127 v Gatesheal Fell (in a 100 game), plus another 4 half centuries, finishing with overall average of 51.06.
We also would like to thank him for the tremendous work and effort he put into our junior teams, overall a fantastic season which was capped off with the news that he had secured a contract with Boland for the 2026/27 South African domestic season. Thanks Dave winter well!
