Benwell Hill CC

Fantasy Cricket - one week to go - new leader

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 22:13:00 +0000

With one week to go, Michael Maclauchlan has taken over at the top of the Fantasy league.

Just a reminder the winner gets £100 in bar credit, 2nd place £40 in bar credit and 3rd place £20 in bar credit.

NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Ashington (a) - Won by 1 run

The 2s were involved in a terrific game at Langwell Crescent and came out on top by 1 run, as Ashington fell just short in their chase.

Skipper Fletcher on the toss and chose to bat, and thanks to useful contributions from the top 4, Abu and the skipper both with 48, Michael Mc (25) and Harsh (13) we got off to a great start at 135 for 3, however the middle and lower order struggled with only stalwart Andy Dawson (20) reaching double figures as we finished 204 all out with 4 overs still to bat.

Ashington's reply got off to a solid start however with some tight bowling we gradually chipped away at the wicket column as scoreboard pressure began to mount.

Banks Cup Final - NEPL 3rd XI v Chester le Street (a) - Lost by 8 wickets

Our young 3rd XI made up of 7 Under 15s, 1 Under 18 and 3 senior players put up a terrific display against Chester le Street in the Banks Cup final.

Chester won the toss and asked us to bat and we posted a very respectable 144 for 5 in our 20 overs, thanks to a terrifc 63 not out from Harsh Patel.

Last word goes to the President in his thank you message to everyone invovled:

“I would like to thank everyone who was involved with Presidents Day.

Fantasy Cricket - Week 15 Update - Tight at the Top

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 21:46:00 +0000

Aaron Armstrong remains on top.

The highest team point scorer over the past two weeks was Harsh Patel (971 points), with Andy Dawson (968) and Gabriel Mellor (966) the next best.

Top scoring player is still Ayush with 1176 points, DC is second with 978 points, Aaron is in third with 673 and Michael McLauchlan fourth with 670.

My apologies for the lengthy gap since the last edition of the Newsletter.
The weather has indeed been remarkable, and it is hugely to the credit of Mark, Geoff and John that the pitches have been so good, and the presentation of the ground has been so outstanding.
The Club staged a 3-day Minor County Fixture recently for the first time for many years and received universal praise from both teams, umpires and officials.
Mark Charlton is happily back at work now after an awful dental infection that saw him confined to the RVI.
BHCC's season has been a real `Curate's Egg` - i.
The Second Eleven has been hovering around the top four all season which given the youth of the side is highly commendable.
On the same basis the Third Eleven in both Leagues (the NEPL and the NTCL) have enjoyed considerable success and again many excellent performances have taken place.
The same message can be recorded re our Women`s and Girls sections who have probably enjoyed their cricket more than anybody else this season.
Finally on the cricket front Barry Pearson and the team of outstanding coaches have presided over another season of significant progress.
It is not an easy job to keep all the plates in the air when it comes to delivering cricket at BHCC so my grateful thanks to all those involved from the Head of Cricket down for their hard work.
My aim for brevity in these Newsletters has rather fallen by the wayside so I will keep the following short and descend to some bullet points:

- Congratulations to Adam Heather for reaching 10,000 NEPL League Runs.

- It was great to see Sarah and the extended Shaw Family back at the Club two weeks ago to have a photograph with Professor Shaw`s Bench.

- Elizabeth Nicholson had also visited the Club recently with Philip to see Eric`s bench.

- This Sunday a President`s Game will take place after a hiatus of a few years.

- There have been several successful social occasions over the summer, but the undoubted highlight was the Ladies Race Day choreographed by Pat and Margaret and featuring the unique Jimmy Mottram on the microphone.

- A much-needed refurbishment of the Squash Court has taken place, and it looks as good as new.

Enough for now – despite the First Team travails in 2026 BHCC remains a proper cricket club that strives to do its best on and off the field.
I will leave you with one last snapshot of the summer – the President bowling to his grandson George in the early evening sunshine (See below).

Simon Lunn

Chairman August 25 2026

If you would wish to contact me about any aspect of the Club please email: A visit to high flying Burnopfield was the challenge in front of us as we looked to stave off relegation for another week at least.

The hosts won the toss, asked us to bat first and Dave Christie was the first wicket to fall as not for the first time this season he was caught behind the wicket this time at slip having made only 8.

Our bowling was once again the highlight of the day as we gave very little away and took wickets at regular intervals and when Coleman was dismissed for 50 the hosts were wobbling at 102/7.

Our fate could finally be sealed on Saturday when we entertain Ashington at NBMS Denton Bank

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Newton (h) - Lost by 8 wickets - Match Report by James Walder

The 3rd team hosted promotion pushing Newton at the weekend and after losing another toss we were asked to bat on a damp and green wicket.

At 6 for 2 after 8 overs it didn't look great but a partnership between Sukhveer (34) and James (26) got us to 65 for 2 on a track for good first innings score.

Despite some good tight bowling we failed to get the wickets need to put Newton under any pressure.

Although safe from relegation (both from our league position and that NTCL have said there will be no relegation) it would be good to get back to winning ways in the last three games to end the season on a positive.

Weekend Review (15th August) - First Hill century for Michael Maclauchlan as 1st's take a hammering from old boy

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:45:00 +0000

Congratulations to Michael Maclauchlan who scored his first century for the Hill in an excellent win for the 2nd's against Felling, however it was bad news for the 1st's as old boy Alistair Appleby put them to the sword with a magnificant double hundred.

NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Felling (a) - Lost by 240 runs - Match Report by Phil Haves

The trip to Felling on Saturday was the cue to turn in our worst all round performance of the season as former Hill player Alasdair Appleby but our bowling to the sword with a fantastic unbeaten 224 as the home side amassed 370/4 in their 50 overs.

Chasing such a huge total we got off to the worst possible start as Dave was stumped down the leg side in the first over.

With 4 games to go our fate could be sealed on Saturday when we visit Burnopfield should we fail to win.

NEPL Premier Division - 2nd XI v Felling (a) - Won by 162 runs

The 2nd's bounced back in style after their mauling at Jesmond last week, with a huge 162 run win over Felling.

Felling never really got going in their chase and lost wickets regularly as they were all out for 128 in the 28th over.

The win leaves us in 5th place on 274 points, a finish of 3rd or 4th place looks to be the realistic target for the remainder of the season with South North and Newcastle City (who we play next) currently occupying those positions on 311 and 284 points respectively.

NTCL 3rd XI v Greenside (a) - Lost by 11 runs - Vice Captains Match Report by James Walder

The 3rd team travelled to Greenside and Skipper Chris 'Cherry' Pounder returned to his losing ways on the toss so we were asked to bowl first.

Our young bowling attack started well with good spells from Nicholas and Sahel keeping the run rate down.

Our response was led by Hector (31) but a steady stream of wickets held us back.

Four more games left.

Fantasy Cricket - Week 13 Update - Aaron remains on top

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 21:01:00 +0000

Aaron remains on top just 31 points ahead of Jayem, with Matty Hynd a further 13 points behind Jayem.

Another sunny day at NBMS Denton Bank saw us line up against Newcastle CC with 3 changes to our line up from the previous week including Aaryan Wagh making his First Team League debut behind the stumps.

Newcastle won the toss and rather surprisingly to both the home and away followers decided to have a bat.

After Lunch Lumsden and Doig batted determinedly adding 53 before the former was caught by Harpo off Max.

Dave and the returning Adam opened up and although Dave was dropped at slip early on the pair added 55 when Dave was out for 42 to running diving catch at long on.

Saturday sees our next test with a visit to Felling.

NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Newcastle (a) - Lost by 233 runs

A much weakened 2nd XI took a hell of a beating at Jesmond.

In reply only Navi Safi (15), James Walder (14) and Nazif Habibi (14) made double figures as we were dismissed for only 83 in the 44th over.

Next week we host Felling as we return to Win/Lose games (colour clothing), and hopefully a few returning senior players will see a more competitive game.

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Gosforth Strikers (h @ Newbrough) - Won by 3 wickets - Captains Report by Chris Pounder

The NTCL 3’s made it three in a row with a three wicket victory over a much changed Gosforth Strikers that were beaten back in May.

The 10 man Strikers were 213 all and there were more wickets for Nazir Hussain who got another 3 wickets to add to the 3 he took the week before at Blaydon, plus 2 wickets each for Dave Walder and Nirmit Singh and 1 for Sahel Malakzai and a run out

In reply a steady start was what was needed and Adam continued his good batting streak with 36 supported with a brilliant 26 by Hector.

The victory moves us up to 7th in the table, 31 points behind next weeks opponents Greenside.

NEPL Sunday DIvision 1 - 3rd XI v Chester le Street - Match Conceded

Unfortunately we had to concede the fixture to league champions Chester le Street on Sunday, as we only had 7 players available due to a combination of unavailability, holidays, injuries and ineligibility.

Fantasy Cricket - Week 12 Update - Aaron back on top

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 22:08:00 +0000

Apologies for the lack of updates last week, and also for an error in the Week 10 calculations (well spotted Ayush) as I inadvertently forgot to include the Sunday 3rd XI scores for the Burnopfeld game.

Top team point scorer over the last 2 weeks was Andy Dawson with 1281, meanwhile Ayush continues to lead the players point scores, and he's broke the 1000 point barrier for the season, next best is Dave Christie with 828 courtest of his century last weekend.

Weekend Review (1st/2nd August) - NTCL 3rd's fly the flag as all three NEPL league games lost

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 20:52:00 +0000

It was another bad day (weekend) at the office for the Hill, as all three of our NEPL teams went down to defeat, the 1st and 2nd's losing against Hetton Lyons on Saturday, and our NEPL 3rd's on Sunday against Seaham Harbour, however in better news the NTCL 3rd's continued their excellent season with a convincing win over Blaydon by 6 wickets, read on for all the info.

NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Hetton Lyons (h) - Lost by 6 wickets - Match report by Phil Haves

The visitors won the toss and asked us to bat on what looked a decent deck to take first knock.

Rory was first to be dismissed in the second over stumped off former Scottish international Tahir.

In reply the away sides openers took advantage of some inconsistent bowling and raced to 55 before Max gained a breakthrough.

Another disappointing Saturday and with games running out a dramatic upturn in form is required if we wish to give ourselves a chance of avoiding the drop which is becoming more and more likely each week.

NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Hetton Lyons (a) - Lost by 3 wickets

Dissapointingly we lost to Hetton Lyons for the second time in the league this season, this time by 3 wickets, after a very narrow defeat earlier in the season by 1 wicket.

The home team won the toss and chose to bowl, and it looked a good decision as we quickly slumped to 8 for 2 with youngsters Liam Hynd and Harsh6 Patel back in the hutch.

In reply Hetton's innings was held together by opener Chris Martin's 76, and despite a flurry of wickets (4 for Aaron and 2 for Gabriel), batter/wk Matthew Tomys with 44 not out ensured the home team won in the last over by 3 wickets.

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Blaydon (a) - Won by 9 wickets - Vice Captains Report by Chris Pounder

In the nearest to a 'home' match the 3rd XI travelled to Blaydon with late call ups for Dave and Ibrahim.

Debutant Naz Hussain bowled a great opening spell of 9 overs 3 for 37 and he was supported by Dave with 7.

Some early boundaries from Rash get us off to a good start but at 31 for 3 the game was in the balance.

It is the first time in the season we have had back to back wins giving us some good momentum for the final 6 games of the season.

Weekend Review (25th July) - NTCL 3rd's beat South North but 1st's and 2nd's lose to Chester le Street

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 20:21:00 +0000

It was another tough weekend for the 1st XI as they lost heavily (by 8 wickets) at Ropery Lane against Chester le Street, the 2nd XI also went down in the reverse fixture at NBMS Denton Bank by 4 wickets, however the NTCL 3rd XI recorded an excellent 9 wicket victory at Newbrough against South North, read on for all the details.

NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Chester le Street (a) - Lost by 8 wickets - Match report by Phil Haves

Another chastening afternoon in the sun unfolded as we visited Ropery Lane as we fell to a comprehensive 8 wicket defeat.

Asked to bat first Dave and Rory once again came out of the blocks at a fast pace adding 35 for the first wicket before Dave was dismissed for 19 off 19 balls (2x6 & 1x4).

In reply Harpo struck in his first over and when the dangerous Smith was caught by Belly off Woody we sniffed a faint hope of claiming a victory.

NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Chester le Street - Lost by 4 wickets

The 2's went down by 4 wickets to top of the table in an entertaining game at NBMS Denton Bank.

The Hill skipper Pete Jones won the toss and chose to bat, however Harsh Patel, Michael Maclauchlan and Aaron Wagh all fell early as we stumbled to 28 for 3, but a solid partnership between Abu Siddique and Jayem Patel steaded the ship before Jayem fell for 27 with the score at 99, Abu was next to fall for an excellent and patient 56.

Chester's reply was rapid with all the top 3 posting scores of 40+, it was only the introduction of spin did the wickets begin to fall, however the early damage was terminal as the visitors surpassed our total for loss of 6 wickets in the 38th over.

NTCL 3rd XI v South North (h @ Newbrough) - Won by 9 wickets - Captains Report by Chris Pounder

The NTCL 3’s returned to winning ways with an emphatic 9 wicket win over South North.

Not for the first time the skipper lost the toss and was asked to field first and we made early inroads with the wicket of Carr (1) and Wewalage (0) leaving South North 12/2.

We were just about perfect in the response.

A great win that moved us up to 8th and with a chance of finishing mid table, an excellent effort after a number of seasons battling to avoid the wood spoon at the bottom of the table.

NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Seaham Harbour (h) - Lost by 163 runs - Match report by Phil Haves

Belly won the toss and asked our visitors, Seaham Harbour, to bat first.

In reply our start to the innings could not have got off to a worse start as Rory and Dave were both dismissed without a run on the board.

A disappointing result against one of our rivals fighting for survival leaves us firmly in the relegation places.

NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Whitburn - Won by 6 wickets

The 2's continued there good form with an excellent 6 wicket win away at the Village Ground Whitburn.

Skipper Joe Fletcher won the toss and inserted the home team, and depsite a decent start of 43-0 and 77-2, the Hill pace bowlers blew away the middle and low orders to skittle the home team out for 111 all out in the 38th over.

In reply we lost 2 quick wickets, but a 3rd wicket stand of 95 between Joe Fletcher (53) and Adam Heather (23 not out) helped us get over the line in the 32nd over for the loss of 4 wickets.

Despite the win we remain in 4th position, with a tricky game against league leaders Chester le Street to come on Saturday at NBMS Denton Bank.

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Newcastle Super Kings (a) - Lost by 110 runs - Captain's Match Report by Chris Pounder

A disappointing day in a game we could have put a bit of daylight between ourselves and the bottom three.

In reply only Naveed (21) and Nirmit (17) managed to reach double figures and we were eventually all out for 94

Weekend Review - 1st's beat the weather for second league win of the season, hat trick for in form Ayush

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 20:05:49 +0000

It's been a long time coming but the 1st's recorded their second league win of the season when they did the double over fellow strugglers Shotley Bridge at the Spa Ground.

NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Shotley Bridge (a) - Won by 7 wickets - Match report by Phil Haves

Saturday saw a basement battle at the Spa ground as we travelled to meet Shotley Bridge.

Belly won the toss and asked the hosts to bat first.

Dave and Rory, not for the first time this season, got us off to a great start adding 63 for the first wicket before Rory was dismissed for 20.

A confidence boosting and much needed win ensured we collected 25 points and move off the bottom of the table with the visit of 3rd bottom Seaham Harbour to come on Saturday.

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Annfield Plain (h) - Match Abandoned - Captain's Match Report by James Walder

Match report for the abandoned game on Saturday.

The 3rds hosted top of the table Annfield Plain and without sounding like a broken record it was a very young team - two senior players, 1 x u19, 1 x u16, 3 x u15, 3 x u14 and 1 x u13 player.

A rare toss win saw us choose to bat with Seb (21) and Sukheer (15) scoring at 5 an over as we reach 47 for 3 after 10 overs.

We were only 5 overs into the Annfield Plain game when we came off for hail and as the covers were being put on there was a torrential downpour which flooded the whole square leading to the game being abandoned.

Fantasy Cricket - Week 8 Update - Max back on top

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 21:13:00 +0000

The battle for the Benwell Hill fantasy league leadership is hotting up with Max taking over at the top once again from Aaron courtesy of a week 8 score of 542 points.

Weekend Review - 1st's throw away victory chance, 2nd's emphatic win, NTCL 3rd's lose but comfortable win for NEPL 3rd's

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 20:03:00 +0000

It was a frustrating weekend for Phil Bell's 1st XI as they threw away an excellent opportunity to get a rare win at Burnmoor, however the 2nd XI got back to winning ways in fine style against Tynedale, but NTCL 3rd XI lost at Matfen, on Sunday the NEPL 3rd XI recorded an excellent win over Philadelphia.

NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Burnmoor (a) - Lost by 21 runs - Match Report by Phil Haves

Current champions were our latest hurdle as we travelled to Burnmoor on Saturday.

Having won the toss the home side elected to bat on a warm Saturday morning.

Lee and Max bowling in tandem then restricted the scoring opportunities whilst taking regular wickets and when Harpo returned to pick up a couple of quick wickets the home side declared with their scored on 156/9.

Set what appeared to be an attainable target Dave and Rory set about the task in their usual aggressive manner taking the total to 46 before Dave was disappointingly caught behind for 20.

Ultimately this felt like a big missed opportunity to gain that elusive second win of the season losing by 21 runs.

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Matfen (h) - Lost by 58 runs - Vice 'Captain's Match Report by James Walder

A young 3rd XI hosted Matfen and after winning the toss chose to bowl first.

After an early wicket for Jeff was followed by some steady partnerships taking Matfen to 137-4 with Oli picking up 2 wickets in two balls and it looked like we may limit Matfen to around 200.

The chase didn't start well with Robbie in his first match of the season and Thomas falling early.

We are hosting top of the table Annfield Plain next and need to be more consistent in our batting and bowling.

Fantasy Cricket - Week 7 Update - Aaron back on top

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 22:28:00 +0000

Aaron Armstrong last years runner up has taken over again at the top of this seasons table, thanks to a weekly points total of 410, however the big scorers of the week were Phil Nicholson with 566 points (24th to 18th) followed by Andy Dawson with 508 points (13th to 10th).

Weekend Review - Losses for 1st's and 2nd's but superb win for NTCL 3rd's

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 21:21:00 +0000

It was a tough weekend for the 1st and 2nd's who went down to heavy defeats against local rivals South North, however the NTCL 3rd's recorded a superb win over Humshaugh with young Oliver Smalley the star of the show with 6 for 28.

NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v South North (a) - Lost by 121 runs - Match Report by Phil Haves

Saturday saw a trip to Roseworth Terrace as we visited local rivals and current Premier League leaders.

The decision looked vindicated as inspite of losing Hewison, caught by Max off Ben, the home side cruised to 170 without further loss and our bowlers toiled in the heat.

With 57 overs to chase down the target we felt very much in the game at the interval however the Bulls veteran seamer Wightman had other ideas dismissing Dave in the first over for 0 then taking a stunning caught and bowled off SMJ which left us reeling at 6/2.

With the season half way through we find ourselves anchored to the bottom of the table and in need of a morale boosting positive result from somewhere.

NEPL Divison 2 - 2nd XI v South North (h) - Lost by 5 wickets

A weakend 2nd team minus Captain Joe and Captain of Vice Pete lost to title rivals South North at NBMS Denton Bank by 5 wickets.

The Hill won the toss and decided to bat and depsite being in early trouble managed to post a respectable score of 205 for 9 off 58 overs.

Depsite two quick wickets from Nazif Habibi, South North batters dug in and built some sold partnerships which saw them knock off our score in the 50th over for the loss of 5 wickets.

Following back to back defeats we have slipped to 4th in the league 75 points behind league leaders Chester le Street.

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Humshaugh (h) - Won by 5 wickets - Vice 'Captain's Match Report by James Walder

A slightly more experienced 3rd XI hosted Humshaugh at a warm and sunny Newbrough.

The turning point was an injury to Cherry in his first over leading to the introduction of Oliver.

Hopes for a steady start were over with Seb running himself out and then Haroon missing a straight one.

A good team performance and the full 30 points and fingers crossed that Cherry will make a swift recovery.