David Bamford RIP

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 11:55:56 +0000

The club are saddened to learn of the passing of former player, long-time member & great supporter of the Hill, David Bamford.

Benwell Hill Women and Girls teams - update and photos

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 22:56:00 +0000

Everybody at Benwell Hill has been delighted to see the restart of our Women's team in the Northumberland Women's Cricket League.

The Women's team is largely made up of daughters, sisters, mothers and girlfriends of club members, and we have also welcomed a number of new players for 2026.

This week club photographer Martin Avery was at the Women's game v Backworth,

Chairmans News : June 2026

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:07:00 +0000

With the advent of summer on June 1 of course weather changed for the worse but happily to date there have been relatively few fixtures lost and the Ground has been as busy as ever.

This theme is reflected in 2nd and third team results which can be found on the BHCC website.

This is, of course, led by Barry Pearson who was rightfully recognised by the Northumberland Cricket Board recently in highlighting the work of Volunteers in Cricket.

Overseas Professional David Christie has made a big impression around the Club, and our young players can learn a great deal from how he approaches his role.

Elsewhere the Patio project is now complete and is testament to the seemingly unlimited skills of Mark Charlton.

Members will be pleased to learn that work to rebuild the West Road wall is getting underway today.

The Squash Court will also be refurbished in early August which will require closure for a few days.

A new bench will shortly be appearing in front of the Club House which has been purchased by the Shaw Family in honour of the much-missed Professor – our former Secretary and much-loved player.

Finally, website readers will be aware of the recent sad death of Les Jowsey who played in the 70`s and was Club Captain in 1979.

Sorry Joe Moore – this is a little lengthy but there seemed a lot of news to impart.

Finally take a look at the photo below taken from Club Photographer Martin Avery's drone, it superbly captures the recent improvements made to the front of the club.

Simon Lunn

Chairman

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Red Ball games kick off with a frustrating draw for 1st's and a crushing win for 2nd's however both 3rd teams lose

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 20:18:00 +0000

Read the reports below to get the full story on a frustrating Saturday for the 1st's at home against Felling, a big win for the 2nd's and how the NTCL 3rd's got hammered for a double century by Greenside batter.

NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Felling (h) - Losing Draw - Match Report by Phil Haves

Felling were the visitors to NBMS Denton Bank on Saturday in the first of the red ball win/lose/draw series of games which saw Aaron Armstrong make his First Eleven League debut after a series of strong performances in the Seconds.

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

Stamper and Aussie Robinson increased the run rate moving the score on to 191 before Aaron claimed his maiden wicket caught by Dave Christie.

In reply David and Rory looked untroubled taking the opening partnership to 96 before David was controversially given out LBW for 56 (3x4 & 4x6).

We took 10 points from the game and go again next weekend when we entertain Burnopfield.

NEPL Sunday Division 1 v Seaham Harbour (a) - Lost by 6 runs - Captain's Report by MattyNEPL Hynd

The NEPL 3s took the field with another young side left by Michael and after losing the toss they were bowling on a warm day.

Gabriel and Nic started well and we had Seaham in trouble at 51 for 4.

Harsh and Michael opened up and we lost Michael early and quickly followed by siddique for 9 leaving us in trouble at 22/2.

Saturday saw us visit Jesmond on very warm and sunny day, proper cricketing weather.

On winning the toss Belly elected to bat first with Rory and Dave opening up.

A cameo innings of 20 by Oli added a further 50 with Sam as we passed 200.

In reply early wickets eluded us as the Newcastle openers progressed the total to 68 in quick time before the introduction of SMJ made the breakthrough dismissing Doig.

A sobering and disappointing defeat to end this set of orange ball fixtures as we move into win/lose/draw matches on Saturday with a home game against Felling when a confidence boosting win would help our League position.

Back to winning ways for the 2s on Saturday, in a nail biter against Newcastle.

Having lost the toss and being asked to bowl, we did excellently in restricting Newcastle to 173, some early wickets for Ayush and Abu set up this seasons best bowling performance so far (across all teams) from Aaron Armstrong with 6/20 off his 7.

In response, the wicket proved tough, and another bout of 45-3 left us struggling not only with wickets, but also run rate!

Michael Maclachlan and Joe Fletcher tried to steady things, and take the game as deep as possible, but when they both fell for 41 and 30 in a short space, followed by Andy Dawson dismissed for 2.

However, one of the great strengths of this side is our ability to bat deep, and some great hitting, and running between Aaron and Harsh, got us close, needing 15 off 15 balls when Harsh was dismissed.

Jonesy was sent in to slog to the short boundary, and with a 6 off the last ball of the 49th over, we needed 4 off 6!

That result leaves us with 4 wins from 5, and a trip to Felling next week, for our first red ball fixture of the season!

NEPL Sunday Division 1 v South North (a) - Won by 5 runs - Captain's Report by Matty Hynd

The NEPL 3rd team made it 2 wins from 3 after a close fought victory over a young South Northumberland team.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first we lost both openers early.

Knowing that South Northumberland had a strong batting unit we knew early wickets were needed.

A great all round performance by the team who never gave up and took some fantastic catches.

Saturday saw us slip to a disappointing defeat at Hetton Lyons as our batting failed and we were unable to set any form of defendable target.

Only 3 batters reached double figures and the turning point in the innings was without doubt the run out of Dave who harnessed his power game and had made a diligent and composed 32.

Despite Max reducing the hosts to 8/2 the target was achieved without further loss as Fishwick and Jarvis Clay, so often a thorn in our side, saw Hetton home inside 27 overs.

Having failed to collect any points from the game we move on to Jesmond on Saturday when we hope to complete this sequence of Win/Lose games with a much improved performance and result.

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Blaydon II (a) - Lost by 29 run - Vice Captains Match Report by James Walder

Another young 3rd XI hosted the Blaydon 2nd XI at Newbrough.

However a number of partnerships built around J Burke (104 not out) saw Blaydon post 217 for 9 helped by a couple of dropped catches.

The chase got off to a bad start with Adam out in the first over but James had good partnerships with Gabe and Seb as we reached 117 for 3.

A close game where the dropped catches or a couple of partnerships could have made the difference.

Benwell Hill Fantasy Cricket League is back

Wed, 13 May 2026 21:11:00 +0000

Benwell Hill Fantasy Cricket is returning for the 2026 season.

Saturday Washout

Sun, 10 May 2026 09:12:00 +0000

The entire NEPL fixtures on Saturday (9th May) fell victim to the wet weather that hung over the majoriity of the North East the evening before and most of the day.

Let's hope for better news from Sunday with our NEPL 3's due to travel to Burnopfield, its due for a 1:30pm start.

2nd's maintain 100% record and Saturday 3rd's win but 1st team lose at Seaham Harbour

Wed, 06 May 2026 20:54:00 +0000

Joe Fletcher's 2nd XI continued their winning start to the season with a convincing 8 wicket win over Whitburn, the NTCL 3rd XI also got back to winning ways with a narrow 3 wicket win over Newcastle Super Kings II's.

NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Seaham Harbour (a) - Lost by 41 runs - Match Report by Phil Haves

In the absence of Belly due to family commitments Max took over the reigns and having won the toss asked the hosts to bat.

Our reply got off to a scintillating start as mainly due to the courtesy of Dave the home sides overseas professional, Junaid Khan, saw his first four overs disappear for 47 runs.

A disappointing result saw us come away with 8 points for our efforts and we go again on Saturday when Chester le Street are the visitors to NBMS Denton Bank.

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Newcastle Super Kings (h) - Won by 3 wickets - Captains Report by Chris Pounder

Saturday saw 3’s face Newcastle Super Kings in their first game at home after two away fixtures.

After losing the toss we were asked to field first and a tight opening spell form both Seb and Naz restricted the Super Kings openers.

In reply the Hill made a fairly solid start before losing two quick wickets to leave us 25/2 before losing a third at 31.

A good win for 3’s and and a promising early start to the season.

Chairmans News : May 2026

Fri, 01 May 2026 22:14:00 +0000

The cricket season is moving rapidly into full swing and Director of Cricket Philip Nicholson will be pleased that all our senior teams have already found a measure of individual and collective success.

Last Saturday the Hill faithful were treated to two stand out performances.

In a very short time David has made a first class impression both on and off the field and looks well placed to enter the Pantheon of Benwell Hill Professional Cricketers.

New Second Team Skipper Joe Fletcher has led from the front with two great wins against strong opposition.

Please follow the excellent match reports that appear on

NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Tynemouth (a) - Won by 5 wickets - Captains Match Report by Joe Fletcher

A near-perfect day for the 2s on Saturday at Tynemouth.

Having won the toss and electing to field, we were excellent in restricting an aggressive Tynemouth top order, with a disciplined bowling performance all-round (only conceding 8 extras across the innings).

In our pursuit of 153, a traditional Benwell Hill collapse at 30/0 -> 37/3 kept things interesting, and the middle order just about provided the necessary platform to go on and win the game with several useful contributions, led by Joe Fletcher, who finished unbeaten on 68* from 79 balls.

To secure a 5-wicket victory against a quality Tynemouth outfit is a great result, and hopefully we can keep the momentum going into our first home game vs Whitburn next week!

NEPL Sunday Division 1 - 3rd XI v Sacriston (a) - Lost by 6 wickets - Captains Report by Matty Hynd

The NEPL 3rd XI got their season up and running on Sunday against a young talented Sacriston team.

Entering the game with a very young team we won the toss and elected to bat with a number of the team still in transit.

We got off to the worst possible start losing one of the 3 senior players Rash Shad, first ball.

Sacriston looked to attack and skipper Dodds punished anything loose, Harsh Patel removed Hubber with a beauty and Nav Safi took a blinder to remove Bulmer as Sacriston were 27/2.

A great learning experience for the young side against a Sacriston side that will do very well this year.

Next week we play Whitburn at the Hill which will be another test for the young team.

On a blustery Saturday morning the First Eleven hosted current League Champions Title favourites Burnmoor.

Belly lost the toss and the visitors asked us to bat first.

This soon became 104/7 when Abu walked past one and was stumped off Bridge.

In reply Max got us an early breakthrough dismissing Greenwell with the score on 12 and when another debutant Mark Watson (Harpo) dismissed Brown we felt we had an outside chance of a surprise victory.

An encouraging start to the season albeit not the result we had wished for however this game against the strongest all round side in the League will not define our season.

Shotley Bridge are the visitors to NBMS Denton Bank on Saturday.

NTCL Division 5 West - 3rd XI v Matfen II (a) - Won by 70 runs - Captains Report by James Walder

A young 3rd XI team (one u14, four u15s and two u16s) travelled to Matfen for the start of the season in some wet and windy conditions.

A wet pitch and outfield meant it was hard work with the ball doing plenty in the wind and off the pitch.

James was ably supported by Seb as we started to tick off the batting bonus points with James reaching 61 before being bowled by ex-Hill player Ramin Aatif chasing late runs.

Some early wickets from Khaled (2 for 12) and tight bowling got us off to a good start and the young bowlers coped well with a challenging wind blowing across the pitch.

A great 30 point win to start the season and positive to see all the juniors contributing to a real team effort.