Benwell Hill CC

Macmillan Coffee Morning raises over £1k

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 19:22:00 +0000

Benwell Hill hosted its annual Macmillan Coffee morning on Saturday 26th September, and it was another fantastic event with over £1k raised for Macmillan.

Toyota Good for Cricket Prize Draw - closes at Midnight on 30 September

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 19:03:00 +0000

Its the last few hours to get your tickets for the Toyota Good for cricket draw as it closes at midnight on Wednesday 30th September.

Lee Crozier - An appreciation with Career Statistics

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 19:24:00 +0000

The final game of the season against South North was a fitting fixture for Lee Crozier to call time on his spectacular NEPL career.

Lee who joined the Hill from Ryton in 1998, won four league titles with the Hill, the Northumberland County League in 1998 and 1999, the NEPL Premier Division title in 2002, an amazing 15 NEPL Premier Division titles with South North between 2003 and 2024, and the NEPL Division 1 title in 2025 on his return to the Hill.

Lee is the leading wicket taker in NEPL history with 918 in total, 879 wickets in the NEPL Premier Division - 148 for the Hill and 731 for South North – and 39 wickets for the Hill in NEPL Division 1 in his only season outside the NEPL Premier Division.

In the Hill’s all time standings Lee is in 8th place with 361 league wickets, one of only 12 bowlers with 300 or more wickets (Editor – I will get the Dave McKay to update the Hill’s all-time statistics during the winter).

Batting wise Lee’s top score for the Hill was 89 against Philadelphia in 2002, he finished his career with 1361 league runs for the Hill.

Not bad for a free transfer from Ryton!

Congratulations Lee on a truly spectacular cricket and wishing you the best for whatever is next.

Chairmans News : September 2026

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:34:00 +0000

The 2026 Season ended last weekend at Denton Bank with a memorable game against the runaway First Team Champions South Northumberland.

At the conclusion of the SN innings, Lee Crozier walked off the field to a standing ovation for the final competitive time after a stellar career that saw him become by far the leading wicket taker in NEPL history.

To keep members up to date, David Christie will not be returning to the Hill in 2027, but we were delighted to learn that he has signed a Professional Contract in First Class Cricket with Boland back in SA which was a clear goal for David.

On the Professional front those responsible for recruitment of players have moved quickly to secure the services of Sri Lankan Roshan Lakmal in 2027.

2026 was most disappointing at First Team Level and we find ourselves in Division Two of a new NEPL structure that encompasses three divisions of ten teams.

I am delighted to inform the Membership that Mark Charlton the man who does more work than anyone else to ensure the Ground looks a picture has signed a new contract for 2027 and we anticipate that he will again be supported by Geoff and John Chambers on a part time basis.

There have been a couple of changes to the Governance of the Club as a result of the recent General Committee meeting which I should also report was extremely well attended.

One legend out brings another legend in as Philip Nicholson has agreed to join the Board henceforth.

I will leave it to the various leaders within the Club to report in due course on their seasons.

Junior Cricket at BHCC remains one of the Jewels in our Crown.

I was astonished to read on the Club's social media sites that BHCC ladies have already embarked on their indoor league commitments.

The business of the Club continues to thrive led by Philip Haves and the team of Professional staff.

The Squash Court refurbishment has been a great success, and Martin Avery is leading from the front as ever.

I will close with a final memory of 2026 – the revival of the Presidents Day was captured perfectly on camera by Martin Avery and it was wonderful to see so many past players turning out at Denton Bank.

Cricket Clubs are fundamentally about people and we are incredibly lucky to have so many volunteers who continue to work hard to create opportunities to play sport and enjoy excellent social facilities in our oasis in the West End of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Simon Lunn
BHCC Chairman

Email:

Thanks to everyone who took part, just a bit of fun, but great for keeping an interest on all our Hill teams throughout the season.

Breaking News - New Professional secured for 2027

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 19:59:00 +0000

With the NEPL League moving back to all games being WIn-Lose-Draw cricket - white clothing and red ball, we have decided to engage an all rounder professional next seasson, and we are delighted to announce the signing of Roshan Lakmal as our Overseas Professional for 2027.

The Sri Lankan all-rounder boasts an incredible record on UK soil, having amassed over 3,500 runs at an average in the early 60s, while also claiming 150 wickets at an impressive 18.

David Christie - a record breaking season

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:46:00 +0000

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Weekend Review (12 Sep) - Curtain comes down on 2026 season and career of NEPL legend Lee Crozier

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 21:09:06 +0000

The 2026 season concluded with emotional scenes at NBMS Denton Bank as the Hill's Lee Crozier (all time leading NEPL wicket taker) called time on his fantastic career in North East league cricket, and fittingly it was against his other NEPL club South North, the 2026 league champions.

NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v South North (h) - Lost by 9 wickets - Match Report by Phil Haves

With our relegation to the Second Tier already confirmed the last game of the season saw us entertain League Champions South North.

Overnight rain had cleared and having won the toss Belly elected to bat.

In reply against our depleted bowling attack the Champions were always in control of the game as Chris Hewison 53, Sol Bell 124 not out and George Drissell 106 not out took them past our total for the loss of a single wicket with more than 7 overs to spare.

It was fitting that in his final game before retiring that Lee Crozier was by far and away our best bowler on the day and he thoroughly deserved the standing ovation he received from both teams and spectators alike - he has undoubtedly been the finest bowler in NEPL history

We now look ahead to next season and with recruitment underway we can hopefully bounce back at the first time of asking.

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Humshaugh (a) - Won by 8 wickets - Vice Captains Match Report by James Walder

Finally our skipper Chris 'Cherry' Pounder managed to win a toss so we bowled first at a very windy Humshaugh in the final game of the season.

After a couple of early wickets for Naz, Humshaugh put on a good partnership reach 80 for 2.

The chase didn't get off to a good start with Thomas and Rash falling early but there was then a stand of 90 between Abdul (23 not out) and James (57 not out) to see the target chased down in 25 overs and an 8 wicket win.

With other results going our way we ended up 6th in the league with 11 wins and lots to build on for next season.

The penultimate game of the season saw us visit Castle Eden and having lost the toss the hosts asked us to bat.

Belly opened with Dave however his stay was brief as he was dismissed without troubling the scorers.

In reply Harpo with 2 wickets and Max struck early reducing Castle Eden to 10/3.

NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Castle Eden (h) - Lost by 75 runs

It was a disappointing final home league game of the season as they lost heavily to Castle Eden who were well below them in the league table.

The visitors won the toss and chose to bat, and it provided to be a good decision as their openers got them off to a solid start, with opener and skipper Dunn top scoring with 65.

Given the quality of the wickets at NBMS Denton Bank this season, 205 seemed a very gettable score but unfortunately wickets fell quickly and early in our reply, at one stage we were 35 for 6, however a stand of 65 between Seb Fletcher-Woods (41) and Adam Hasan (13) got us over 100, however once Seb's wicket fell it was only a matter of time, and we eventually finished 130 all out.

NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Stamfordham (h) - Won by 4 runs - Vice Captain's Match Report by James Walder

After losing another toss we were asked to bat first against promotion chasing Stamfordham.

Good opening spells from Nicholas and Naz had Stamfordham at 29 for 3 but we kept taking wickets with Oli, Nirmit and Sahel all bowling well.

The return of Nicholas got us across the line as he picked up 3 wickets for no runs and we bowled Stamfordham out for 118.

Back to back wins means we could finish as high as 5th and showed we can compete with the teams at the top of the table.

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.