BEN JONES-LEE (49- b 29/10/1976- d 30/04/2026)
4th May 2026
1864'S OVERPOWERED BY MATFEN IN DAMP CONDITIONS. Sat 18 July 2026: NTCL Div 5 South: SNCC 1864 v Matfen (h) 40/40
18th Jul 2026
SNCC 129ao (35.4o) Joseph Dresser 60, Olly Alexander 15, Belinda Wewalage 9, Dulanjan Mahaarachichi 11, Matthew Rathbone 9, Paddy Rathbone 10 : Toby Pilkington 0-28, Tony Gilchrist 2-16, Hasir Khan 3-36, Yasir Baig 2-24, Andrew Payne 0-14, Justin Dempsey 2-11.
Matfen 130-2 (23o) Justin Dempsey 67*, Ramin Aatif 11, Tom Hillman 27*: Joseph Dresser 0-14, Belinda Wewalage 0-27, Olly Alexander 1-26, Arjun Godse 1-25, Archit Upadhye 0-17, Dominic Johnson 0-18.
Matfen won by 8 wickets- 30 points, SNCC 1864 4.
A tough day at Belsay for an 1864 X1 with 8 juniors playing a fully adult Matfen, compounded by losing the toss in bowler friendly conditions. Then, despite a determined & skillful opening stand of 75 between Joseph Dresser (60) & Olly Alexander (15), combatting variable bounce & and long grass in the outfield, subsiding to 129 all out in the 35th over, losing regular wickets to the seam of Baig, the leg spin of Khan supported later by the seam of Gilchrist & away swing of Dempsey.
Joseph pulling strongly & driving straight & Olly rotating, augured well until at 75 in the 19th over, Joseph (60), driving, was bowled Baig, 75-1. Olly (15) fell at the same score, edging to w/k Pearse off the leg spin of Khan.
Belinda (9) edged to the w/k off Khan at 95 & at the same score Matty R (9) top edged a sweep to be caught by the w/k, 95-4. Jack Seymour (1) drove Khan to mid off at 109 & at the same score Dulanjan (11) was run out as his optimistic call for a single was not reciprocated by Paddy, 6 down.
Dempsey & Gilchrist took the final 4 wickets. Paddy (10) was caught at long on off Dempsey, Archit (4) fell at the same score, 124, as did Arjun (5) & Dominic (0) was bowled by Dempsey from his first delivery, Tom Young (0*),129 all out in 35.4 overs.
In reply openers Dempsey & Aatif faced the seam of Joseph Dresser & Belinda Wewalage. Tight spell of 6 overs from Joseph for 14, Belinda's variable length in 5 overs punished a little. Steadily they produced an opening partnership of 60 until Aatif (11) aimed to cut first change Olly Alexander (rm) but edged & w/k Matty Rathbone, standing up, took a neat catch.
Five runs later in the 15th over Payne (0) skied Arjun (rm) over mid on where Dominic retreated 10 yards to take a very smart catch over his shoulder, 65-2. This was the extent of the wicket taking as Dempsey (67*) & Hillman (27*), making the most of the better conditions, batted sensibly hitting the loose deliveries & running well such that despite short spells by Arjun (3 overs), Archit (3overs) & Dominic (2 overs) no further success was forthcoming. The fielding held up well but experienced batters took few risks as they eased to their target, Matfen 130-2 in 23overs.
The 1864's are now 5th in Div 5 South on 270 points, 32 adrift of leaders Annfield Plain on 302.
Onward to Sat 25 July 2026 SNCC 1864 v Benwell Hill (a) 40/40 from 1300
We hope you can be there.
Duncan.