ACADEMY DEFEAT PHILADELPHIA IN HIGH SCORING CONTEST. Sun 12 July 2026: NEPL Sun Div 1: SNCC v Philadelphia (h) 40/40

12th Jul 2026

SNCC 264-5 (40o) Will Oliver 17, George Gray 82, Aadi Bethanabatla 19, Joseph Dresser 32, Sam Lee 9, Ben Lee 32*, Matthew Rathbone 42*: George Davidson 1-33, Charlie Sim 0-33, Sam Hughes 1-39, Logan Barton 1-39, Austin Caris 2-44, Pieter Grosvenor 0-45, James Hughes 0-17

Philadelphia 171-7 (40o) Joe Walshaw 16, Logan Barton 28, Charlie Sim 39, James Hughes 15, Sam Hughes 38, George Davidson 14*: Joseph Dresser 1-19, Sam Lee 0-35, George Gray 1-18, Elliott Mee 1-36, Dominic Johnson 1-26, Matthew Smith 1-18, Ben Lee 1-7.

SNCC Academy won by 93 runs - 23 points, Philadelphia 8.

Another sunny & warm day, Academy skipper George Gray won the toss & the Bulls chose to bat. The wicket towards the Moor Road side, Will Oliver & George faced the right arm seam of Davidson (Grove) & Sim (Park).

A steady start, 24 without loss after 5 overs then in the 5^th George's hard drive burst through the fielder's hands at extra cover, the first of three chances that he survived. Sim conceded 15 in the 8^th as Will crunched a no ball through cover off the back foot, but in the next Will (17, 23b) drove a catch to mid off, Sam Hughes the bowler, 49-1.

Aadi joined George, who was dropped at point three balls later. Aadi was then lucky that a mistimed drive off leg spinner Barton was dropped at extra cover in the 10th. In Barton's second George swept three times for 2 & pulled S Hughes to mid wicket for 4 ,then at 71  another life for George at mid on followed by a lovely cover drive !

George reached 50* dabbing Baron to third man in th16th but in diving unsuccessfully to save the boundary, Zach Bailey badly damaged his right wrist & had to leave the field attended by Andy Gray (Orthopaedic surgeon) on hand. A hospital visit ensued, a break confirmed. We offer him our sincere good wishes for a speedy recovery.

Drinks were taken at 88-1 after 16 overs. Caris suffered as George targeted the mid wicket boundary but in over 19 Aadi (19) pulled straight to Sim on the deep square leg boundary, 116-2. 

Joseph Dresser watched George strike 4, 6 off Caris, then 4.4 off Grosvenor (ob) then another 6 but he too fell into the trap gifting his wicket to deep square leg for 82 (77b, 11x4,2x6) a lively innings which carried some luck but which should have gone on. A good position at 134-3 after only 21 overs.

In over 23 Joseph drove nicely for 4 through extra cover then pulled 6, 6 to mid wicket off Caris, before he too was dropped at backward square leg ! 156-3 after 23 overs. Another maximum to long on & then a boundary off the returning Davidson but two balls later Joseph (32,17b 2x4 2x6) on the crease, was bowled, one that might have kept a little low, 170-4.

Sam Lee (9) swept the leg spin of Barton to mid wicket for 4 but two balls later was bowled by a full delivery, 183-5. There followed some sensible cricket as Ben Lee & Matty Rathbone punished the bad balls but ran well such that in an unbeaten partnership of 82* they ran 24 singles & 5x2, in12.3 overs, proper cricket !!

The final total of 264-5, saw Ben 32* (48b) steering into spaces & running well & Matty 42* (44b 5x4 1x6) hitting the bad balls & also running well, commendable.

In reply Caris & Walshaw faced the seam of Joseph Dresser (Grove) & Sam Lee (Park). Walshaw (19, 4x4) punished variations of length & line but in the 5^th was lbw to Joseph aiming to leg, 21-1. Senior player Barton entered at three but both bowlers struggled to maintain accurate lines & lengths. Caris appeared content to defend on the crease, but did not face one yorker. One suspects that bowling full & at the stumps would have been profitable.

George Gray (ob) & Elliott Mee (lb) bowled overs11-20 for 22 runs. Two chances were spurned, one difficult diving forward at point & a simpler one skied to mid on. In the 16^th Elliott produced a lovely leg break to bowl Barton (28), the off stump knocked back, 52-2. The very next ball, Sim's first off Elliott, lobbed to mid on but the catch was spilled, frustrating ! At drinks after 20 overs the total was 61-2.

In the 23^rd George's 7^th Caris (9) advanced, missed & was neatly stumped by Matty Rathbone, 72-3. In the next over a mix up saw the left handed Grosvenor (0), run out Ben Lee the fielder at point throwing to w/k Matty, 73-4.

In George's last Sim struck 4 then 6 to long off & mid wicket but George's 8 overs went for only 18, a good accurate spell off 4 paces. Dominic Johnson (ob) started a spell in over 24 from the Park end, Matthew Smith (rm) from the Grove in the 27th.

Sim & James Hughes pushed on, 113 after 30 overs but then two wickets in two overs as Matthew persuaded Sim (38) to launch to long on where Aadi took a good catch on the boundary. S Hughes then struck 4.4.2 from his first three deliveries. In Dominic's next the left handed J Hughes (15) drove to extra cover where George moving forward took a good diving catch, 126-5.

Elliott returned from the Grove end, Hughes driving straight for 6 & pulling to backward square leg for 4. In his last Elliott had the misfortune to see another straitforward chance to long on, dropped. Another good spell of leg spin from Elliott, 19 from his last two overs which deserved another wicket.

Ben Lee (lb) began & a spell from the Park & brother Sam returned from the Grove. A difficult chance off Sam as Davidson squirted over point which Elliott did well to get one hand to in the 39th . Then in the last Ben enticed S Hughes (38) to advance, miss & the stumping was completed by Matty. The innings closed at 171-7.

Some good bits, the ground fielding did not wilt, Will Oliver boundary rode well on the short side, w/k Matty R saved several  leg side deliveries, Matthew S chased hard & dived at mid wicket, Aadi & Joseph at extra cover, George & Dominic off their own bowling but, as ever, some things to improve, especially catching & moving in with the bowler so that being quick off the mark, either backward or forward, is possible.

Having played 11, this win keeps the Academy in second place in Div 1 on 195 points behind leaders CLS on 238, Benwell Hill in third on 184.

Onward to Sun 26 July: Academy v Benwell Hill (A), then Sun 2 Aug v CLS (h), Sun 9 Aug v Sacriston (a) & the rearranged game v Seaham Harbour (a) to be confirmed.

Dates for your dairy.

Duncan.