BULLS STRONG BATTING DISPLAY BUT FELLING BATTLE FOR A DRAW. Sat 8 Aug 2026 NEPL Div 2: SNCC v Felling (a) 110o win/lose/draw.

8th Aug 2026

SNCC 284ao (50o) Sam Ewart 58, Ben Hobbs 74, Angus Southern 24, Joseph Dresser 33: Calum Wright 1-63, Brad Lowery 3-70, Will Nicholls 0-42, Ollie Norman 1-45, Mark Douglas 3-31, Robbie Newman 0-18.

Felling 190-9 (60o) Kieran Gilmour 14, Marc Forster 33, Calum Wright 72, Leo Haddrick 23*: Sam Lee 2-38, Joseph Dresser 0-7, Ru Fletcher 1-36, Nicky Phillips 3-51, James Lunn 2-28, Ben Hobbs 1-16.

Winning draw SNCC 17 points, losing draw Felling 11 points.

A frustrating day for the Bulls at High Heworth Lane as a battling display by Felling, which lasted 60 overs & included 20 maidens, who held on for a draw despite close fielders, several bowling changes, & a very tough w/k chance, standing up, in over 57.

On a warm & sunny day, SN chose to bat, the wicket pitched closer to the scorebox side. Sam Ewart & Ben Hobbs faced the seam of Wright & Lowery. 51 without loss after 10 overs Sam 28* (3x4 1x6), Ben 21* (4x4).

Change bowlers Nicholls (rm) & Norman (ob) bowled overs14-23. Sam reached 50 in over 16 after 6 then 1 off Nicholls. Then In the 17th Sam (58, 54b, 8x4,1x6) drove Norman to Robson at mid on, 95-1.

Angus joined Ben & the pair added 35, Angus (24, 19b, 1x4, 3x6) taking advantage of the shorter legside boundary to drive strongly off the front foot 3x6 but in the 24^th over he was lbw to Douglas not fully forward, 130-2.

Olly & Ben took the total to 170 in the 32^nd over, a handy partnership of 40, when Ben (74, 94b, 14x4), who once again had shown both intent & a sound defence, driving through the offside & cutting firmly, was bowled by Douglas as he seemed to aim to leg, 170-3, Olly 12*.

As Douglas & Wright bowled overs 32 to 40 the total rose to 208 but in that over Ru (10) chipped to mid on off Douglas, 4 down, Olly upping the tempo 38*. Ben Sid (0) forward but a low bounce found a gap & he was bowled by Lowery at 216 in the 42nd. Olly reached a composed 50 * in over 43 with a boundary off Norman.

In the next George Gray (4) aimed to repeat his first ball 4 but was bowled by Lowery, 224-6. Lunny (5) succumbed in over 47 also bowled by Lowery as the declaration loomed, 238-7. 

Joseph then provided an attacking cameo striking 33 from only 13b (3x4 3x6) with carefree hitting through the covers, toward & over the shorter legside boundary. Joseph (33) was caught by Robson at deep square leg in the 50^th & Sam Lee (0) was run out chasing an improbable second from the last ball of that over, the Bulls declaring on 284-9.

Olly (60*, 7x4) a composed innings, scoring all around  the wicket, driving nicely through cover, steering behind square, cutting firmly, in a rich vein of form in recent days, commendably comfortable in senior cricket at aged 14.

In reply Robson & Gilmour faced the seam of Sam Lee & Joseph Dresser. Maidens to begin & the total had reached only 16 after over 6 then in his next Sam Lee took two in two balls a both Robson (11) & Blythe (0) first ball, fell lbw, 16-2.

Joseph had bowled well conceding only 7 from his 6 overs & then in Ru's first the 15^th Gilmour (14) was bowled by a cracker which swung away to clip the off stump, 35-3. The left handed Wright struck his first ball for 4 & in the next swung Nicky for 6. Then 4,4 off Ru followed by 6, 4, 4 2 in his next. 78-3 after 19 overs.

Nicky & Lunny then bowled overs 20-27 by which time the total was 123-3. Ben Hobbs entered  the attack for a 7 over spell & in his third Forster (33, 58b 4x4) on the back foot, edged to w/k Sam, 136-4, Wright 72*.

Three maidens in 5 overs but then just after tea, Wright (72, 74b, 12x4, 2x6) was bowled by Lunny, one that seemed to keep low, 139-5. Thereafter the ambition of the home team was to survive.

Newman (1) on the back foot, edged to w/k Sam who took a smart catch, 140-6. Lunny & Nicky strove. Nicky took three wickets in consecutive overs as Douglas (8) was caught by Ben Sid, Norman (5) bowled by a faster one & Lowery (6) bowled playing a big shot, 172-9 after 46 overs.

Amidst this Haddrick had faced 40 balls for 11 runs. He & Nicholls then saw out the remaining 14 overs as 9 maidens were played out. Notwithstanding the very tough chance to w/k Sam, standing up, off a Ru bouncer in over 57 which was gloved, no chances were given & the innings ended at 190-9 after 60 overs, Haddrick 23* (83b 3x4) Nicholls 0* (39b). If you cannot win, you do not lose !

The Bulls remain in third place in Div 2 with 5 win/lose (100 over) games to go. 

Sat 15 Aug SNCC v Newcastle City (a) from 1200

Sun 16 Aug 2nd X1 T20 finals day at Ashington, SNCC v Ashington (20/20) from 1030.

We hope you can be there.

Duncan.