WAYWARD BULLS SUCCUMB TO NEWCASTLE CITY. Sat 15 Aug 2026: NEPL Division 2: SNCC v Newcastle City (a) 50/50 win/lose.

15th Aug 2026

SNCC 206-9 (50o) Ben Hobbs 36, George Gray 30, Olly Alexander 26, Hamish Barrie 25, Ben Sidney-Wilmot 34, Joseph Dresser 24: Siraj Ahmed 1-22. Akshay Saharan 0-54, Farhan Mohammed 4-41, Omar Ahmed 2-39, Jawad Khan 2-29, Shafeeque Seman 0-16

Newcastle City 210-8 (42o) Faisal Mohammed 16, Malik Javed 41, Ali Nadeem 25, Bilal Ahmed 44* (extras 44, 24 wides, 7 no balls, 12 leg byes, 1 bye): Joseph Dresser 2-39, Hamish Barrie 1-40, Sam Lee 0-28, Elliott Mee 4-40, Will Young 0-26, Ben Hobbs 1-14, George Gray 0-8.

Newcastle City won by 2 wickets-  24 points, SNCC 7.

The Bulls fielded a young side giving a league debut to Elliott Mee's (14) leg spin. They won the toss & chose to bat. The wicket was tinged green but hard. Ben Hobbs & George Gray faced the seam of Ahmed & Saharan. A splendid opening partnership of 70 in 14 overs began with Ben striking 6x4 & George 3x4 in the first 10 overs as the total rose to 51 without loss, Ben 31* George 15*.

At 70 in the 16^th George's (30, 40b 5x4) ambitious slog sweep was missed & an lbw verdict given to S Ahmed. Three overs later Ben H (36, 53b 5x4), on the back foot, was bowled by O Ahmed as the ball kept low, 77-2.

80-2 after 20 overs then in the 23rd Angus (2) forward, but lbw to Khan (ob) 90-3.  102 after 29 overs but then in over 30 Will Carr (4) was bowled by F Mohammed attempting an offside drive 106-4.

Olly (26, 69b 2x4) had batted nicely but at the same score he flicked Khan to backward quare leg & was caught. A handy partnership of 45 between Hamish & Ben ensued. 143 after 40 overs then in the 42^nd Hamish (25,42b 3x4) advanced to Ahmed & was stumped, 151-6, Ben (13*)

Joseph (24, 20b, 1x4, 2x6) another explosive cameo, struck 4,6 then another maximum in overs 45 & 46 until he found long on off Mohammed in the 48th, 194-7. Two wickets were lost in the last over as Ben Sid (34 50b, 3x4) was caught at long on & 5 balls later Sam (5) was caught by Javed at mid off, the seam of F Mohammed finishing with 4 wickets.

A thought that this might be a tad below par on a fast outfield, several got a good start but no one was able to go on. The ball had turned a lot.

In reply Ahmed & Javed faced the seam of Joseph Dresser & spin of Hamish Barrie. Four maidens in 5 overs & in the third O Ahmed (5) edged one from Joseph that nipped back & w/k Ben Sid took the catch off the inside edge, 6-1. A  missed chance off Javed in the gully, when 15*, was to prove costly.

Only17 from 8 overs until Malik struck 2x4 helped by 5 wides which took the total to 30-1. At 34 in the 11^th S Ahmed (7) drove Joseph to cover where Hamish took the catch, 33-2. Two overs later this became for 3 as Parvez  (12) defending, was lbw to Elliott Mee in his first over 48-3.

Sam Lee struggled with his run up, length & direction conceding 26 off two overs as the total rose to 72 after 15 overs. Will Young had a 6 over spell without success but Elliott found some turn & at 98 in the 20^th he struck again as Faisal Mohammed  (16) edged onto a thigh pad to be caught by w/k Ben Sid,4 down.

The important wicket of Javed (41, 65b, 5x4, 2x6) followed as he edged to w/k Ben Sid off Elliott, 103-6 & in his next Elliott gained an lbw verdict against Seman (5), 109-6, 4 wickets for Elliott, bravo !

Sadly, no further break through could be achieved & the total rose as B Ahmed & Nadeem attacked.  In the 31^st over B Ahmed despatched 3x4 to mid wicket, square leg & long on, in Joseph's second over of his second spell. 

Elliott's first 9 overs had conceded only 30 but he too suffered in his last conceding 10 from 2x4 & two wides. The total of wides & no balls was mounting !!

Ben Hobbs began a spell in over 33 but saw his second ball disappear for 6 by Nadeem. Two overs later he bowled Nadeem (25) full & striaght, ending a partnership of 56,167-7. Ben struck again in over 38 as F Mohammed drove hard & flat to mid on where Joseph took a smart catch, 183-8.

George & Hamish sought further success but none came as the total rose steadily, 191-8 after 40 overs. Then 4x4 in 7 balls sealed the game for the hosts, Bilal Ahmed (44*) & Seman (9*) in only 42 overs. The concession of 44 extras was disheartening, 24 wides & 7 no balls, the tight wide rule in 50/50 matches catching a young side out. We can do better.

But a little like the 1^st X1, there is always tomorrow !

Onward to:

Sun 16 Aug NEPL T20 finals day at Ashington, SNCC v Ashington from 1030

Sat 22 Aug NEPL Div 2 SNCC v Ashington (h) 50/50 win/lose.

We hope to see you there.

Duncan.