YOUTHFUL 1864'S SUFFER 7 WICKET DEFEAT BY NEWTON. Sat 5 Sept 2026: NTCL Div 5 South: SNCC 1864 v Newton (h) 40/40.

5th Sep 2026

SNCC 1864 134ao (34.5o) Will Carr 19, Belinda Wewalage 16, Simon Birtwisle 32, Paddy Rathbone 13, Freddie Mitten 19*, Dominic Johnson 14: Chris Wilkie 1-17, Andrew Jones 2-18, Matthew Scattergood 0-20, Stephen Pitman 4-33, Andrew Golding 2-15, Charlie Laverick 0-21, Dan Taylor 1-0.

Newton 138-3 (20o) Dan Taylor 57*, Matthew Scattergood 59*: Simon Birtwisle 1-27, Freddie Mitten 0-15, Arjun Godse 2-26, Finley Birtwisle 0-40, Elliott Mee 0-19, Dominic Johnson 0-16.

Newton won by 7 wickets- 30 points, SNCC 1864 4.

A sunny but cool day at Belsay as the 64's entertained Newton. The wicket looked flat but as the game progressed variable bounce became evident. The Bulls team comprised eight juniors & three seniors.

Newton chose to field, Aadi Bethanabatla & Will Carr faced the right arm seam of Wilkie & Jones. A steady start, boundaries to Will in overs 2 & 4 but at 19 in the 6th Aadi (8) aiming to drive a leg stump half volley sliced a leading edge to mid off.

Will struck another boundary in over 7 but in the 8^th, with the total at 23, Elliott (0) aimed to drive a Jones delivery but missed & was bowled. Three overs later Will (19, 33b 4x4) who had driven nicely through cover & picked up on the leg side, was undone by the bounce, edging Wilkie to gully, 29-3.

Paddy & Belinda battled & put together a partnership of 24 for the 4^th wicket, but at 54, two wickets in two balls as first Bellinda (16, 26b 2x4) drove a Pitman off break to mid wicket. Next ball Jack Seymour (0) steered a short ball to gully, 54-5 in the 18^th over.

Drinks were taken at 74-5 after Simon Birtwisle pulled & drove 4x4 in 9 balls. A Golding maiden immediately after the break but in the 23^rd Paddy (13, 44b 1x4) who had batted determinedly for 15 overs, timed a drive to mid wicket well but was caught at head height by Jones off Golding's medium pace, seemingly from the 7th ball of the over ! 84-6. 

The Birtwisle's were now at the crease. Simon stroked another boundary & took a single, but Finn (0) on strike  mistimed a back foot punch & was caught at cover, 92-7.

Arjun (2) faced 5 dot balls & after scoring 2 from Pitman, edged to second slip, 96-8. This became 98-9 in the next over as Simon (32, 26b, 6x4) swung Golding to deep mid wicket where Downs, after a juggle, took the boundary catch.

Thereafter Freddie Mitten & Dominic Johnson showed some composure in taking the fight to change bowler Laverick, taking 12 from the 30^th over & 7 from the 34^th both driving through the offside & pulling to leg. The total had reached 134 in the 34^th but in the 35^th Dominic slapped Taylor to cover & was caught.

A splendid 10^th wicket partnership of 36, the highest of the innings, Freddie 19* (23b,3x4) & Dominic 14 ( 28b, 2x4), a bold effort in the circumstances. Even on a difficult wicket it was clear that this was a below par total, Pitman's off spin taking 4-33.

In reply Lee & Taylor faced the left arm of Simon Birtwisle & seam of right arm Freddie Mitten. A wicket from the second ball as Lee (0) dabbed to gully where Aadi took a very good catch, low to his left, off Simon 0-1.

Freddie bowled a maiden but in his next suffered wides & back foot no balls conceding 14. Taylor drove Birty to mid on & over the legside for 4 in over 7, 34-1.

But in Arjun's first, the 8th, two wickets fell. First ball Downs (10) mistimed a drive which lobbed to mid on where Freddie took a neat catch. Two balls later Roberts (0) was lbw, trapped on the crease, 34-3. Scattergood hit his first ball for 4.

That was as good as it got for Taylor & Scattergood took 12 from Birty's fifth & 12 from Arjun's second, 62-3 after 10 overs. Two run out opportunities were missed against both Taylor & Scattergood early in their respective innings as throws to w/k Will Carr were not on target, frustrating!

Finley  & Elliott bowled  the next 7 overs &  found that variations of length & line & the slowness of the surface allowing the ball to sit up, were severely dealt with as the total rose 99 at the end of the 16^th over. Shots down the ground, pulling to mid wicket, cutting to point & third man were all evident.

In over 18 Dominic (ob) conceded 13, Finn, in the 19th, 11 & the winning boundary was struck by Taylor from the first ball of the 20^th over. A win for Newton by 8 wickets, Taylor 57* (58b, 9x4) Scattergood 59* (41b 9x4, 1x6), a cautionary tale for young bowlers but with important lessons to learn !

The 1864's remain in 6^th place in Division 5 South on 373 points level with Blaydon with one game to go.

Onward to:

Sat 12 Sept SNCC1864 v Corbridge (a) 1300, 40/40.

Let us aim to finish well before we all gather to celebrate the 2026 season at the Awards Night on Sat 19^th Sept from 1800 in the indoor centre at the Club. We hope to see you there.

Duncan.