Club History

Founded in 1864 in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, as Bulman Village CC, the club moved less than a mile to its present Roseworth Terrace ground for the 1865 season.  South Northumberland became the Club's name in 1882 attracting the touring Australians to play a Newcastle & District X1 in the same year but losing by an innings!!  

Tennis became highly popular from 1880 onwards & from 1908 the prestigious Open Grass Court Tournament, 23 courts, attracted many pre Wimbledon entries. Ladies, men's & women's County hockey also featured in the period 1981-1995.

The first period of success was between 1906-09 as Tyneside Senior League champions, led by the redoubtable George Simpson, dubbed the 'WG Grace of the North'. Between 1947 & 1967 the Northumberland League was won 7 times, two of which came in 1955/56 & featured the incomparable Chandu Borde who took 100 wickets in his first season bowling leg breaks. Chandu would go on to play 55 tests for India. Bobby Smithson, Derek Roberts, Ken Draper, Peter Shaw & Gordon Clough were luminaries of those years.

With an all amateur X1, the Northumberland County league title was won in 1998 & again in 1997. In  the North East Premier League period from 2000, the title has been won 12 times, six in succession from 2003. A talented team of friends have played exceptional cricket together.

With a settled side, six national titles have been won, the 2006, 45 over Cockspur Cup at Lord's v  Bromley, the inaugural Cockspur T20 at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff v Stanmore in 2008, the ECB Club Championship at Derby in 2010 v Ealing, the Royal London Club Championship v Swardeston at Northampton in 2016 & the ECB Vitality T20 v Wimbledon at Derby in 2017. Also in 2010 being runners up to Swardeston in the national 20/20 Cup at the Rose Bowl, Southampton.

The ground has seen many changes during its 154 years, most notably in 2003 with the development of the Newcastle Cricket Centre. a 5 lane indoor facility almost unique among recreational clubs in the country. This environment offers community engagement & helps to coach & train 5 senior, 1 women's & 8 junior teams all year round. Providing high quality opportunities for juniors to learn the game is an important focus for the Club.

In recent years the ground has attracted high profile matches including the 1st X1 v an International Lashings X1 twice, (one famous victory in 2007!),  benefit matches for Stephen Harmison & Phil Mustard, the Unicorns v Sri Lanka A, Durham v Warwickshire twice & Leicestershire once in the Royal London One Day Cup, the first U19 Ashes ODI between England & Australia in 2015, England U19 vs South Africa U19 in 2019 & were scheduled to host a Women's Hundred match before COVID hit.