ACADEMY HONOURABLE IN DEFEAT THE LEAEDRS CHESTER-LE-STREET. Sun 2 Aug 2026: NEPL Sunday Division 1: SNCC v Chester-le-Street (h) 40/40.

2nd Aug 2026

Chester-le-Street 265 ao (39.2o) Liam Colledge 62, Luke Allen 20, Max Jackson 48, Brett Eagle 45: Aryan Kalluri 1-33, Varun Gudipati 2-59, Elliott Mee 1-38, Rayaan Mohammed 2-32, Olly Alexander 3-34, Arun Joseph 1-34, Aadhav Sahadevan 0-17.

SNCC Academy 227-7 (40o) Joseph Dresser 28, Will Carr 20, Olly Alexander 71, Varun Gudipati 35, Elliott Mee 36*, Arun Joseph 13: Matthew Burdon 3-45, Max Jackson 1-49, Charlie Armstrong 1-48, Brett Eagle 0-21, Tommy Dawson 1-40, Seth Atkinson 1-19.

Chester-le-Street won by 38 runs - 23 points, SNCC Academy 15 points.

A bright but breezy day at Roseworth Terrace, a more experienced CLS side won the toss & chose to bat, the SNCC X1 contained 10 juniors. Liam Colledge & Noah Armstrong faced the right arm seam of Aryan Kalluri (Grove) & Varun Gudipati (Park).

Steady start from Aryan, only 11 runs from 5 overs but Varun could not find the right length or direction & conceded 33 runs in his first 4 overs, Colledge driving 5x4 down the ground or through extra cover.

The first bowling changes saw Elliott Mee (lb) begin his 8 over spell in the 10^th over & Rayaan Mohammed (rm) a 5 over spell in the 11th. From the 4^th ball of that over N Armstrong (12) drove to short extra cover where Olly Alexander took a neat catch, 61-1, Colledge 29*.

Two overs later Rayaan  got his second as Burdon (8) was bowled leg stump, the ball swinging in, 83-2. The experienced Allen joined Colledge & the pair pushed on punishing variations of length & width. Elliott Mee had bowled his leg breaks well but to the left handed Allen, the shorter leg side boundary was attractive.

After conceding 6,4,4 in the space of 6 balls Elliott got his reward as Allen (20) missed a sweep to be lbw, 124-3 after 20 overs. His 8 over spell ended in over 24, 1-38, a commendable return. Olly Alexander then began his 5 over spell from  the Grove end & in with his 4^th ball bowled the dangerous Colledge (62) aiming to leg, who seemed surprised to see his middle stump rearranged,126-4. 

In Olly's second over Herkes (1) was pinned lbw half forward, 131-5. Jackson then entered & dealt harshly with anything hittable, Olly going for 14 in his 4^th & 11 in his 5^th but with the 5^th ball of that over Nairn (9) drove a catch back to him which he took in his follow through, 174-6 after 29 overs:  Olly 3-34, a good spell.

Jackson struck Arun Joseph straight  for 6 in his first over & again in his third but in his 4^th Jackson (48) swung Arun to deep square leg where Will Carr, moving right, took a very good catch, diving low to his right in two hands, 194-7.

Brett Eagle entered at 9 & attacked, Arun conceding 13 in his last. Aadhav suffered a little too as the pressure to score quickly mounted. Aryan & Varun returned to bowl overs 35 to 40, conceding 63 but picking up three wickets as firstly Dawson (15) clipped Kalluri low to square leg where Varun took a very good, diving catch as he moved forward, 236-8.

In the 38^th Atkinson (4) swung Varun to deep mid wicket where Will Carr took another catch with aplomb, 252-9. Eagle (45) continued to attack but from the second ball of the last over swung & missed  & was bowled by Varun, 265 all out, a challenging total. 

The fielding had not wilted, some good catches were taken. Variations of length & ine were punished, yorkers worked when they were attempted.

In reply Joseph Dresser & Will Carr faced the off spin of Burdon (Park) & seam of Jackson (Grove). An explosive start as Joseph (28, 16b 6x4) the boundaries disappearing straight, to mid wicket & long on. Sadly, in Burdon's third. an attempted shot over mid off was caught by Jackson, a shame that the optimism behind that shot selection was misplaced, an apparent copy of the day before at Newcastle, 38-1 after 5 overs.

Olly Alexander joined Will Carr who had despatched Jackson 2x4 & C Armstrong also for 4 but in the 11^th playing back to Armstrong's off spin, Will (20, 25b 3x4) edged to w/k N Armstrong, 74-2.

A splendid partnership of 68 in 16 overs ensued between Olly & Varun as Eagle entered the attack in over 12 & as ever, bowled his 8 overs for only 21 with 2 maidens, stifling run scoring with accurate, good length deliveries. Both defended well, Olly steered & drove through the off side whilst Varun played attacking shots to leg when the opportunity arose.

Burdon returned from the Park end & in his second Varun (35, 52b 4x4), seeking to up the rate, was persuaded to drive over mid off & did so, but the ball hung in the air & Jackson retreated 10 yards & took another catch, 142-3. Matty Rathbone (1) succumbed lbw to Dawson in the next over, aiming to leg, 143-4.

Aryan Kalluri (7) drove Burdon in the air to mid on where Allen took the catch, 155-5. Olly reached a splendid 50* in Burdon's last over & in partnership with Elliott Mee put on 35 for the 6^th wicket until Olly (71, 76b 11x4) clipped Atkinson to square leg where Herkes took a neat low catch. A lovely innings from Olly, finding the spaces, defending well, attacking all around the wicket,100 minutes of concentration, 190-6 after 33 overs.

Elliott & Arun, running well & attacking when possible, combined to build a partnership of 28 for the 7^th wicket.  At 218 in the 38th over, Arun (13, 21b 1x4) drove Jackson to point. An inventive innings using the pace of the ball to steer into spaces. In the last over, Elliott finished with a straight driven 4 off Jackson from the last ball of the innings, Elliott 36* (32b 4x4) a spirited knock, Aadhav (3*).

227-7 a worthy & honourable response by the SNCC Academy's less experienced team, 37 extras, including 15 byes &15 wides, was a burden which should have been lessened.. Nonetheless, 15 points keeps them in 2^nd place, albeit 80 points behind CLS.

Onward to Sun 9 Aug SNCC Academy v Sacriston (a) 40/40 from 1330.

We hope you can be there.

Duncan.