'THE BELL TOLLS FOR BURNOPFIELD'- 4 GOOD PARTNERSHIPS, SOL STROKES HIS THIRD CENTURY IN 7 DAYS.
30th June 2025
'THE BELL TOLLS FOR BURNOPFIELD'- 4 GOOD PARTNERSHIPS, SOL STROKES HIS THIRD CENTURY IN 7 DAYS.
30th Jun 2025
'THE BELL TOLLS FOR BURNOPFIELD'- 4 GOOD PARTNERSHIPS,
SOL STROKES HIS THIRD CENTURY IN 7 DAYS.
21st June 2025: NEPL Premier Division:
SNCC V Burnopfield (a) 110 o win/lose/draw.
Burnopfield 270-5 dec (54o) Matthew Purdy 30, Jonny Bushnell 74, Ross Whitfield Jnr 54, John Oswell 80*: Cody Hoffmeister 1-62, Will Alexander 1-43, Gavin Paton 2-79, Oli McGee 1-57, Tom Jones 0-26.
SNCC 273-4 (52.5o) Sol Bell 106*, Rob Peyton 27, Chris Hewison 27, Simon Birtwisle 54, Adam Cragg 22*: Matthew Oswell 1-46, Jonny Bushnell 0-49, Harry Lumsden 0-23, Amaan Ulhaq 3-69, Harry Crawshaw 0-42, Ross Whitfield Jnr 0-27.
SNCC won by 6 wickets - 27 points, Burnopfield 5.
On a benign surface two strong batting sides produced 543 runs for the loss of only 9 wickets & for the Bulls, chasing, Sol stroked his third century in 7 days, matching the feat of Birty in 2015 for CLS, as 4 good partnerships saw them home in 52.5 overs, an exhilarating win !
A warm day, Burnopfield in fourth, with 6 members of the NCCC squad, hosted the Bulls, third in the Premier league at start of play. A welcome return from injury for w/k Rob Peyton but with Jonny Wightman & Nathan Gough unavailable, leg spinner Tom Jones got the nod.
The hosts chose to bat. Crawshaw (lhb) & Purdy (rhb) faced the seam of Cody Hoffmeister & Will Alexander. At 22 in the 5th Crawshaw (5) was bowled by an in swinging, full delivery from Cody. Purdy drove straight in the power play hitting a 6 & 4x4 but after a somewhat wayward 8 overs which leaked 45, Gavin Paton & Oli McGee began spells.
Whitfield drove 2x4 in Gav's second but in his third a slower ball persuaded Purdy (30 43b 5x4) to lob a leading edge back to him, 55-2. Bushnell & Whitfield pushed on as 6 overs from Gav & 8 from Oli found no reward as runs were scored straight & in the cover region. Will's second spell saw a better rhythm probing a fuller length & in his 5th Whitfield (54, 65b,9x4) using his feet well in another positive knock, was adjudged lbw, 126-3. Was there an edge ? Tom's 3 over spell was expensive.
Two overs from Oli & then lunch after 32 overs with the total on 135-3. Gav & Cody bowled overs 33-43, Bushnell stroking cleanly in the V & John Oswell driving powerfully down the ground & over mid wicket. A tough c&b chance notwithstanding, Gav was varying his pace well. The total had reached 211 in the 46th when Bushnell (74, 112b, 8x4 1x6) forward, was also adjudged lbw to Gavin; a sense the bat may have been involved again.
Oli & Gavin bowled overs 44 -51, John Oswell continued to attack in company with Brown but in the 51st Brown (9) was bowled by Oli, 237-5. Three overs & 33 runs later, with rain falling, Burnopfield dec at 270-5 after 54 overs, John Oswell 80* (72b,7x4 3x6), a powerful display, brother Matthew 9*.
The Bulls fielding was exemplary, Sam in the deep & Adam, as ever, at short extra cover saved important runs. Oli & Gav bowled well as did Will in his second spell.
In reply Sam Ewart & Sol Bell face the seam of Matthew Oswell & Jonny Bushnell. 5 wides but from ball 3, Sam (0) fast footed, drove but edged to Crawshaw at second slip. Sol drove 2,2,4 from Oswell's second over & Rob cut Bushnell twice for 4 in overs 6 & 8. Sol repeated 4,4,2 off Oswell's 4th & the score had risen to 45 after 8 overs.
Lumsden (lm) entered the attack but could achieve no breakthrough his 4 overs conceding 23 as Rob drove & pulled. 74-1 after 16 overs but in the next, Ulhaq's (lb) first, Rob (27, 49b, 4x4) who had batted well, aiming to force off the back foot, found one that bounced & edged to slip where Whitfield took the catch ending a partnership of 73; Sol 32*, 79-2.
Hewi was equally positive & drove Ulhaq straight powerfully 3x4 as Sol accumulated steadily. At 125 in the 27th Hewi (27, 32b,5x4) drove high to long off looking for a maximum but it held up & the catch was taken by Brown, ending a partnership of 46. The Burnopfield total had been 126-3 after 29 overs.
There followed another enterprising partnership of 78 between Sol & Birty occupying 19 overs in which Sol did not strike a boundary & found fielders often with good shots but Birty, timing delightfully either side of point, stroked 8x4. In addition, as Ulhaq & Crawshaw (sla) & later Whitfield (rm) probed, 28 singles & 8x2 were scored as shot selection & placement proved effective.
At 203 in the 46th Birty's fine innings ended caught at backward point by Whitfield off Ulhaq. Simon 54( 64b, 8x4) another vital innings, cutting, steering through gully, sweeping, reversing, Sol 75*. Enter Adam Cragg who promptly struck a boundary from ball 5.
Bushnell joined Ulhaq but the momentum seemed to be with the Bulls as Adam swept & drove, the pair again showed excellent running between the wickets & the total rose to 254 after 52 overs.
The next from Bushnell (& last) saw 19 runs added as Sol reached his century with 2,4,(4 byes, 5wides) & 4. The Bulls winning total of 273-4 included 37 extras, 17 of which were wides: Adam 22* (23b, 4x4) an unbroken 5th wicket partnership of 70*.
Sol finished a chanceless 106* (150b, 218m, 8x4, 42 x1,13x2, 2x3), his stamina & concentration over 3h 38m to absolutely applaud, particularly as he fought through a phase of good shots hitting fielders, helped immeasurably by that of his batting partners.
His feat of three centuries in 7 days mirrors that of Birty in 2015 for CLS, a quite magnificent achievement. A true team effort, a good win leaves the Bulls in third place on 182 points behind CLS on 198 & Burnmoor on 207 as we approach the halfway point of the league season.
Onward to:
Fri 27th June SNCC v Hetton Lyons (h) NEPL t20 ¼ final from 1800.
Sat 28th June SNCC v Tynemouth (h) 110o, win/lose/draw, from 1130.
Wed 2nd July SNCC v Shotley Bridge (h) TCB ¼ final 20/20 from 1800.
We hope you can be there to cheer the team on.
Duncan.