VP'S ENJOY PLEASANT CONDITIONS FOR THEIR AUTUMN GOLF OUTING AT NEWBIGGIN.
14th October 2024
BULLS FINISH NEPL PREMIER DIVISION RUNNERS UP AFTER DEFEAT OF FELLING
24th Sep 2024
BULLS FINISH NEPL PREMIER DIVISION RUNNERS UP AFTER DEFEAT OF FELLING.
Gorantla's delightful century, Crozier's swansong ends perfectly.
Sat 14th Sept 2024: NEPL Premier Division: SNCC v Felling (h) 45/45, win/lose.
SNCC 235-9 (45o) Nikhil Gorantla 103, Chris Hewison 26, Rob Peyton 25, Adam Cragg 41, Will Alexander 16*: Seb Allison 2-49, Ishaq Khan 1-40, Paul Leonard 0-39, Elliot Fox 3-48, Alasdair Appleby 3-57.
Felling 144ao (35.4o) Tyler Easton 23, Joe Cracknell 47, Seb Allison 12, Alan Mustard 18: Jonny Wightman 3-29, Sean Tindale 0-24, Will Alexander 0-18, Lee Crozier 3-48, Oli McGee 4-24.
SNCC won by 91 runs - 24 points, Felling 5.
On a sunny day the Bulls won the toss & chose to bat. Birty & Sol faced the seam of Allison & Khan. Birty (5) fell in the third, lbw to Allison & Sol (7) picked up cleanly but found the only fielder on the deep mid wicket boundary off Khan, 25-2 in the 8th.
Nik hit boundaries in the 4th, 7th, 9th & Hewi in the 11th as Leonard entered the attack. The total rose steadily but accelerated in the 18th &19th when 23 were scored off Leonard & Fox. Then in the next both Hewi (26) & Sean (0) edged to w/k Hurst off Fox, 87-4.
In next Nik cut for 4 getting to 50* (53b 8x4). In over 26 Appleby (ob) entered the attack. Rob was batting responsibly & the total rose to 155 in the 34th when he (25, 40b 1x4) advanced to Appleby, missed & was stumped by Hurst ending a vital partnership of 68. Nik sailed on hitting the ball hard, surviving two, possibly three, chances when the power of the shot burst through the fielders hands. He hits it hard, good balance & fast hands.
Nik & Adam pushed on, Allison & Appleby were struck for 6 until Nik brought up his third hundred in 5 innings in the 39th over, (89b 11x4 2x6) striking through cover, cutting past point or driving straight, another consummate innings cut short at 199 when, on 103, he advanced to Appleby & was stumped by Hurst ending another important partnership of 44.
In the push to boost the total, 3 wickets fell in the last four overs. Oli (2) seemingly falling over, was adjudged lbw to Appleby at 210, Adam (41, 39b, 2x4 2x6) a vital knock, missed a sweep & was lbw to Allison & Wighters (2) was caught off the last ball from Fox. Will (16*) batted nicely hitting one straight driven boundary.
In reply Appleby & Easton faced Wightman & Tindale. An Appleby flick to leg for 2, a cover drive for 4 from the first two Wightman deliveries but a hard hit square drive from the third was superbly caught by Sol at gully, low diving to his left, one handed.
Cracknell, on holiday from Middlesex CCC, joined Easton & the pair batted positively until at 52 in the 12th Wightman, now from the Grove end, persuaded Easton (23) to drive & Oli took a good head high catch retreating at mid off. Will bowled 5 overs smoothly from the Park end, with good length & line, for only 18.
In the 16th Hurst (9) drove a catch to Sean at mid on off Jonny, 65-3. In the next Lee began his last spell for SNCC from the Park end. In his next Allison (12) drove hard & Lee took a very sharp c & b chance in two hands tumbling to his left, 80-4.
As Lee & Oli combined, Mustard (18) showed intent & with Cracknell raised the total to 119 in the 26th when playing back, he was bowled by Oli, Cracknell batting well (47, 64b,2x4 1x6) had survived two confident lbw shouts but one run later was deemed to lbw to Oli. Leonard (6) drove Lee to Adam at cover in the 29th, 7 down. One run later Fox (1) was lbw to McGee,128-8.
Then a little piece of magic as with his last delivery for SNCC after 21 years Lee floated a 'hit me' to Stamper (6) whose eyes lit up but the slog missed & he was bowled giving Lee his 860th NEPL wicket amid much congratulation from his teammates, 138-9. Carroll (7) fell lbw to McGee in the 36th leaving the Bulls victors by 91 runs securing the runners up spot in the Premier Division.
Lee's NEPL record is as follows.
Benwell Hill 2000-2003, SNCC 2004- 2024. 15 championships, 5 national successes.
Bowling:(overs) 4931.1 (mdns) 1242, (runs) 13662, (wkts) 860, (avg) 15.89
Batting: (inngs) 180 (no) 93, (runs) 1406, (hs) 89, (avg) 16.16.
Catches: 68
High score: 89 for Benwell Hill v Philadelphia (a) 2002 batting at 4.
His loyalty & commitment to SNCC have been exemplary, his aim to practice hard to be the best he could be, admirable. His will to win never in doubt. We salute Lee & thank him sincerely for his dedicated service; we wish him well & shall miss him.
So an end to an up & down 2024 season when complete displays by a talented team were few & far between. Work to do to aim to improve consistency in 2025.
The SNCC Presentation Evening is on Sat 21 Sept in the Indoor Centre from 1800. We hope you can be there to celebrate the Club's successes of which there are many.
I hope these reports have enabled you to keep in touch with the club's fortunes during 2024. If you have observations or suggestions for improvement please say. Winter well mes amis!
Duncan.