Welcome to the
Benwell Hill Cricket Club
Web Site

Benwell Hill Cricket Club is located to the west of Newcastle upon Tyne city centre. The club is a founder member of the ECB North East Premier League.

The first, second and third eleven’s all play in the Premier Leagues.The third eleven are also members of the Just Sport West Tyne Cricket League and the midweek Northumberland County C Division.

Benwell Hill run junior teams at Under 18, Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 levels for both boys and girls.

We welcome all your comments, views or suggestions. Send your emails to:
Benwell Hill Cricket Club

Last update: Wednesday 1 July 2009
17:51 BST

Charity game rained off

Tonight's (1 July) Tyneside Charity Cup game against South Northumberland has been postponed due to heavy rain. It will be played at a later date.

Under 18's book final date

Benwell Hill’s Under 18 team reached the final of the West Tyne Cup last night with a hard fought win against a very strong Humshaugh team. Batting first was not easy on a damp wicket. The Hill reached 114 for 3 after 20 overs largely thanks to a typically hard hitting 58 from Fenwick Frisken, which included six sixes, and an unbeaten 25 from Chris Brown.

Humshaugh fell 31 runs short in reply with captain Tom Denham having a fine game in the field taking three wickets and two crucial catches, and Chris Brown completing a fine match by also taking three wickets.

The venue and date for the final have yet to be arranged.

BBQ Sold Out!

All tickets for the Summer BBQ have now been sold.

Team Selections

This week's teams can be found here.

Summer Barbie

This Friday evening (3 July) sees the Summer BBQ take place. Tickets are on sale at the bar priced at an extremely reasonable £6. This not only includes your food but live entertainment from top band Koncept, direct from their success at Glastonbury! There is also cricket on the ground with the second eleven playing Murton in the James Bell Memorial Cup.

If you haven't purchased your tickets yet you need to do so by Thursday (2 July) as tickets will not be available on the evening of the BBQ.

Mixed fortunes for the Hill

Saturday turned out to be a day of mixed fortunes for our two senior sides with the first eleven losing heavily at Denton Bank while the second eleven continued their fine league form recording their third win in four games.

The first eleven lost by 69 runs after bowling out Blaydon for 190. David Rutherford returning figures of 4 for 35 in 20 overs. In reply the Hill were handily placed at 87 for 3 with Ali Maiden and Zohaib Khan at the wicket but a collapse of wickets saw the Hill bowled out for a poultry (sic) 121.

David Haxon's second eleven go from strength to strength. Put in on a damp wicket they had reached 112 for 6 and looked in danger of being bowled out cheaply. However, an unbroken partnership of 83 between Mark Wright (48) and Fenwick Frisken (32) enabled the Hill to post a very competitive total. The Host's were always up with the required run rate but the Hill kept taking wickets at crucial times and Blaydon were eventually bowled out for 157 giving the Hill a win by 38 runs. Joe Kilpatrick was impressive in cleaning up the tail with a 16 ball spell of 4 for 2 to give him overall figures of 5 for 35 of 10 overs.

Saturday Washout!

Heavy afternoon rain washed out both Hill games against Tynemouth on Saturday (20 June). Despite both games starting on time the inevitable downpours put paid to either of the games reaching a conclusion. The third eleven's game at Wylam was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

The third eleven beat Newcastle by 37 runs on Sunday (21 June) at Denton Bank.

Hill short game in rude health

The first eleven took a step closer in reaching the NEPL Cricket First Twenty20 Finals day when they beat Blaydon on Friday (19 June) by one wicket. The Hill now sit top of Group B with one final round of games to play this week. The Hill meet Tynemouth at Denton Bank on Friday 26 June at 6.00 pm.

This week's other fixtures are:
Blaydon v. South Shields and
South Northumberland v. Newcastle

An up to date Group B table can be found here.

Hill come crashing down to earth!

The first eleven's twelve game unbeaten run came to an abrupt end at South Shields yesterday (13 June), when chasing 201 to win they were bowled out for their lowest NEPL total of 56. Their main tormentor was Matthew Muchall who returned figures of 5 for 14 which also included a hat-trick. Only John Chambers (13) and Graeme Race (11) reached double figures.

Back at the Hill the second eleven contrived to make hard work of beating South Shields. The visitors batted first and were bowled out for 135 in 42 overs with Paul Askell returning season best figures of 5 for 48 off 15 overs. In reply the Hill were in trouble from the start and at 29 for 5 were struggling to stay in the game, but a mature innings of 41 from 15-year-old Johnny Turnbull and contributions from Barney Moore (21) and Joe Kilpatrick (28 not out) saw the Hill home with the last pair at the wicket.

More Charity on the way

The first eleven beat Morpeth by five wickets in the second round of the Tyneside Charity Bowl last night (Wednesday 10) as they continue their defence of the trophy they have won for the last two years. They will now meet South Northumberland in the quarter finals at Denton Bank on Wednesday 1 July. The game starts at 6.00pm.

May's Memorable Moments!

Just in case you're bored with the Credit Crunch, MPs Expenses, Mike Ashley and Susan Boyle here is something to divert your attention for a few moments. Below is a carefully compiled list of some of the memorable moments (and stats) throughout the month of May concerning players and members of Benwell Hill Cricket Club.

Phil Nicholson reaching 6000 first team runs (from 42,000 balls!!!): First eleven skipper Ali Maiden clocking up 1000 first team runs and a top career score for Benwell Hill of 120 not out against Norton on Saturday 6 May.

BR Evans first hundred in his 4,592nd innings and PAJ Haves 8,000 wickets from a similar number of overs – both sets of stats courtesy of Simon Lunn.

First eleven debuts for Richard Coughtrie, Peter Jones and club professional Zohaib Khan, who made his maiden 100 against the Durham Academy. Benwell Hill debuts for Lalith Siriwardana, Vikram Narula, A Jayaweera and Andy Armin.

Other notable stats are:  David Rutherford’s 100th game for Benwell Hill; first away win in the Banks Salver after ten seasons; Hundreds for Ali Maiden (120 not out) and Zohaib Khan (114 not out); Fifties for Mark Dale (4), Ali Maiden, Phil Nicholson, Richard Coughtrie, David Haxon, Mark Wright, Johnny Turnbull, Barry Pearson (2) and Gordon Harrison plus a maiden fifty for Tom Denham.

First wickets in senior cricket: Mohammed and Saud Shinwari, Luke Popplewell, Andrew Jewitt, Chris Brown; Five wickets in an innings for David Archbold (4) and David Rutherford (2).

SA Lunn’s seasonal debut for St Cuthberts Old Boys. There is a huge cash prize for anyone who can guess where the first run was scored . . . and the second,third etc;

Early season entries for the Lippa Award: By his own admission David Archbold for losing it with Baz Evans and no Lippa Award mention would be complete without Baz Pearson for simply being Baz!

However, here are definite stand-out moments in May: Saud Shinwari’s wickets for Under 15 County side; Ben Mussett's one handed catch for Under 18s against Benwell; Tom Denham's diving catch against Allendale and possibly Pearson’s stumping from a leg-side wide against Gateshead Fell!

But the highlight of the season so far is . . . Chloe Johnson aged 11, making her debut for Northumberland Girls under 13 v Yorkshire and taking two wickets.

We will be doing all this nonsense again next month – unless I get myself a life! - so all entries for any sort of rubbish you can think of to: bhcc@blueyonder.co.uk

Weekend round-up

The first eleven came very close to being the first side to beat the current champions in the league this season. In a rain affected game South Northumberland were restricted to 155 for 9 in 46 overs. David Rutherford and Zohaib Kahn each picking up three wickets. The Hill were in a very strong position at 77 for 1 with almost 20 overs still remaining and a win looked very much on for the Hill. But South Northumberland don't give up easily! The Hill lost seven wickets for 45 runs to leave them teetering but 16-year-old John Chambers was able to bat out the last two balls to claim a winning draw.

The second eleven won their first game of the season. Having had the opposition nine down on three occasions this season they eventually went the final step and bowled out South Northumberland to claim victory by 12 runs.

Dave Archbold's third eleven won their fourth game in a row to stay in touch with the leaders when they comfortably beat Stocksfield. The skipper added another four wickets to give him a total of 27 for the the season and Lalith Siriwardana returned the excellent figures of 6 for 19.

The third eleven lost by 79 runs at Norton on Sunday.

Take That?

After Friday's sell out show at the Stadium of Light top boy band Take That paid a surprise visit to Benwell Hill.
Nice to see you boys!

NEPL Averages (as at 4 June 2009)

Cup successes

The second eleven made progress in the James Bell Memorial Cup last night (Wednesday 3 June) as they comfortably beat Willington by seven wickets. The hosts were restricted to 89 for 6 in 20 overs thanks to a good bowling performance particularly from Mark Wright (3 for 19) and Ross Marley (2 for 20). The Hill reached their target with more than six overs remaining with Barney Moore (35 not out) and Glenn Robertson (34) the major contributors. The Hill will now play Murton at home in the next round.

The third eleven booked their place in the quarter-finals of the West Tyne League Cup as they eased passed Wylam by eight wickets. Set 110 to win the Hill reached their target with eight balls to spare largely due to an opening stand of 75 from John Chambers (37) and Joe Thompson (40). The Hill's reward is a trip to Hexham Leazes on Wednesday 17 June.

Hill bank on Zohaib

Under a cobalt blue sky and warm early summer sunshine Benwell Hill and the Durham Cricket Academy produced a classic Banks Salver quarter-final tie at Denton Bank yesterday (Sunday 31 May).

Winning the toss and batting first the young Academics amassed 286 for 9 off their allocated 45 overs. David Rutherford and Joe Kilpatrick each taking three wickets. The Hill's reply suffered an early setback with the loss of both openers for 57, but a wonderful innings from Zohaib Khan, 114 from 109 balls which included 12 fours and two sixes, and fine support from Mark Dale (68) and David Rutherford (42 not out) enabled the Hill to reach their target with 14 balls to spare. The Hill will now meet South Northumberland in the semi-final on Sunday 19 July.

Saturday review

It was another good Saturday for the Hill as our three senior sides returned two wins and a draw.

The first eleven made it two league wins in a row with a fine win at Sunderland. Batting first the hosts were bowled out for 185 in only 52.2 overs with Zohaib Khan and David Rutherford collecting four wickets each. The Hill reached their target with 24 overs to spare with Mark Dale completing back to back fifties.

The second eleven had the better of a drawn game against the bottom side at Denton Bank. The Hill made 216 for 8 with James Welch top scoring with 87. Set 217 to win in 50 overs the visitors never seemed up for the chase but were able to hang for a draw with the last pair at the wicket.

The third eleven's good early season form continues as they comfortably beat Humshaugh by 82 runs with skipper David Archbold among the wickets again. The Hill set the hosts 137 to win but early wickets from Rory Drainer (3 for 18) had Humshaugh in trouble from the start, and when David Archbold (5 for 8) cleaned up the tail the hosts were all out for 54.

Click on the above image for a larger version of What's On?

New players and
new members welcome

New players - junior and senior - are always welcome at Benwell Hill Cricket Club.

The Club caters for cricketers of all abilities from Minor Counties standard to recreational level - if you are keen enough you will find a team to fit your standard.

During the season club practice takes place on Wednesday evenings from 6.00 pm and new players are most welcome to come along and try-out before committing to joining the club. The fee for senior players in 2009 is £58 and for juniors is £30 - for that sum you get full access to the club and its social and playing facilities for the year.

For those who simply wish to watch the cricket and enjoy a pint whilst doing so, we offer social membership at £18 per annum.