With 3 league weekends and 2 Sunday games left its all to play for both in the league for the 2XI and internally for players to finish top of the charts.

The 2XI after their excellent weekend win over league leaders Stobswood sit in a comfortable sounding 6th place a closer look at the table shows despite that it is only 35 points clear of 11th place and the second relegation spot, especially with 30 points for a win. Games against Civil Service and two of the bottom three in Backworth and Whitley Bay mean survival is very much in their own hands, indeed with good results in their final three games a 4th place finish, although unlikely is possible.

The 1XI's defeat to Blue Flames sees them remain in fourth place as the promotion push has faltered. A final flourish to end the season could see them reach third but the top two and promotion are pretty much out of reach for the season.

Internally its all to play for in several of the club challenges. Its a 4 way tie at the top of the catcher league with 7 catches each for Jai Punia, Ben O'Brien, Dave Waters and Ashley Parker, Jai currently holding the tie breaker having played less games.

Chris Morgan has more dismissals (15 v 11) and keeper catches (13 v 7) than Dan Wright who has more stumpings (4 v 2)

This past week has seen a new leader emerge in the run outs category with 2 in a week for Chris Barlow who now holds the tie-breaker having only played 4 games ahead of James Ottaway, Jack Denham and Ben Harris, 4 other players have 1 run out each.

Bar a flurry of stump hitting by Ifty Fazal, Yuvi Chauhan or Liam Cosgrove it looks like Nikil Ponna's mid-season burst has clinched the strike bowlers and Ben O'Brien has the Sixes League with a lead of 12 unlikely to be overhauled.

Finally the duck cup is also all to play for as the two scoreboard leaders both with 6, Tom Morgan and Jack Dobbing now 2 ahead of Parmy Singh and Yuvi Chauhan. Despite leaving the club in May Zeeshan Tahir is still in 5th place with his 3 first ballers in 8 innings (he also has 3 ducks for his new club Allendale)

The 2XI faced new members of the league and the Division's early season pace setters Allendale at Ponteland on Saturday. With heavy rain during the week and more showers forecast during the early part of the game it was probably no surprise when our skipper Chris Morgan went 0-4 for the coin toss that we were asked to bat. Tom Morgan set the early pace making the most of an early let off with a dropped catch as he made his highest score to date of 33 with some powerfully struck boundaries with an opening partnership of 53 with John Lumb before the change of pace to spin saw him caught from a mistimed shot. This brought Paul McReady to the crease with John and they battled hard to build the score before a rain break after 20 overs reduced the game to 46 overs per side. John was first to his fifty with Paul not far behind him and the partnership had passed 100 before John was out for 52 and Paul 62 with just 3 overs remaining. The order was changed but the hitters discovered how tricky the pitch was as they struggled to connect, Parag Chauhan out for 2 and only 4 singles for Zeeshan Tahir before Jonny Mole hit the last ball of the innings for 4 to bring up the fourth batting point at 175-4 off 46 overs.

After opening with a maiden from Tahir the next over opened the game out after opening his spell with 5 wides Jonny Mole then rattled the stumps of the opener Mason with the next then was clipped for four with the match ball disappearing under the construction fence and not being recovered. The very next ball though Jonny struck the stumps again to remove Stobbs for 4. A third wicket then fell in the third over as Tahir bowled Gray for 0 to leave the score on 12 for 3. The next 12 overs then saw a game of test match style cat and mouse begin as Ponteland pushed the field back to prolific opener Tim Raglan to try to get to bowl at the number 5 who provided some solid defence as the score climbed steadily to 45 before Reed was bowled by Tahir (2-21). The game proceeded in the same fashion with Raglan seizing on any boundary opportunities, the only chance he gave being off the final ball of an over from Mole where Jack Dobbing nearly pulled of a 'worldie' catch diving low at ankle hit at short mid-on only for the ball to bounce out of his hands as his elbows struck the ground. Mole in his longest ever spell broke the partnership with Pringle LBW for 3 as Jonny (3-44) took 3 wickets in an innings for the first time moments after Raglan reached his fifty from the 70 runs scored.

Another youngster Scott continued to provide solid support for Raglan who went on the counter attack against Andy Denyer hitting 6 sixes in a 10 ball spell as 5 balls went sailing over the fence into the construction site as he reached his third hundred of the season in just 4 games. With the score on 133 though came the pivotal moment of the match with Parmy Singh on from the sports centre end Raglan finally mistimed one, Andy Denyer charged in for the low catch and fumbled it only for the ball to come to rest between his legs but crucially not hitting the ground. Raglan rightly waited for the decision from the umpires as Ponteland's players 'got a bit vocal' while he stood there but the catch was confirmed and he was out for an excellent 107 off 106 balls with 3 fours and 10 sixes. Before another run was scored Scott was bowled by Lumb before another Scott was caught by Johnny Mole 11 runs later. The final pair took the score past 150 before Singh (3-18) took his third to complete an action packed 20 run victory.

John Lumb and Paul McReady shared their second consecutive century partnership, the first time this has happened for the Second Eleven (only Andy Morgan and Brett Elliott in 1991 for the First Eleven have previously done it for the club) their 4 century stands together is also a second eleven record. Both of them now have 6 century partnerships for the 2XI, 1 behind the record of 7 shared by Derek Younger and Mike Barlow. Tom Morgan and Jonny Mole had their best 2XI performances to date.

With the aid of a rake 4 of the 6 balls were recovered from over the fence - the others are in the foundations of the new school !

After a couple of tight final over friendly defeats the 3XI were looking to get their league campaign off to a good start at Kirkley last night. With the exceptions of Zeeshan Tahir bowling 5 overs for 20 and James Ottaway unbeaten on 19 its safe to say it didn't happen. Batting first Kirkley found or cleared the fence regularly in scoring 172-4.

Poor is the only was to describe politely our batting reply. 4 ducks, 2 of which were first ball, a needless run out and some soft dismissals. Only 3 made it to double figures and 7 players faced less deliveries than number 11 Alan Varley who survived 7 balls. All out for 62 with 4 overs still remaining of the 20 to lose by 110 runs a record defeat by runs for the Midweek side *

The season can only go up from here......

* A record defeat for the Midweek side with 11 players on the field.
The overall record defeat is a margin of 114 runs away against Warkworth back in 2000 a game I'm sure is still remembered by those who took part. The mitigating circumstance in that game was we only had 7 players; plus a loaned sub fielder who caught his own batsmen on 99 at long off ! Warkworth scored 177-1 in reply we managed 63-3 so they didn't bowl us out for full points.

In a season where senior cricket at Ponteland is being dominated by the duck (87 and counting at 1.41 per game) its time to celebrate the red inkers as Andy Morgan's unbeaten 80 at Newcastle City on Saturday was his 150th not out innings for Ponteland in his 925 visits to the crease. Andy joins a select group of 3 to reach that mark behind Jeff Oliver (165) and Geoff Appleby (169). In total 17 players have 70 not out innings, 24 have 50 not out innings.

Of players with 50 or more not outs John Kirton and Ashley Parker have the joint highest percentage of not outs with 45.76 closely followed by John Hill at 45.31 and Andy Denyer at 44.48.

Name	Innings	Not Out	Percentage
Geoff Appleby	399	169	42.36
Jeff Oliver	646	165	25.54
Andy Morgan	925	150	16.22
Andy Denyer	308	137	44.48
Jonny Appleby	393	137	34.86
Ron Fairweather	404	126	31.19
John Kirton	271	124	45.76
Chris Barlow	309	120	38.83
Roger Bell	621	108	17.39
Mike Barlow	561	100	17.83
John Gardner	460	94	20.43
Chris Morgan	374	91	24.33
Duncan McGregor	261	88	33.72
Stuart Taylor	479	79	16.49
John Monkhouse	331	76	22.96
Mike Storer	313	70	22.36
Phil Ottaway	387	70	18.09
Selected other current players
David Waters	236	60	25.42
John Hill	128	58	45.31
Ashley Parker	118	54	45.76

Monday 6th August 2018

The now annual holiday absences left the 2XI short of numbers for the game at Newcastle City and the side conceded 232-5 with the wickets shared between Jonny Mole, Ian Smart, Zeeshan Tahir, Jeff Oliver and Nikil Ponna with Paul McReady taking 3 catches. In reply the innings was quickly reduced to 21-5 with only Jack Denham in double figures with 11. Stand-in skipper Andy Morgan and Ian Smart though dug in and no further wickets were lost as they battled up to 129-5. The 108 run partnership was a 2XI record for the sixth wicket, it took Andy past 300 runs in a season for the 2XI for the first time and his unbeaten 80 was his 150th not out innings for the club, only the third player to reach the mark but the 103 run defeat leaves the team still in the Division 4 relegation mix with a crucial game against bottom side Backworth next weekend

The 1XI took on one of the teams around them battling relegation. Batting first John Lumb (26) and Ed Common (45) put on only the second fifty opening stand of the season but from 61 without loss the innings slipped to 112-5 before Jonny Appleby, returning after missing 10 weeks with a broken thumb joined forces with Joe Boaden to put on 86 before Boaden was caught for a 1XI best 34. A further 10 runs were added to end the innings on 204-6 with Appleby unbeaten on 65.

In reply Ed Common, able to bowl for the first time since the opening game of the season, struck with just the third ball of the innings with Moss caught by Lumb. Not to be outdone Ashley Parker then struck with his fourth ball with a successful LBW appeal, 0-2. The third ball of Common's second over saw the next wicket with Neil Stanley taking the catch behind the stumps, 0-3. Parker's next over was a maiden before Common struck again in his third with a catch by Keeshav Krishnan to dismissed Jaswinder Singh, 0-4. Three balls later in the same over a flick to square leg saw Cowgate trying to get off the mark only for Appleby to react with an outstanding direct hit run out to make the score 0-5 before the final ball of the over was clipped for 4. The first ball of the sixth over from Parker though saw another LBW for 4-6 with all of the top six dismissed for 0. Numbers 7 & 8 then scored 19 off the next 9 balls before another edge behind to Stanley gave Common his 4th wicket. A further 15 were added mostly in boundaries before Parker picked up his third bowling Bokhari for the 7th duck of the innings. Parker then struck again with his third LBW with Humais out for 1. The chance of consecutive 5 wicket returns for Parker were denied though when Keeshav Krishnan ran out Shazad for 26 to end the innings on 49 all out in under 12 overs. Common finishing with 4-13 and Parker 4-21 in a huge 155 run victory to move away from the relegation zone with the third win in 4 games.

The Sunday side faced Genetics at Swalwell on Sunday hoping to make it four wins in a row. Fielding first the bowling attack kept the runs down with the opening wicket to Dave Waters (1-26) with Gareth Taylor bowled for 2. Keeshav Krishnan (1-18) then dismissed the always dangerous Dan Taylor for 15 caught by skipper Jack Dobbing but a solid stand moved the score to 74 before Mike Gardner was caught at slip by Waters off Boaden (1-13) for 41 and Anish Krishnan (2-28) caught and bowled Williams also for 41 as the innings eventually ended on 147-7 off 35 overs, Dobbing taking 2-41 for the other wickets to fall. Ponteland's innings started with the loss of a couple of wickets in just the second over as Parmy Singh (5) and Nikil Ponna (1) were both out to spinner Chad and when Keeshav ran himself out for 7 the score sat at just 27. Muhammed Khaliq provided a solid partner with remaining opener Joe Boaden for a 58 run partnership as Boaden dominated the stand before retiring having reached his fifty and just a run later Khaliq was bowled for 15. Yuvi Chauhan and Chris Barlow steadily accumulated, adding 25 before the return of Chad had Chris caught on the boundary for 12 and Nathan Fisher then fell in the same over to the sharp turn. Under 13 Chauhan was then run out for 9 before Anish was caught and bowled without scoring leaving 28 needed off 4.4 overs. Dobbing and Waters took 8 off the next over before Chad finished his spell with another tight over to finish with 4-12 off 7 overs leaving 10 required off the final over. After a single off the first a four down the ground from Waters left 5 off 4 and a two and a couple of singles completed the win with a ball to spare, Dobbing unbeaten on 15 and Waters 10

After a few weeks off for various reasons the Sunday team were back in action on a hot and humid day against Kings Old Boys. Making the most of an early chance Peter Coyne continued his regular heavy scoring against Ponteland and the first wicket took until the 9th over when Parmy Singh (1-18) struck in his first over. Coyne and the number 3 Dillon Simpson though kept the innings moving along and when Coyne was finally dismissed by Jack Dobbing (1-23) for 79 he had scored the majority of their 109. Simpson though continued to bat tidily before he was eventually dismissed for 30. Jai Punia then ran through the rest of the batting order to pick up 6 for 13 as the 35 overs ended with a score of 152-9.

Ponteland's innings started, as seems to be usual these days with an early wicket with Tom Morgan out for 4. Jack Denham and Amrit Punia looked to be building a solid partnership before Amrit was caught behind for 14 and Dan Hadfield quickly followed before Nathan Fisher with a senior best so far of 21 helped put Ponteland back in a strong position before he, Jack Dobbing (4), Tom Storer and Jai Punia fell in quick succession before Jack Denham, moments after his first Sunday fifty was also dismissed with the score 104-8, still 48 adrift. Once again though the tail battled back as Imran Ul Haq made the most of the field being up with a series of powerful boundary shots and alongwith the stubborn resistance of Chris Barlow they had narrowed the target down to eight runs before Barlow was ajudged LBW for 9. Number 11 Parmy Singh then calmly smashed his first delivery over to the scorebox for six and once Ul Haq (35*) had tied the score with a single Singh launched another six straight down the ground for the second successive last wicket win.

Sunday 8th July 2018

The Sunday team faced Chatton off the back of both league sides losing heavily on Saturday. Nikil Ponna in his first game of the season with his exams coming to an end bowled tidily but it was Imran Ul Haq (2-23) that claimed the first two wickets one to a one handed catch by Parmy Singh. Jai Punia (2-6) maintained the pressure but the opening batsmen was able to keep the score ticking along. Chris Barlow (1-21) claimed the next wicket before James Croney struck with the first ball he bowled in senior cricket with a catch by Jack Dobbing to dismiss Caddick for 33. 1 became two as Jai Punia took the catch for a double wicket maiden. James then struck again (3-16) as did Mo Khaliq (1-11) before Nikil (1-15) returned to take the last with the score on 135.

In reply Ponteland's top order didn't linger, with Dave Waters, Harry Bond and Jai Punia all departing for ducks and Jack Dobbing for 4 as the innings was reduced to 11-4, Dan Tuite taking 4-4 in 5 overs. At the other end from the chaos 15 year old Amrit Punia was calm and found in Mo Khaliq an ally and the pair took the score up to 77 before Amrit retired on 50. The wickets then started to tumble again as Khaliq (22), James Croney (0) and Imran Ul Haq (1) all fell with Under 13 Sy Singh batting solidly before falling for 3 and the score only on 92-8 with Caddick on 3-8. Nikil Ponna and Chris Barlow dug in and despite Tuite coming back on as well the two added 33 runs before after hitting 2 fours behind point Barlow (13) was undone by a slower ball from Caddick with 11 needed. Amrit though was now able to return and guided the team over the line for a 1 wicket win. Amrit finished unbeaten on 57* and Nikil a Ponteland career best 21*

The 1XI faced Seaton Burn on a sunny afternoon at Ponteland and were put into bat and never was the title of this report more appropriate. The innings was off to a terrible start as both openers were dissmissed by the fifth over and number 3 Iftikar Fazal already dropped on just 3. The wickets continued to tumble, Rory Marr (5), Ben Harris (3) and Tom Morgan (2) but at the other end Fazal was making things look easy, having scored 48 of the 59 runs scored at Morgan's dismissal and his fifty came up moments later off 26 balls. Debutant Harrison Bond kept him company in a 35 run partnership before falling for 4 and when Fazal was caught off a top edge with the score on 116 87 of those off 50 balls with 7 fours and 5 sixes, his career best for Ponteland. 116-7 then quickly became 116-8 in just the 24th over. Skipper Dave Waters was left with numbers 10 and 11 to try to extend the innings and found a willing ally in Jai Punia. Punia battled away scoring 8 in his first 60 balls faced but this allowed Waters to accumulate more steadily at the other end and reached his first fifty for the 1XI off 68 balls. The partnership had reached 69 when Waters was bowled for 58 and two balls later the innings was over with Punia unbeaten on 20 off 84 balls but a season best innings total of 185 put the team in a stronger position than the midway point had suggested.

The Seaton Burn innings started in even more dramatic fashion than the Ponteland one as Ashley Parker hit his rhythm early and blew away the top order taking 4-8 in his first 3 overs, including an excellent slip catch from Waters while Fazal (1-12) chipped in with one to leave Seaton Burn on 15-5. For the second time in the match the lower order battled back and the score had movedd up to 61 before Bond (1-24) ripped a googly through Carr's defences for 17. Seaton Burn though moved the chase up to 102 before a second slip catch by Waters, this time off Gardner (1-32) saw Brown dismissed for 27. Punia (2-9) then chipped in with two quick wickets including Blacklock for 40 but appropriately given the start he'd given to the innings it was left to Parker (5-30) to complete the 58 run victory by bowling the last man for his first 5 wicket match in the 1XI.

Lower Order resistance

The 1XI travelled to Annfield Plain but were quickly in trouble, only a 68 run 8th wicket partnership between John Gardner (32) and skipper Dave Waters with a 1XI best of 44 giving any kind of total. 168 was quickly put in context as Annfield Plain raced to the total in just the 27th over although they lost 6 wickets with Jonny Mole taking 2-24. Dave must like batting at Annfield Plain, both his 2XI and now 1XI highest scores are both at the ground.

The 2XI faced Ashington who along with Shotley Bridge are the early leaders in the league. Our bowlers made early inroads with 6 wickets but opener Levison and Thewlis combined for the seventh wicket to send the score flying past 200, Thewlis unbeaten on 45 from number 8 while Levison was dismissed for 95 off the final ball of the innings trying to hit the 6 that would take him to his century. Andy Denyer took 2-28 off his 122 overs while Oli Parker took 2-41 off 10. In reply Ponteland never really threatened, an unbeaten 33 from Jeff Oliver the top score in 149-9.

The 3XI were in a bottom of the table clash with Stocksfield but after being set 135 were never in the hunt with for the third week in a row no batsman even reaching 20 getting dismissed for 86.

From 89-0 the 1XI crashed to 127 all out against Leadgate, Ed Common 30 and Stuart Taylor 59 having set up a platform that failed to be capitalised on in a 7 wicket defeat. In contrast the 2XI took on Stobswood 1XI and after dismissing the hosts for 114 with Joe Boaden taking 4-12 off 9 overs a comfortable 8 wicket win was completed with John Lumb unbeaten on 46.

The Sunday team started their season with a home game in glorious sunshine against Genetics, batting first Ponteland raced to 70 before losing the first wicket and from that point on the wheels came off as the innings subsided to 120 all out with nearly 10 overs unused. Genetics comfortably completing a 5 wicket win.

On Thursday the 3rds restricted Newcastle City to 88-7 but only managed 68-6 in reply

On a rain affected Saturday the 1XI travelled to Blyth for the first time since 2004. Batting first Ponteland batted steadily, Ed Common on his third debut for the club scored 39 opening in a solid third wicket partnership of 66. The fourth wicket added a further 66, Dan Wright with 16 being eclipsed by a 1XI career best unbeaten 85 from Jonny Appleby, his 85 ball knock containing 6 fours and 5 sixes as the inningss ended after 40 overs on 169-4. In reply Blyth's chase was set back by the second career best of the day with Ashley Parker taking 4 for the first time in the 1XI, his 4 for 14 in 9 overs also including 5 maidens. Alongside John Gardner with 2-28 six wickets had fallen in the first 18 overs. Ed Common 2-13 and Dave Waters 2-21 making it 2 wins from 2 with Blyth 80 all out.

With the new league structure the 2XI faced 1XI opposition for the first time with Clara Vale visiting Ponteland for the first time since 2001. Ponteland bowled well dismissing them for 143 with John Lumb 3-25, Zeeshan Tahir 2-48 and Andy Denyer 2-31 taking the early wickets before James Ealey finished the tail with 3-12 in under 4 overs. In reply Ponteland were in a strong position when the first wicket fell on 48, which promptly became 51-3 with top scorer James Ealey (39) dismissed. Andy Graves led a brief recovery to 79-5 but wickets continued to tumble the next 4 adding just 17 before Zeeshan with a 4 and a 6 led some late resistance but the innings ended on 107.

The Thursday Midweek team took on Humshaugh to open their season. The team bowled well dismissing last seasons unbeaten league winners for 105 in a 16 over match, the first time we had taken more than 4 wickets against them since 2011. Muhammed Khaliq 3-19, Jeff Oliver 3-13, Parmy Singh 3-12 leading the way. In reply though the batsmen were unable to time anything and struggled to 60-6 in reply with only 3 boundaries to their 11 the key difference in the innings.

After the opening week was postponed due to a combination of rain, snow and flooding which saw the roller stranded on the outfield for a time the season got underway in lovely sunny weather. The 1XI starrted life in Division 2 with a game against Alnwick, the same opponents we had started our NTSL era against ! Batting first Alnwick were dismissed for 156 with 2 wickets each for John Gardner, Iffy Fazal, Jonny Mole and Ashley Parker. In reply Stuart Taylor, returning after missing most of last season with injury led the chase with 71 while new overseas amateur David Ling scored 31 and Ben Harris, on his captaincy debut, chipped in with 23 for a 5 wicket win.

The 2XI opened up at Alnmouth & Lesbury. Career best figures of 4-17 from John Lumb and 3-30 from debutant Muhammed Zeeshan Tahir saw a target of just 113 set. Lumb (26) and James Ealey (41*) set the platform with a 50 partnership before Paul McReady (38*) completed a 9 wicket win.

Andy Denyer took 1 wicket in the 2XI victory against Alnmouth & Lesbury taking him to 200 for the side, only the sixth player to reach the landmark and in terms of overs bowled the fastest to the mark. Here's to the next 200 !

During the winter there have been major changes to the League structure with the Northumberland Tyneside Senior League merging with the Northumberland Cricket League to form the new Northumberland Tyneside Cricket League. Our 1XI's relegation to A2 means we are now in Division 2 of the new structure while the 2XI's top 6 finish in B1 last season was crucial as it means we start off in Division 4 instead of Division 6 South of the new structure facing a mix of regular 2XI opponents of the last few seasons while resuming our meetings with opponents from pre-2002 in the form of the 1XIs of Civil Service, Clara Vale, Cramlington & Stobswood.

Other significant changes for the 2XI are a return to 50 over cricket and fielding restrictions similar to those the 1XI have already played under. A win now gets 20 points, batting points are every 25 from 100 to 200 as before but to get all the batting points chasing only 5 wickets can be lost.

The 2XI can get promoted (or relegated) from this Division but cannot end up in the same league as the 1XI.

The Midweek 3XI has also been merged and regionalised. As it happens the majority of our previous opponents are also in the same zone so Kirkley are the only new opponents for 2018. The player restrictions are relaxed although the emphasis is still on non-Saturday players and juniors rather than an extra game for 1XI players