News

August 14^th saw the 1^st team boys at the ground to work on the outfield to help the water away as it had rained all week and the game looked to be in danger of being called off, however the wicket drains well and we knew that so it was well worth it when we got the go ahead off the umpires. The game started 1 hour late so the match was reduced to 40 overs and once again we lost the toss and Whitley Bay put us into bat on a dampish track.

Callum Milburn was run out on 13 bringing Dean Hardy to the wicket and himself and Harwood put on 68 before Harwood fell on 30 LBW to Leg Spinner Parsons.

Paul Milburn and Dean Hardy then put on a good stand of 84 runs with Hardy top scoring on 66 not out off 103 balls with 2 hours at the crease and Milburn on 44 not out off 36 balls he hit 4 6’s 2 of those were his first scoring shots pulling the leg spinner to the leg side off full deliveries.

Stephenson and Pearson with 26 and 28 respectively put a fight but when they went the team was bowled out for 105 giving the boys another win by 67 runs.

Dean Greaves took 4 wickets for 12 runs off 10 overs, James Richards took 4 for 24 off 8 overs, Lewis Tanney took the remaining 2 wickets for 29 runs.

All the hard work to get the game on was well worth it with us going back to the top over taking Tillside who we visit next week in what will be the title decider.

1sts got back to winning ways on Saturday defeating 3^rd place Monkseaton at Priors Park on Saturday & go top after Tillside were surprisingly beaten at Heaton Park.

Losing the toss & being asked to bat 1^st on a rough looking track Harwood & Milburn were patient against the pace of Black & guile of Hewitt the scoring rate barely ticking along at 2 an over. Dean Hardy joined Milburn at the crease after Harwood was caught behind and they advanced the score along to 72 for 1 until Hardy was bowled by a grubber from Kleynhans. At this point the Rugby Club suffered a mini collapse with Callum then Paul Milburn departing soon to be followed by the unfortunate Adamson to leave the innings teetering.

Kevin Hetherington joined Rob Clark at the crease & they carefully re built until Hetherington was bowled attempting to up the scoring rate in the closing overs. Clark was then run out for a good 20 & Tanney bowled after scampering well with Richards allowing Dean Greaves to come to the crease & smack 3 fours & a six in a late cameo of 21 that pushed up the total from above average to good, Richards also finished unbeaten with a good 16.

After tea early wickets fell to Greaves & Richards in their 1^st overs. A further wicket each left Monkseaton struggling 4 down with barely 20 on the board. At this point Faulkner & Butler decided to take the attack to the Rugby club & a succession of boundaries & lost balls followed compelling Harwood to introduce Davey Wanless snr into the attack, despite going for a boundary in his 1^st over he picked up the wickets of Butler & Faulkner either side of a superb Callum Milburn run out to leave a miracle needed for the batting side. Paul Milburn picked up two further wickets leaving Wanless to wrap things up for 82 with the winning margin being 87 runs.

A superb win against an in form Monkseaton side which was hard work on facilities not befitting the occasion. Saturday sees Bomarsund visit the Rec with the 1sts knowing a win would leave them very close to their aspiration of playing Premier League cricket next season.

At the Rec a depleted 2^nd team also won against Cramlington to move into the top half of the table. Matty Tanney with a superb 73 & Scott Maddison a patient 43 not out were the main contributors in 209 for 5. In reply a Cramlington team with plenty of 1^st team experience could only muster 156 for 9, Matty Tanney took 2 wickets, 2 run outs & 1 apiece for David Wanless Jr, Andy Matthews, Scott Barrass, Cory Milburn and Jimbo Lovatt did the business. 

Heaton Park away is never an easy game with players returning from spells at other clubs the rugger boys expected a hard fought match.

On losing the toss on an already damp track and on a day when the rain stopped play twice, Harwood and Milburn Jnr found it hard going at first another partnership of over 50 when Callum Milburn was caught the score was on 61 and he departed with a tidy 29 with on huge 6 pulled over mid wicket. Harwood steady the ship with a tidy 58 before he was bowled by Rahim. Hardy worked hard for his 26 before being caught by Rahim off Khan or better known as “Dixie Chicken”.

In came Paul Milburn who batted through to hold the innings together with a score of 66 not out with 11 boundaries with 10 4’s and a 6 over mid on. He batted with Midge Adamson who played some fine shots in his 23, at the end of our 50 overs the score stood at 250 which was a great effort on a damp track.

With some fine batsmen in the Heaton Park team “Ash” knew that the game was not over, the Parks 3 main men were Billy Malik fresh from his century the week before, Saleemi a India cap for playing for the under 19’s and Rahim who can take any bowling attack apart.

We got off to a great start 3 wickets down for only 23 runs all the wickets going to James Richards. A.B. Ali fought hard for his 28 occupying the crease for 84 minutes, Khan “Dixie Chicken” took a lifting ball to his face drawing blood only to see him fall soon after for 0 off Milburn snrs bowling. In came the main man Billy Malik he looked good playing some fine shots in a quick fire 21 before being bowled to a ball which cut back from the impressive Richards.

Saleemi was out first ball from Richards with the rugger boys jumping for joy, this turned to a huge roar when the dangerous Rahim also fell to first ball delivery bowled by Paul Milburn which was caught well by the captain Harwood in the slips, Rahim was walking down the wicket when the ball was bowled and must have been 10ft out of his ground when he played a rash slog.

Richards was the star of the bowling show with 5 for 37 off his 13 overs with the ever impressive Greaves bowling 10 overs taking 1 wicket for only 9 runs. Milburn took 2 for 21 and 16 year old Lewis Tanney rapped up the bowling with 2 for 14 off 2.2 overs

The Park boys innings finished on 82 giving the “Ash” rugger boys a convincing 168 run victory.

10^th July saw the rugger boys visit Whitley Bay looking to follow on from the previous week’s good win. The seasiders won the toss and batted with Ivan Pearson hitting some lusty blows in his 48 before falling to young Lewis Tanney. Dean Greaves bowled a good 10 over spell taking 2 for 28 runs, only to be out done by his partner in crime James “Stephen” Richards who bowled 13 overs straight through taking 4 wickets for 52. Whitley Bay eventually finished with 186 runs on the board.

Up stepped the Ash boys opening pair of Chris Harwood and Callum Milburn who had a partnership of 72, Harwood finished on 42 and Callum with 40. Hardy chipped in with a steady 26 then came the fall of a 5 wickets for only 22 runs the game looked to have taken the direction of Whitley Bay only for Rob Clark to bat well for his 33 once he caught and bowled by Parkinson, it was left to the 2 opening bowlers to see us through to a 2 wicket win with 4 overs to spare.

The 1st team won comfortably at Monkseaton on Saturday as Dean Greaves & James Richards demolished the Monkseaton batting line up in a devastating spell of swing bowling!

Greaves with 6 for 56 & Richards 3 for 43 were on the mark from the 1st over as the dangerous Bob Zanetti was trapped lbw by Greaves without scoring. Top order wickets fell regularly after that only Kevin Elliott looked comfortable at the crease making 23 until the Monkseaton tail wagged with contributions of 17 form Kleynhans, 26 from Mcdine & 17 from Hewitt left Monkseaton all out on 104.

The Northern innings got off to a poor start as Harwood was bowled by nemesis Rankin for 0 in the 2nd over. But joined by Dean Hardy, Callum Milburn continued his recent good form to ease the ‘Rugga Boyz’ to victory in just over 20 overs. He finished on 58 not out with 8 fours & Hardy 30 not out with 3 fours to win by 9 wickets & claim all 30 points.

Elsewhere Whitley Bay caused an upset & turned our delight into ecstasy as they defeated our promotion rivals Bomarsund by 8 wickets. A reminder if one was needed for our boys to be on their toes when they visit Hillheads on Saturday.

The 2nds also defeated Monkseaton on Saturday to ease themselves further away from the B1 relegation zone. Mick ‘Bench’ Hudson scored 66 in addition to notable contributions from Adamson, Fox & Lovett as 223 for 7 was racked up. In reply Monkseaton succumbed to 176 all out with Midge Adamson taking 5 for 33 & David Wanless II 4 for 31. The 2nds travel to league leaders Bomarsund on Saturday looking to upset the champions elect!

The 1^st XI posted a club record 359 for 5 at the Rec on Saturday led by Callum Milburn who smashed a superb 118 and at 17 years old became the youngest player in the clubs history to reach 3 figures!

Winning the toss and batting 1^st on a hot day Milburn & Harwood put on 101 for the 1^st wicket before Harwood was bowled by a Shaik and Dean Hardy caught at mid wicket shortly after. Enter Milburn Sr Paul who carried on his good form to record a scintillating 56 while Callum having reached his 50 turned up the heat on the Hebburn bowlers who were beginning to wilt. A proud moment for the Milburn household came as Callum brought up 3 figures & finally departed on 118 to rapturous applause from both sides & supporters.

This brought Kevin Hetherington to the crease & joined by Rob Clark they heaped further punishment on the Hebburn bowlers. A late Cameo by Matty Tanney after Clark was out having played a good supporting role to Hetherington’s 70 not out saw the record total which was in fact the 10^th highest score in the leagues history!

After tea Chris Gray making his 1^st appearance for the 1sts in 3 years took the new ball & bowled impressively, regularly going past the outside edge taking 2 wickets and was well supported by evergreens Greaves & Wanless 3 apiece, Lewis Tanney picked up the other 2 wickets to supplement his recent good form. Hebburn were shot out for 152 in 48 overs a huge win of 207 runs, which had the statisticians scrambling through the archives.

On Saturday the 1sts travel to Monkseaton looking for revenge for an early season defeat.

The 2nds had a good win at Corbridge racking up 174 for 9 with 30+ contributions from Hudson Wallace Storey & Fox. In reply Corbridge could only manage 154 all out Steve Henderson took 4 wickets David Wanless Jr 3 & Trevor Elliott 2. 

Sunday 20th June 2010 saw a gathering from around the area of teams of none cricketers wanting to show their cricketing abilities, 8 teams in 2 groups of 4 with the 2 group winners in the final showdown.

Group 1 saw Travellers A, Premier B, Ashington Rugby Boys and Bozze Brothers

Group 2 saw Bank Top, Linton and Woodhorn, Premier A and Travellers B

The day started at 10.30 am with some players looking like thery enjoyed their night before, this led to the organisers rejigging the playing schedule, never mind the day got off to great start with the sun shining and a crowd of over 100 at the "Rec" music, games for the little and big kids and some of the bigger kids to keep everyone entertained, hot food and drink was available all day at low prices as well.

Group 1 saw the champions from last year Choppington Travelers A win all their 3 games to make it to their second final in 2 years.

Group 2 was a lot different with the final game of their group stage saw 3 teams all with 2 wins out of 3, this led to dreaded bowl off 3 players from each of the teams Travellers B, Bank Top and Linton and Woodhorn all had 1 ball each to bowl at the stumps and you guessed it after 3 deliveries the teams were still at a stale mate 1 hit each. This then led to the final sudden death bowl off one delivery each until we have a winner, it came down to Bank Top who hit first, Linton and Woodhorn missed leaving Travellers B to step up and hit. The bowl off came down to sudden death who had the nevers of steel out of the the Travs and the Bank Top the Travs snatched it with a ball which hit middle stump, this led to a hugh cheer from the crowd along which a merry jig by the players and the fans "you would have thought they had just won the world cup"

Then onto the final the 2 Travellers teams squared up to each other to see who had the bosting rights for the year, the B team elected to bat they set a modest total of 44. The champions from last year reached this total without any major problems and without losing a wicket, with some fine boundry 4's and 6's with stroke play/slogging and yarking never mind how the ball gets their as long as it crosses the line.

Well done to the Travellers A two time champions they collected their trophy and prize money with their captain Des Greaves picking up the player of the tournement. 

Great day had by all big thank you to Ashington Rugby Club for the use of their club house, Ellington Junior Football club for the use of their nets and to our members who turned up and umpired, scored, organised the schedule of matches and the team in the kitchen serving the food and drink.  

The 1^st XI returned to winning ways on Saturday defeating Heaton Park by 7 wickets at Cochrane Park on Saturday.

Upon inspection of the wicket skipper Harwood used a bit of local knowledge to declare the sandwich shop at Four Lane Ends was the best in the area, however being none the wiser as to how the wicket would play he sought the groundsman for advice.  After returning none the wiser Harwood was last heard mumbling that he hoped to lose the toss as he strode out to the middle to inevitably win the toss, asking Heaton Park to take 1^st strike.

Greaves took the 1^st over which would have been a wicket maiden had it not been for a poor effort at slip by the skipper allowing the dangerous Saleemi a life on 0. After that the wicket proved to be not particularly good for bowling nor stroke play as the game meandered along without much happening for long periods, 4 of Heaton’s top 7 made 25+ without any of them making a big one, Malik top scoring with 41. It has to be said the bowling was an improvement on the previous week but energy levels in the field remained low and extras were 56.

Heaton Park finished on 210 all out with Lewis Tanney the pick of the bowlers taking 2 wickets, as did James Richards, Callum Milburn and Michael Adamson, Paul Milburn and Dean Greaves taking the other 2.

After tea Harwood and Adamson opened up however the latter was soon on his way mis-timing a drive to mid off from Malik’s bowling in only the 2^nd over for 4. Dean Hardy joined Harwood and put together a 50 partnership before Hardy edged to 2^nd slip for 17.

At this point the Heaton park attack lost discipline & despite the efforts of Saleemi who bowled tightly from 1 end and had Milburn lbw for 19 new batsmen Hetherington & Harwood with the help of wides were able to regularly plunder 10+ runs an over resulting in the Rugby Club cruising to victory inside 35 overs, with Harwood finishing unbeaten on 71 and Hetherington 40.

Gland Slam Saturday is next up for the ‘Rugga Boyz’ with a grudge match against in form Stobswood at the Rec while Bomar & Tillside who currently occupy the top 2 slots facing off also!  The promotion picture promises to be clearer following these games!

Meanwhile at the Rec the 2nds lost disappointingly to Kirkley, Davey Wanless snr took 5 for 7 to restrict the visitors 124 all out but despite his heroics and an opening 26 from Michael Watson the 2nds fell short being bowled out for 110 !