Dukes NEPL

Season preview 2015

A season with a difference begins in seven days time for NEPL clubs, with the 2015 model representing the culmination of a re-structuring process that had its roots in the discussions between North East clubs that began a decade ago.

When the promotion of Burnmoor and Tudhoe to the NEPL was confirmed at the end of the 2014 campaign it meant that the League would have twelve teams in each of its top two divisions for the first time, and with promotion and relegation now also kicking in between the NEPL and the Durham Cricket League it means that, after much water passing under the bridge, a true pyramid system will be in operation for the first time.

In the Premier Division it’s hard to look beyond the formidable South Northumberland following their acquisition of former Aussie Test star Marcus North. A twenty game unbeaten run in 2014 swept the Bulls to their ninth title in twelve years, a remarkable sequence spearheaded by skipper John Graham who will lead his team for a 13th consecutive summer.

Despite losing leading run scorer Karl Turner, who has joined NYSD club Guisborough, the Gosforth based side will be confident former international North, who is still only 35 years old, will provide plenty of batting firepower, and with an otherwise unchanged squad it will be up to the rest to try and catch them.

Stockton were successful in doing that in 2013, one of only two clubs to unseat the Bulls during the last dozen years of dominance, but they will be hard pressed to repeat that outstanding form with Jamie Harrison no longer on their books, Josh Bousfield having moved back to his home club Barnard Castle, and Keaton Jennings likely to be figuring heavily for Durham. Two new faces will be on show, with ex-Durham contracted opening bat Rampreet Singh signing, and 6ft 5in left arm seamer Patrick Hammond arriving from grade cricket in New South Wales.

Hetton Lyons are looking to consolidate their position as a top NEPL club following last season’s best ever finish of second, and with star all-rounder Lal Kumar back from Pakistan, it will be up to new signings Anthony Watson (Dawdon), David Lowther (Burnmoor) and Neil Johnson (Boldon) to bridge the gap left by departing players Ryan Pringle, Robbie Talbot, Sean Tindale and Chris Varley.

Despite some unusually below par performances from Chester-le-Street in 2014 they still managed to finish in third spot and pick up the Banks Salver, and the arrival of former Derbyshire, Somerset and Durham seamer, Mark Turner should provide the perfect replacement for Liam Simpson who has joined Felling. With Graeme Cessford back in the ranks following a spell at Worcester, and Gareth Wade returning from a winter in Australia, the Cestrians are itching to get back to their title chasing ways of old.

Elsewhere in the top flight Whitburn welcome new boys Dan Shurben and Dan Woolston from Washington, although they have lost the talismanic Stuart Walker who was such a prolific run scorer for them, Blaydon bring in Simon Bickerstaff from Millom in Cumberland, whilst Benwell Hill also have a new Cumbrian in Peter Halliday.

Sydney grade cricketer and opening bowler Charles Stobo links up with former Annfield Plain man Micky Allen at Newcastle, Tynemouth have secured the services of Pakistani first-classer Tahir Khan and newly promoted South Shields, back in the Premier after just one season in the lower division, hope to consolidate their status with a little changed squad from that which won promotion.

There will be a huge amount of interest in how new boys Burnmoor and Tudhoe will fare at the higher level when the Division One campaign gets underway, particularly the Moor who arrive in the NEPL as triple champions and seeking what would be a unique record of winning titles in three separate leagues over a four-year span.

They won the last ever Durham Senior League crown in 2012, and then followed that up with successive championships in the Durham Cricket League, so will not be short on confidence. With last year’s overseas man, South African Brydon Carse, having joined the Durham Academy set-up, the DCL champions have replaced him with Sri Lankan all-rounder Irosh Samarasooriya, a 24-year-old with 33 first-class matches under his belt. Other new faces include Sean Tindale (Hetton Lyons), Kevin Dixon (Lanchester) and Harry Munton (Benwell Hill).

These are exciting times for Tudhoe, and they arrive undaunted in the NEPL with the clearly stated aim of going for the Division One title. Last year’s leading wicket taker Kishen Kushen is a significant loss, and they won’t find out until the action starts whether largely unknown Indian quickie Nikhil Date will be able to fill his shoes, although they do have two other new boys in Patrick Stephenson (Willington) and Ryan Dowse (South Hetton).

The battle for last year’s championship raged all summer with Washington just missing out to South Shields in the final analysis, and they look primed to mount another challenge under the leadership of Ash Thorpe. They bring in Martin Hubber and Dan Anderson (both Sacriston) to bolster an already useful squad.

It’s two out and five in for Brandon, the departures of Andrew Walker and Chris Winn being compensated for by the arrivals of Chris Peareth, who will skipper the side, and Ryan Nicholson (Bilston), Daniel Wilkinson (Sunderland), David Wilkinson (Evenwood) and overseas player Sairaj Raghavan, a Durham University student from Dubai.

Elsewhere Eppleton are largely unchanged, although they hope to have Joe Dodd fit again after two years of struggle with a serious shoulder injury, Boldon have brought in Tommy Nixon, Ian Male and Gary Hewitt from neighbours CA, Sacriston will have to cope without the influential Mo Ali as well as Hubber and Anderson, but Willington have overseas interest in Indian batting all-rounder Anand Singh.

Felling and South Hetton had season long struggles before finishing in the bottom two, but the Gateshead based outfit look to have recruited well with the arrival of Stuart Walker and Liam Simpson, while South Hetton will hope for great things from South African Alfred Mothoa. Seaham Harbour are still in negotiations, but hope to be able to announce a new Pakistani professional before the season gets underway.

Sunderland could be forgiven if it takes them a while to regroup after the trauma of the final day of the 2014 campaign. They went into the last two matches seemingly safe and with a 39 point lead over Gateshead Fell, only to see a side that had won only once before during the campaign win both their final matches to leapfrog the shell-shocked Wearsiders. Sunderland are currently in negotiations to bring in a young South African to bolster a squad that has also seen the arrival of Chris Youlden and Talal Khan.

The new NEPL season gets underway on April 18 with a full programme.