Tough Tynemouth test for title holders Burnmoor
Excitement is building ahead of this weekend’s return to cricket action.
In the Dukes ECB North East Premier League in one of the standout clashes of the weekend.
Burnmoor travel to Tynemouth and skipper Alec Linsley said: “We are excited for the new season, as it is the first opportunity we have to defend our Premier Division title.
"We have lost Kevin Ward from last season and Alex Simpson is away at university, until later in our campaign.
"However, we are delighted to have signed Josh Coughlin and Marcus Brown, who give us even more strength in depth.”
Linsley added: “We have also secured the signing of Chaminda Bandara, who is a Sri Lankan international and taken over 300 first class wickets.
"His left arm pace and swing will give us an extra dimension. He will not be available this week, but hope to have him available soon.
"We expect a tough contest and everyone is available bar Chaminda, so Darren Hickey replaces him this week.”
Chester-Le-Street travel to Whitburn and skipper John Coxon, cannot wait to get going: “We are all really looking forward to an exciting season ahead.
"We have lost Jack Campbell to Burnopfield and Liam Burgess to Stamford Bridge in York. We wish them well and look forward to seeing them again down the line.”
Coxon added: “Other than that, we will be very similar to how we have shaped up for the last few years and hope to be in the title mix come the end of the season.
"We will be relying on the senior players to continue to lead from the front, and that will help youngsters like Robbie Dawson and Sebastian Hughes-Pinan, to get valuable experience at this level to help develop their games.”
Whitburn captain Paul Shields said: “We are looking forward to season after a long winter and glad to be
back playing a full season again, after the shortened 2020 season.
"We go into season with confidence albeit without the usual pre-season/indoor training because of Covid restrictions.
"We have two new signings in Ross Richardson who joins us during his period of study at Durham University and Scottish International Chris Greaves.”
Shields added: “Ross makes his club debut, but unfortunately Chris misses out as he is in isolation having recently travelled back from South Africa, after a spell playing cricket there during the winter.
"We have also resigned Jack Burnham as our Durham registered player and he will add his class with bat and ball when available.
"We look forward to welcoming Chester-Le-Street team to the Village Ground and know it will be a tough game, as they have a very strong and experienced squad.”
Sacriston entertain Eppleton and secretary Iain Bestford said: “Philip Peel takes charge as first team captain with a few changes to the squad.
"Daniel Thexton has signed as Keeper/batsman from Tudhoe and we also welcome Stan McAlindon to
the ranks.
"With Matty Potts having secured a contract with Northern Superchargers we have engaged Chris Rushworth as our county contracted player.”
Bestford added: “We're hoping to continue the development of young cricketers, who go on to representative honours with Durham and looking forward to an enjoyable season, hopefully free from significant interruption.”
Hetton Lyons host South North and fixture secretary Gary Adey said: “Robert Talbot returns after two seasons at Eppleton and Gary Scott plays after a couple of seasons on the sidelines.
"Chris Winn has left to join Leadgate with no further changes. We are looking forward to the visit of a strong South North side, which will be a tough start to the 2021 season.”
Washington entertain Felling and skipper Joe Thompson said: “We are really looking forward to this season, it seems like a lifetime ago that we achieved promotion.
"We regard ourselves as a quite a small club and the rise from the coast league has been incredible.
"There’s a number of lads that will line up for us this weekend that have represented us throughout, so it’ll be a big moment for them.”
Thompson added: “The aim for us this season will be to show the premier league what we are about.
"We play some good, aggressive cricket and firmly believe that if we perform to our capabilities we will be competitive in the league.
"We know we’ll have some challenges along the way but I’m confident we can overcome them and have a good season.”
Burnopfield travel to Benwell Hill in their opening fixture and captain Chris Peareth said: “We have signed Jacques du Toit, Ben Robinson from York and Jack Campbell, who is our Durham player.”
Peareth added: “We are very excited to see how Mitch Killeen and Callum Brown progress this year, both are heavily involved at Durham.
"Saturday will be an extremely tough test against an exceptional team, so hopefully we can be competitive.”
Benwell Hill skipper Peter Halliday said: “We have signed Angus Guy from Scotland who is an U19 international player.
"Our professional for this season is the same as last, Kyle Coetzer. We have developed strong squads at the club as a whole and we aim to realise our potential and be as competitive as we can be, throughout the season.”