South North’s
ROUND-UP OF THE 2018 LOCAL CRICKET
KIMBLESWORTH were crowned champions of Division One and Stanhope were relegated.
The champions only lost once all season and won by a margin of 51 points, from runners-up Burnhope.
They also won the Glenn Pattison Trophy and The Vinton Cup, while Wearmouth took the 20/20 League Cup.
In Division Two, Kimblesworth second team won the league, the Amos Lowing/Wilson Trophy and the 20|20 Robert Dunnett Cup, while Burnhope won the Johnson/Coates Trophy and Kibblesworth the Norman Martin Cup. SOUTH North CC retained their title in commanding style, winning the league by 68 points, while also going undefeated throughout their league campaign; quite an achievement.
They also won the T20 tournament by beating Brandon CC in the final.
Lee Crozier took his 1,000th first-team league wicket, and Michael Craigs (28) topped the NEPL bowling averages.
At the end of the 2018 season, Simon Birtwisle (10,709) became the league’s top NEPL run scorer ever.
Stockton CC were relegated and will be replaced by Burnopfield CC.
Chester-Le-Street CC took the Banks Salver, defeating Benwell Hill CC in the final.
Burnopfield will play in the Dukes North East Premier League, for the first time in their history, as they won the Division One title race by 35 points, winning 14 of their 20 Division One winners Burnopfield games. Callum Thorp and Gareth Breese were the main reasons for their success, taking 65 wickets between them.
South Shields were relegated following a poor season for them, winning just two games all season.