Tynemouth Start Season with Thrashing of League Champions

Due to the 1st X1 playing Durham Cricket Academy last week, this was the season opener for the 2nds. A strong looking 2nd team took to the field after captain Graeme Hallam lost the toss and Sunderland elected to bat on what looked like a very dry wicket. Opener bowlers Lonnberg and Tait opened the bowling and were very unlucky not to pick up early wickets. Lonnberg in particular was bowling with a lot of aggression and was eventually rewarded when he dismissed Sunderland’s captain Nunn for 10 with the score on 26.

The introduction of Chris Beever bowling leg spin really saw the game change. The Sunderland batsmen’s only answer to his flight and guile was to try and hit him out of the park. While the home team’s score was progressing at a healthy rate they were also losing wickets on a regular basis with only Craven providing any resistance. Sunderland eventually declared with the score on 107 for 9 and star man Chris Beever finishing with figures of 7 for 27.

Tynemouth’s reply got off to a disastrous start when opener Ben McGee drove the ball down the ground, only to see it deflect off the bowler’s hand onto the wicket which meant Hallam was run out for 1. The Tynemouth junior steadied himself and played some delightful shots on his way to making 21.He played the Sunderland bowlers with ease and it was a surprise to see him “chip” one to mid off to be caught out with the score on 34 for 3. A middle order wobble saw Tynemouth reduced to 55 for 5 with Sunderland’s Simon Brown proving to be very difficult to play on a turning pitch. Youngster Macciocchi and stalwart Beever then steadied the ship and started to push ones and twos. Unfortunately the dressing room started to get tense again when Macciocchi fell for 20 with the score 62 for 6. All fears were dispatched when Beever and Stenhouse went on the attack, in particular against the Sunderland seam attack after Brown had bowled all of his allotted overs. It was very fitting that man of the match Beever hit the winning runs to win the game with Beever 32 not out and Stenhouse providing great support in a very sensible 18 not out. This was an excellent win against last season’s 2nd X1 league champions and all bodes well for a good season from Tynemouth’s 2nds.