What drama, what tension as Newton Aycliffe Cricket Club’s 1st team team, despite losing by 66 runs at home to Bishop Auckland 2nd XI, finally crawled over the line to earn promotion to the NYSD Division 2 in their first season.
The day started well with captain Chris Palmer winning the toss and asking the visitors to bat first. Bishops were bowled out for a decent total of 171, despite some outstanding bowling from left arm spinner Luke Telford, who finished his marathon 15.1 over spell with seven wickets for 36 runs.
In reply Luke Telford (25 runs) and Chris Palmer (26 runs) had Aycliffe well set with the score at 66 for 1 and only 106 runs needed for both victory and the title, and still with 37 overs remaining. Aycliffe then dramatically collapsed losing their next 8 wickets for just 23 runs to leave the score at 89 for 9. Last wicket pair Tony Travis and Joe Haines batted under the most intense pressure as Aycliffe needed to reach 100 runs to earn the priceless bonus point that would take them to promotion.
The heroic pair battled their way through ten heart stopping overs and then veteran Tony Travis smashed a huge straight six to take the total to 103 as the ground erupted in jubilation. Travis was bowled out shortly afterwards for the most important 11 runs he has ever scored and his batting partner Joe Haines, who was celebrating his 19th birthday, remained unbeaten with two valuable runs as the celebrations began and then went on well into the night.
The final league table showed Saltburn as champions with 371 points, Aycliffe and Bedale, both with finished with 360 points, but Aycliffe earned the runners up spot by virtue of winning 16 games, three more than rivals Bedale.
The photo shows the happy players, officials and fans as they began the party to celebrate a fantastic first season in the North Yorkshire and South Durham cricket league.
Newton Aycliffe 2nd XI finished their season with defeat at home to Stokesley 3rd team by 104 runs, despite creditable performances with the ball from both Joe Hodgson (4 for 28) and Dan Weldon (3 for 54) and an unbeaten 12 not out from John Wardle. Club Chairman Ian Palmer captained the 2nd team in what was his last game before retiring and he was given a guard of honour and generous applause from the players of both teams after his short innings.
