Sussex Sharks regained the BCEW National League title that they last won in 2022 in a 2024 season that was the closest ever National League season as both the title & Division One relegation were decided by a single point.
London Metro drew first blood in the title race with a 110 run win over Lancashire Lions, Matt Dean scored 110 not out & Mo Ghalib took a fantastic 6 for 6. Sussex attempted to reply with a win against the same opposition, but Lancashire survived 30 overs 6 wickets down for a fairly comfortable draw despite 3 wickets for Mark Bond & fifties for Joe Harrison & Si Ledwith.
Metro’s advantage didn’t last long though as despite fifties for Matt Dean & Nick Ebbeck plus three more wickets for Mo Ghalib they could only take 7 Northants Steelbacks wickets in a drawn match that lost 3 overs to rain.
The following Saturday Sussex brought themselves back into the title race as Marcus Kipling’s 4 for 15 led them to an 8 wicket thrashing of Northants who had been skittled for just 83.
On Saturday 6th July Sussex hosted Metro in a crucial clash, sent in to bat Sussex declared on 234 for 5 after 30 overs, Dan Field making 94 not out & Si Ledwith 83. In the reply Matt Dean made 81 & Mark Bond took 2 for 8 but Metro clung on by a single wicket thanks to Hasmuhk Mehta who survived the final ball of the match. Although Sussex were unable to force the win they did gain 3 points on Metro in earning more bonus points than their rivals.
On Saturday 3rd August both of the title contenders dropped points, Sussex were led to 257 for 4 declared by Dan Field’s 128 not out, but a battling 80 not out from Asif Ali saw Northants rescue the draw with 2 wickets in hand.
At the same time Metro had rattled off 251 for 2 from just 22 overs against Lancashire; Matt Dean 150 not out & Thomas Froud 44 not out did most of the damage. However 50 from Arslan Sabir led Lancashire’s defence & they clung on for the draw by one wicket despite 3 for 14 from Gareth Jones.
Both teams claimed a maximum points win on 17th August, which kept Sussex a single point ahead. Three wickets each from Chris Blake & Gareth Jones saw Northants dismissed for 155 with David Howells’s 63 the top score. After two early wickets it was plain sailing for Metro thanks to 61 not out from Mo Ghalib & 44 from Prem Sellathurai.
Sussex’s win was a lot closer, after declaring on 228 for 3 after 27 overs with fifties for Dan Field & Si Ledwith, it took the Sharks 30.2 of the available 33 overs to bowl Lancashire out, Phil Daniels with 4 for 29 & Callum Weir, 2 for 16, were the pick of the bowlers.
There was a disappointing finish to the season as after Metro v Sussex was rained off in London for the second time this season it was declared a draw & Sussex took the crown by that single point & for a week they held all three national level trophies at once.
Lancashire & Northants had started their season with a draw against each other, Asif Ali top scored with 58 as Tahseen Sabir claimed 5 for 32 in Northants’s 173 for 9 declared. The same two players then starred as Lancashire held on for the draw with 130 for 8, Tahseen Sabir scoring 45 & Asif Ali taking 4 for 9.
As already described both teams then picked up a draw and a loss in their games against Metro and Sussex.
Which left a final day showdown on 14th September, Lancashire were sent in to bat & declared on 239 for 8 from 35.3 overs, Mahmood Zahid with 66, Shahzaib Haider & Sheraz Chohan with 41 each top scored.
With 9 overs to go in Northants reply the score was 100 for 3 when Bilal Akhtar was dismissed for 40, Lancashire needed two more wickets to get enough points to avoid relegation as long as Northants didn’t reach 150. Neither of those things happened, Gerald Porter survived on 42 not out & Asif Ali batted out 42 balls for 14 not out meaning the Steelbacks avoided relegation by a single point as their 132 for 3 ensured them a draw.
Final Points
Sussex Sharks 91
London Metro 90
Northants Steelbacks 47
Lancashire Lions 46
