On Saturday 5th September Sussex Sharks hosted Northampton Steelbacks at the beautiful First Central County Ground in Hove. This was the third time the sides had met in the final of the Primary Club Heindrich Swanepoel Memorial Cup in the last four years and expectations for a good match were high. It was the second time that the match had been hosted at the beautiful Hove ground by Sussex CCC. Dan Field won the toss for the Sharks and asked David Howells and his Northamptonshire team mates to have a bat.
The Steelbacks started strongly with boundaries coming regularly before Bilal Akthar was caught at point to give Alex Towers the first of his two wickets. The second wicket fell at 123 and this brought Asif Ali to the crease who smashed 47 off just 27 balls, when he was run out attempting a risky second run the score had raced on to 287. At the other end David Howells compiled an astonishing innings. He carried his bat for a cup record 223 not out hitting 33 fours and 3 sixes facing just 130 balls. The Northamptonshire total of 326 was also a record, surpassing the 322 that Sussex had scored at the same venue in the 2023 Final.
For Sussex to have any chance at all it felt like they would have to get off to a flying start but the Steelbacks had other ideas, at five overs the Sharks were languishing on 19 for 2 with the required rate rocketing, Northamptonshire had been 49 for 0 at the same stage. This brought together Callum Weir and Dan Field who put together a stand of 308 to bring the Sharks home. Callum’s innings of 106 not out had two halves, the first circumspect scoring at less than a run a ball to get to 50 and then powering on for his maiden century in blind cricket. Cal’s 106 not out off 81 balls included 16 fours and a 6. At the other end Dan was struggling with an Achilles injury so decided he would deal in boundaries, his 183 not out included 16 fours and 12 maximums as he brutalised the Steelbacks bowlers. The final remarkable statistic is that the Sharks got home with 4.2 overs to spare.
The umpires and scorers had the tough job of allocating the man of the match awards, Callum was awarded the partially sighted player as his fielding had also saved a ton of runs. It had been a very difficult game for the totally blind players with not a single run made or catch taken but Dave Daniels 6 overs went for just 43 which were the second most economical of any bowler, the most economical for the Sharks, on the day and fitting that on a batters’ paradise a bowler would make a real difference.
At the end there was thanks to the Primary Club, without whom the game could not function. Massive thanks to Sussex CC for hosting again at short notice and providing a fabulous venue for such a prestigious game.
At the post-match awards Sussex received both the Primary Club Heindrich Swanepoel Cup and the National League Division One trophies; retaining both titles. They had a tilt at the treble at the David Townley T20 Cup finals at Wolverhampton on the 19th September.
One of the first BCEW annual awards was made with Ian Piggott receiving the Pete Marshall Award for Umpire of the Year.
Those amazing statistics
Highest ever Primary Club Cup Final team score:
326 for 2 Sussex Sharks v Northamptonshire Steelbacks 2026
Highest ever Primary Club Cup Final partnership:
312* Callum Weir & Dan Field Sussex Sharks v Northamptonshire Steelbacks 2026
Highest ever Primary Club Cup individual scores:
223 David Howells Northamptonshire Steelbacks v Sussex Sharks 2026
183 Dan Field Sussex Sharks v Northamptonshire Steelbacks 2026