Sedgefield Cricket Club has a very successful social team called The Winkers, that plays in the SG Petch North East Social Cricket League. Once again, The Winkers have kept the flag flying for Sedgefield this year, as they battled hard in a competitive league to end the 2025 season as champions. Remarkably, the team has now won the league title for the third time in four years.

With a mix of ages, abilities, illnesses, physical limitations and injuries, the team gathers every week to have a laugh and enjoy each other’s company, as well as trying to play some decent cricket along the way. Whatever happens on the field, the players have fun and a drink together at the end of each game, winding team mates up in the process!

This year, The Winkers have also attracted some talented youngsters from within Sedgefield Cricket Club, with several making their debuts. The new young players have stated that they wanted to play for the Winkers as it looked like great fun, as well as a good standard of competitive cricket. The youth policy of The Winkers will continue, trying to balance the aging and less agile squad, so that the team continues to be successful and supports the next generation of players.

On the field, the season contained many of the usual calamities and highlights, including:
• 80-year-old chairman Mike Blocki steaming in from the rugby end against Raby Castle to bowl a couple of tantalising overs, and taking the prized wicket of their first team batsman. Class is permanent!
• The new, young players were amazing. Josh “the Bosh” Southeran smashed a 25 (retired) against The Gudivers. Ashton ‘Bashton’ Carter (supported by Danny P) scored runs everywhere at 11 an over and put the team in a winning position against pre-season favourites Darlington RA.
Jack ‘Scanners’ Scanlon accumulated a quick 30 against a strong Darlington RA side. Sadie Clark claimed a maiden wicket in her first competitive appearance for the team. George Davey stepped into the wicket keeping role on several occasions and did a great job, as well as scoring vital runs. Last but not least, Ben Burrell brought the team some pace bowling and took some vital wickets. There were high quality efforts from all of the youngsters.
• A new record total was achieved by the team, hitting 220 in the allotted 20 overs, and beating a decent Easybeats team on a difficult ‘trampoline wicket’ at Crathorne.
• Sedgefield Cricket Club legend Jonathan ‘Nobby’ Clark overcame the yips to bowl, finally, pretty well.
• Once again, despite regular use, everyone was shocked to see Peter ‘Boozy’ Brown’s green PE socks last another season.
• Peter ‘The Wall’ Sedgewick, renowned for his fielding prowess, was finally breached as a number of balls passed his massive feet and hands.

The Winkers are setting a high standard for local social and community cricket. They continue to shine a light on Sedgefield as a place that is vibrant and is a warm and friendly community that can play hard and have a lot of fun in the process. Through a local supplier, The Winkers team has its own kit and branding. An online merchandise store is now available where fans can buy replica products such as match kit, training gear and social wear. The Winkers also have a new Instagram page, which you can follow at @sedgefieldwinkers. The page has updates on the team’s progress and fixtures, along with a link to buy merchandise.

With the summer now over and the silverware polished and in the cabinet at Sedgefield Cricket Club, The Winkers will soon begin their intense winter training programme and look forward to defending their title in 2026, when all will welcome to watch their progress.

Sedgefield Cricket Club held its annual end of season presentations over two nights in October, for senior and junior teams. I’ll include a report from those events in next month’s update.

Sedgefield Squash Club will be offering free taster/refresher sessions on Sunday 16 November, from 11am to 4pm. The sessions will allow people to try squash for the first time, or provide a refresher for those who have played in the past.

All you need is a clean pair of non-marking trainers, and the club will provide the rest of the equipment. Sedgefield Squash Club is a friendly and welcoming club, with a wide range of ages and abilities.

Whether it’s to play for fun, or more competitively in the box leagues, it’s a great way to get fit and have fun at the same time. For those of you who don’t know where the club is, the courts are in the grounds of Ceddesfeld Hall (TS21 2AE).

If you require more Information on membership packages and costs, please email the club at info@sedgefieldsquashclub.co.uk. The club looks forward to seeing people on 16 November.

Further to the notice a few months ago, Sedgefield Badminton Club still has some vacancies for new members, and is seeking experienced players over 18 years old.

The club plays in the Sports Hall at the Hub at Sedgefield Community College on Monday nights, between 7:15pm and 9.15pm. Unfortunately, it is unable to accommodate beginners as it has no coaching facilities.

If you are interested, please contact Caroline Dalton on 07947 871005.

The annual pilgrimage from Newcastle to South Shields that is the Great North Run, took place on 7 September. As always, Sedgefield Harriers sent a large cohort of both runners and volunteers, with a big team, led by Andy Featherstone, handing out this year’s unique medals (!) to finishers.

The official results include 20 members of the club, though I believe that others were there too. In those results, the first three men to finish were Chris Lines (1:31:26), Declan Munnelly (1:32:29) and Rory Letts (1:33:16), and the first three women were Lisa Darby (1:39:27), Rebecca Dunn (1:50:00) and Cat Miller (2:08:54, running as a pacer to help others achieve a sub-2:10 time – job done!). Club member John Tomlinson completed this year’s Great North Run, as he has every single year of the event, one of very few who can state that.

And Ean Parsons was in action too, as usual, exactly 20 years to the day that he led the first group run of what became Sedgefield Harriers, following a message printed here in Sedgefield News. The club even got a birthday mention from Steve Cram during the live BBC coverage.

As ever at the Great North Run, there were loads of other participants from Sedgefield (I bumped into a few while up there) and others out along the course cheering people along. People take part for all sorts of reasons – a personal challenge, raising money for a good cause, curiosity, and more. Well done to everyone who was there!

The following weekend, Sedgefield Harriers hosted the annual Sedgefield Serpentine race, which started in Hardwick Park and followed an attractive mixed terrain route of around 10K, towards Bishop Middleham and back.

The men’s race was won by Jamie Adams in 34:14 and Kaye Storey of Crook & District AC won the women’s race in 41:09.

The first male Sedgefield Harrier was Mark Raine in 40:12 and the first female was Paula Bayles in 49:49.

The event was supported by U Hold the Key self storage and Up and Running sports retailer, and the usual army of willing volunteers. Sedgefield Harriers is grateful to all who got involved.

Congratulations to Sedgefield Harriers Lisa Darby and Justin Cox, who have both earned England vests for the Masters Representative Marathon in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, on 19 October. Lisa and Justin have been selected in the V50 category, and join a growing list of Harriers who have achieved the honour of representing their country.