Old Hill taking inspiration from past glories in hunt for another national title
Old Hill seek to turn the clock back a generation on Sunday when they travel to Denby CC in Derbyshire seeking ECB National Club T20 glory, writes Paul Webb.
The Haden Hill outfit are just three wins away from reprising the club's glory days of the 1980s and 90s when they were four-time National Knockout winners.
These titles were won over a longer playing format, but the 2025 version of Old Hill have become specialists in the shorter form as their march to the last eight of this prestigious national competition shows.
Bilal Hassan's team battled past West Bromwich Dartmouth plus four Birmingham League DivisionOne outfits - Himley, Shrewsbury, Barnards Green and Knowle & Dorridge - to lift the Graham Williamson T20 Challenge Cup last month.
And they have since progressed two stages further by demolishing North Staffs & South Cheshire Premier League T20 champions Checkley and Cheshire County League T20 champions Alderley Edge on a run-packed afternoon in the Black Country.
Old Hill's last-eight opponents in Derbyshire are Nottinghamshire Premier League outfit Hucknall.
The winner of this tie then plays either Northern Premier League leaders Kendal or the Bradford Premier League's New Farnley in the Northern Regional final later on Sunday afternoon.
The winner of this final progresses to the National Final which takes place on Sunday September 14 at Wormsley Cricket Ground, Buckinghamshire.
Old Hill will be taking a coach load of supporters to Denby, where skipper Bilal believes they have a good chance of making further progress.
"We've done incredibly well to get this far in the competition, and we are very proud of what we've achieved as a group," he said. "It's taken real effort, commitment, and team spirit to reach Regional Finals Day and now we have a genuine chance to go all the way.
"The energy in the camp is really positive and there's a great buzz around the squad. We will carry that confidence into this Sunday and back ourselves in every moment."
Old Hill squad: Bilal Hassan (c), Hasan Ahmed, Waqas Ahmed, Saad Naseem, Dylan Keeling, Suraj Chauhan, Sam Keeling-Wright, Omar Masood, Ali Latif, Zak Mukhtar (wk), Aamir Mansoor, Harry Davenport.
