Sunderland aim to make it five wins on the trot when they meet Blaydon at Ashbrooke this morning.

In addition to defeating Stockton at Chester-le-Street, they have also beaten Guisborough and Ashington in the ECB National Knock Out Cup.

"We are on a bit of a roll at the moment and the lads played exceptionally well defeating Chester-le-Street last weekend. At the half way stage we thought we might be vulnerable but Marlon Black and Simon Brown came up trumps." explained secretary Mike Smith.

"These are early days but we are very pleased with our form and are confident we can push all the way for the championship".

Today, Sunderland are pleased that Adam Applegarth is in the side to back the strike pair. He has claimed more than 100 wickets since the formation of the competition.

Blaydon though are not so fortunate and are without paceman Craig Simpson.

"He was injured in the first game of the season and although he attempted a comeback, Craig is again sidelined and it will probably be another couple of weeks before he can start thinking about playing again," reported chairman Ken Forster. The game of the day is between leaders Durham Academy and second top South Northumberland at the Racecourse Ground. With just eight points separating the pair the outcome will be crucial to the title aspirations of both clubs.

"I thought we performed exceptionally well last week but it will be a difficult test today. There's no doubt that the Academy have a good bunch of youngsters and we will need to be at our best if we are to take something out of the game," said South Northumberland captain John Graham, who made an unbeaten century last Saturday.

Stockton are boosted by the inclusion of Peter Howells for the visit of Tynemouth. He replaces promising 16-year-old Christopher Parr who reverts to the Second XI where he will be given better opportunities.

Tynemouth had hoped to include Durham's Nicky Peng, who started with the Seasiders, but he is unavailable. With Wayne Falla and John Burn missing, Tynemouth name Jon Atkinson and Michael Phillips.

Norton are unchanged for their fixture at Newcastle, who give debuts to a couple of players. Paul Muchall (South Shields) and Ben Embleton (Burnmoor) have both joined the Jesmond based club. Also included today is Joel Hughes.

Chester-le-Street visit Benwell Hill with Joel Hughes' brother Quentin returning to the line up captained by Allan Worthy, who made a successful debut for Northumberland in the Minor Counties game against Cambridgeshire earlier in the week.

Simon Birtwhisle has recovered from a shoulder injury to bolster the Benwell Hill batting line up. Also returning are David Myers and Jamie Taylor but James Welsh cannot play and Barry Evans and Martin Coy drop into the second team.

Bottom of the table Philadelphia are pleased that Simon Hollingsworth and Glen Read are able to play against Gateshead Fell at Bunker Hill especially as Durham University student Ed Crowther is sidelined.

Gateshead Fell again miss injured pair Graham Arkle and Graeme Cessford and prefer Mark Brown, who will play his first game of the season, to Ben Young.