SUCC v Penrith |SUCC Metro v Norths | SUCC City & Suburban v St George
1st grade | 2nd grade | 3rd grade | 4th grade | 5th grade | 6th grade
1st Grade
The day started brilliantly for 7 members of the team who turned up at the foot of the mountains on time as we were very quickly owed two cases. The sweetest part being that Nick “Adrian Bitel may look exactly like me but is not my dad” Dunford will have to fork out for half of one, despite Will “Jaws” Hay stopping the Newington Express mid journey for a much needed coffee and bum wee episode.
Nash was a training run, with the batters demonstrating that ball in hand equals points which equals beers from the hapless bowlers yet again. Yawn.
Greg “Joel Tuccia does not realize how lucky he is” Mail continued where he has left off for the past 6 weeks by scoring another faultless hundred. He made batting on a slow wicket look effortless as he caressed the ball to all parts of the field. The students ended with a respectable 213 but should have capitalized further on what was a solid start.
The cats got off to a good start due to some indifferent bowling and fielding but once Mo and his 3rd son Mitchell “I’m 18 going on 40” Cook came on the cats never really looked like getting the total. The father and son duo bowled with great control and guile and finished with 5 wickets between them for not many. Dave “She’s not my girlfriend” Miller got a few tips from his Ginger haired father about fashion, Nick “Is that a rocket in your pocket or are you just happy to see me” Larkin fielded the house down, and Marty “ I’m the best wingman since Goose” Paskal bowled with good aggression and control.
8 wins on the bounce for the good guys and still quite a bit of improvement left in us. The train rolls on. Bring on Singo’s.
Sydney University, 7 for 161. Loss on first innings
Penrith, 9 for 171. Win on first innings
Outstanding Performances:
Sydney University (1st inn) N Larkin 33
Penrith (1st inn) D Turner 57 J Clarke 49 J Toyer 4-27 T Kierath 4-32
After rain washed out week one, we were left with a one dayer to try and knock off the leaders of the comp- Penrith. For the first time in many weeks everybody was on time, even Rig, although it took him running onto the field barefoot without his gear in the shed to do it. Cue Nash, (read Lazy's match report from last week for info on the more emotional intricacies of the game) Batters v Bowlers, with the batters with the extra man, and the bowlers with the ever improving Shashi. The bowlers then proceeded to run rings around the batsmen, proving that keeping the ball off the ground is vital to success. Even with the extra man, the batsmen couldn't quite get home in a tight one, the highlight being Plugger's 40m goal from the sideline.
Penrith won the toss and chose to bat on an uncustomarily soft and green Uni 1 wicket. Tim "21" Ley and Troy "Comouflage Skins" Stanley opened up, and bowled good areas and troubled the Penrith openers, who were sweating on anything full. Following the plan to rotate Timmy and Josh "Kag's understudy" Toyer from one end, JT came on and had success, picking up both the openers. Tom "Freebies" Kierath tempted their number 4 into smashing a full bunger straight to Troy "Sehwag" at deep mid-wicket. Tim "naked push-ups" Ley came back on and snicked off their number 5, then Josh "tourist" Toyer came back on and cleaned up 2 in 2 balls. Penrith were struggling at 6-50 at this point, so their best batsmen decided wisely to knuckle down and build a partnership. The units dropped their intensity following the unusual lack of wickets falling, giving their batsmen the chance to capitalise. Shashi claimed a cheapy off a half tracker, but it was still tough going for the units. Plugger and Rig bowled well without luck, Rig being stitched up by Wardy- after downing 3 pies, 2 chicken burgers and a coke Rig was given the rock to send down. TK eventually picked up the last 3, giving him 4-for, with 3 being caught in the outfield. We held out catches quite well and in the end, would have been happy with bowling them out for 171.
The chase ensued. After downing another 2 chicken burgers and a pie Josh "25k's" Ryan and Nick "the uncut brother" Larkin set about chasing the runs. Rig copped his 8th stinker for the season, and Theo didn't trouble the scorers either. Nicko batted with good application and was well supported by Butch until a good piece of fielding and the wet grass saw Nick run out. Butch hit a few intimidating shots before he too snicked off for 20-odd. At 4-120 off 25 we were looking the goods despite being a few more wickets down than hoped for. From there, I'm not particularly sure what went wrong. Their spinners bowled well but without being truly threatening. Somehow the equation became 25 off 5 overs to win, and our two set batsmen then got runout. This left new batsmen trying to hit a wet dark ball for runs over fielders everywhere on the boundary. TK basically dislodged his leg from his body trying to get the runs, special mention to Timmy "treason" Ley, who upon seeing TK slumped on the ground reportedly told him to "get up and run!". Eventually we fell 10 runs short. Obviously this scribe is still a little unsure how we lost this one. The one saving grace we have is that the 2 teams below us lost as well, leaving us still sitting at 6th place. A new attitude towards our cricket is the only way we can win these last 2 games, let alone the finals. If we can play as a team and play with the right attitude with our bowling, batting and fielding, then maybe we can get there. Otherwise I can't see us playing a part in the finals race. But as they say, next week is a new game...
The younger Hector
SUCC 9-215 from 50 overs, Penrith CC all out 158 from 49 overs and change.
SUCC 4th grade lost the toss against Penrith and were sent in to bat in moist conditions. The wicket and the heavy air were certainly conducive to bowling first, but the likelihood of further rain and a wet outfield complicated matters.
This was not a match of two halves, it was a game of four quarters. In both innings the new ball dominated the bat, with the top and middle orders of both teams succumbing to a combination of good bowling and rash strokeplay. This left both teams 7 down before 100 runs had been recorded, although SUCC lost their seventh wicket at 97, versus a number closer to 60 for Penrith.
At this point the tide of each innings turned against the bowling team, as the wet outfield insinuated its way into the contest via its impact on the ball. Neither side were able to blast away the tail hurling the veritable “cake of soap”, with SUCC getting away to 215 for 9 in the first dig, and Penrith able to more than double their score with their last three wickets.
The result – a single bonus point victory to SUCC – was invaluable from both a 4th grade and a club championship perspective.
The dominant figures in the SUCC innings were Jim Kazaglis (34) and Chris Dan, who was not out 54 at the close of the innings. That is consecutive not out innings in winning efforts for CD, who was at the crease when the 4ths secured their come from behind outright the game before.
Batting in the lower order, Chris played a seemingly effortless innings that featured a high proportion of runs coming either behind or through square on both sides of the wicket, but most particularly on the off. Jim held the innings together through its middle stages, playing his traditional mix of strokes both through and over the field. Charlie Cull also contributed a vibrant 27 not out from #11, showing himself a good judge of a run and a capable player in general.
Batsmen who may wish to erase the memory of their dismissals (whether for reasons of umpiring, shot selection or execution) include those listed at #4, #5, #6 and #8 in the order.
The SUCC bowling was led by BJ Smith, who received affirmative responses to a couple of very adjacent LBW appeals early on, and finished with three for not many. Chris Dan took the new ball and generated some good curve, removing their experienced #3 with a classic left arm inswinger’s dismissal. Charlie Cull seemed to get his rhythm with the ball and sent down some strong overs as second change. JK was not at his best on this day, perhaps feeling the effects of some serious leather chasing in Adelaide through the week. Nolan put together a decent spell in the trying conditions. A couple of makeshift operators in Skinner and Cowan both claimed a wicket, with Ash sealing the bonus point by clean bowling their last man.
There were eleven eager students heading to one of Sydney’s finest cricketing locations, the great suburb of Werrington. With the facilities resembling that of a POW camp and the locals resembling that of Darren Hickey’s future self, the conditions for cricket were first class and the Uni Boys had a great vibe. It took a good half hour for the reality of a sober and on time Hickey to sink in, which was roughly the time frame it took James ‘fresh to grade cricket’ Rogers to arrive. A brief warm up and the coin falling correctly saw the good guys batting first, with Jack ‘sweats bourbon’ Hammond and Nurdler Jordan to open up. After surviving early run out chances, the ball was sent flying to all parts by the Bundy bear, with bombs being dropped at regular intervals. Pete Jordan also provided great entertainment, nurdling the ball to all parts of the inner circle and turning the strike nicely. With Jacko reaching his fifty in good time, the prospects of holding down liquids and keeping eyes open were getting slimmer, thus more runs would have to come quickly and with minimal running.
What followed was a rapid fire 125, coming up in 28 overs, with the total at 180. A broken bat couldn’t even slow this little battler down, as he hit seven huge horns and sent the uni boys well on their way to a massive total. The loss of two quick ones saw the entry of Nick ‘American Dad’ Bourke and Swagger Grant, as the students kept on rolling towards 300+. AJ was timing the ball sweetly, and Bourke was moving nicely. The Warrior from Kirribilli wasn’t without his struggles though as a mid-pitch wander was followed by a swift shot to the chops. This only added to Bourke’s already prominent jaw, and wasn’t helped when the human Pectoral flat-batted one straight back into the Warrior’s forearm at the non-strikers end. The man with bruises departed shortly after, but not without proving his balls must resemble grapefruits to cop that battering and keep on trucking.
As a side note, a mention must be made to one of greater Sydney’s finest human beings, who could be seen since the start of play occupying the fence at fine leg, consuming what can only be described as a marvellous morning brew. His bowling advice to the fieldsmen at fine leg was unlucky not to produce more wickets, and late in the afternoon we discovered that he was actually Werrington’s next mayoral candidate. Surely this man is the peak of human existence.
Back to the cricket; students 3-245 with ten overs to come, staring down the barrel of an imposing total. Bowel cleansing’ Bragg and ‘Gun show’ Grant continued the run flow, destroying the bad ball and turning the good ones for ones and twos. In search of big runs, wickets fell with AJ making a sweetly times 88, and Bragg making a much needed contribution. The Big man Hasi thought he’d try to muscle a ball over the top (which barely cleared the inner circle), and ended the innings in amusing fashion, copping one square in the crackers and staggering down the pitch for a second only to be run out. End of innings, 337 on the board. Top Effort!
The lunch break saw some light rain which delayed the start and a heavy fall of cricket balls courtesy of the hero of the day jack Hammond. Dave Stano saw a great photo op for the centurion, and the Bundy Bear decided it a great idea to smash a ball in the direction of the make shift sheds, only to have it land on the windscreen of a Penrith player. Who knew scoring a 5th grade century would actually cost him $200.
Cricket; Upon returning Luke decided to accept the bowling advice provided by Werrington’s finest at fine leg and was rewarded with two quick ones. Penrith’s first drop had received some interesting batting advice, believing that runs only count when they’re scored from either pull shots or filthy swats across the line, thus his time at the crease was short lived and the students gladly accepted their second. This brought outrageous applause from the cask-wine appreciating crowd and further cricketing advice to the young man at fine leg. The runs flowed for the mountain men, but steady wickets kept the game interesting. As always the introduction of Jimmy kept things tight and Hickey dried runs and put more pressure on the westies. On behalf of the Uni Boys I’d personally like to congratulate Aaron on his completion of the advanced children’s crossword in Saturday’s paper. How he solved the last clue of ‘words that end in urple’ shows a truly superior intellectual capacity. Well done young man!
Darren grabbed one and Jimmy grabbed four as the Uni Boys were on the verge of a big victory. The ever exciting resistance of the tail provided some late nurdling, but the students grabbed the tenth wicket with the score at 168, one run less than half of our score. AJ grabbed the last to give him two for the day to add to his 88, with bowling with rapid pace for his two. Jimmy was the star with the ball though grabbing four in five overs to take the game away from the Westies. The students well and truly the winners today.
Benny Peacock
SUCC all out 128 def. North Sydney all out 93.
Arriving at St Pauls on an overcast day after rain through the week, we did not know what to expect once the covers were taken off. Once off, it revealed a pitch not to different to the colour and length of the outfield grass. SUCC lost the toss and were subsequently sent into bat. This proved to be a very good decision for North Sydney as the ball dominated the bat. With the ball moving sideways, SU lost steady wickets to be 6/39 with only two players reaching double figures with Alex Mihalyka 13 and Paul Bertelle 10.
Then came a fightback from Steve Greene 40 and Callum Pentecost 12 combining for a 63 run partnership to give us some sort of a total to defend. All out for 128 after Ben Fessey chipped in with 13. A good effort after being 6/39.
Steady rain during our innings had kept the pitch damp and was sure to give our bowlers the success of the opposition bowlers. And it did.
A destructive opening spell from Jono Brayshaw and Ben Fessey saw Norths slump to 7/32 after 11 overs with Ben chipping in with 2 wickets and Jono 5/21. At this point, Jono was top scorer. Then 2 frustrating partnerships of 30 odd each allowed them to creep up to 90 but some good bowling at the end by Will Shirvington 2/23 and Callum Pentecost 1/2 seeing them all out for 93. Paul was very unlucky not get any wickets with his faster slower balls after beating the bat on numerous occasions. In the end a deserved win by the boys in tough conditions.
‘Students win with double bony to bring home Cooks ship with wet sail and on toward new land… the finals!’ – The Daily Deef (First attempt at SUCC match report.. critisizm welcome, no explanations needed)
Needing to win and win big, as well as rely on other results to have any hope of making the semi finals, the uni boys arrived at No.1 oval with a sense of eagerness and anticipation.
The clever, witty and handsome nerds were up against some very dubious and unconvincing julios who stuck the fat kid in goals for the games entirety. What resulted was a series of saves by the julios pale and sloppy keeper and missed opportunities by the nerds. Nerds were willing to hit the deck unlike their opponents who were more worried about how they were fairing for the compulsory post match bean scene. A counter-attacking run through left the Julios with another win and continued the unflattering Nash ball record for this scribe. Best on ground – Chris Dan El Magic
Captain Cook flicks coin, tails called, tails it is, hawks… field… endeavoring to bat, the units get their wish on what would surely be another difficult deck to chase even a modest total.
Stewy and Chris (the fat one) Griffin couldn’t reproduce one of the superb starts they’ve become known for as the talking baby was sent packing by a great ball which slipped through his defence. Enter a man on a mission… Captain Cook, or Simon Wooner as he is more affectionately known. Cook played a supporting role as Nick ‘I got it duty free on my way back from Dubai’ Larkin proceeded to smash the hawks bowling to all parts of the ground including hitting consecutive sixes to show that there is some muscle despite a lack of tone in his upper body. Having scored the majority of the units runs, he again fell short of what would and should have been another PGs ton – out caught in the deep. After asking for a cap and then declining and then asking for it again, our skip not only had us wondering what was going on in his head but also had our 12th man Crowls earning his soft drinks. Cook, losing his fellow sailors at regular intervals during his voyage was inspirational, batting out nearly the entire innings for a gritty and much needed 69 runs… the highlight a huge six over mid wicket in the late stages. A handy contribution from Josh ‘Dairy Farmers full cream’ Toyer at the end took the students to a respectable, but gettable 9-209.
One of the hawks’ openers decided that Mrs. Morgs’ delicious Chicken burgers and salad rolls hadn’t filled him and fired up a post-lunch bbq – his partner run out by JT who’s choice of meats was hidden beneath a thick garden salad. Morgs was delighted when Leyzy pinged their opener in the head… ‘how dare they not like my mums chicken burgers’! His happiness set to continue as he enters week two of a chase for a girl far more attractive than those at Scubar on a …. Thursday night – too good to be true surely, but good luck! Wickets then fell at regular intervals as Toyer and Cook took 4 and 3 respectively, to make Man of the Match honours difficult to determine. Enter former (punishing) unit, our old mate beachy. Hanging around like a bad smell, lasting longer than Nicks overdue homework, it became apparent that maybe some of those clubs that were found in the search engine could become a semi-permanent home for a guy who’s probably already played for everyone else. Meanwhile, Dan’y proved that the Isty burger and other foods from his home land leave you passing wind like Rafiki… although the spacious outfield air is a far better filter than the muggy and mosquito ridden rooms in darlo house. With the hawks reeling at 9-100, and the units needing to restrict them to 104 to gain a double bony.. which would give them hope of a semi final spot, Tim ‘I thought we were friends Ben’… ‘Shutup and give me 15 white thelephants!’ Ley sent middle stump flying to initiate a jubilant and whole hearted celebration.
After some dubious, yet crafty fines the much anticipated compulsory bean scene was underway. It wasn’t long before kirk decided to crack a beer with soapy hands leaving glass everywhere. Morgs was forced out to attend to his injury while the boys scurried, bending over to pick up the broken glass before Hayza’s arrival. Despite being clearly unwarranted, Crowls laid low leaving Chip to triumph over the surprise packet balloon in the inaugural bean off. The celebrations may have continued well into the night at the grandstand, although only Nigel would be able to find his way home in the dark… so we all had a soft drink and went our separate ways.
A fantastic effort after some disappointing results mid season. After being stitched up into thinking we had a home final by a snuff from Penrith, we finished 3rd and can’t wait for our semi final at Bankstown on March 8th.
Milf