SUCC 1st - 5th Grade v Blacktown.
SUCC 1st v Sutherland Twenty20.
SUCC Metro v UNSWCC.
SUCC PG's v Sutherland Twenty20.
SUCC Sunday League v Galwedi Lankans.
SUCC City and Suburban v .
The "Max Bonnell Golden Pen Award" points tally
1st grade | 2nd grade | 3rd grade | 4th grade | 5th grade | 6th grade | PG's | City and Suburban | Sunday League
1st Grade
Day 1
It’s not easy to take Morgs seriously.. so coming up against 11 blokes who look exactly like him, with the exact same hair do makes it quite difficult. However, looks aren’t everything and a lot of things are better than they look, just like a lot of beans are better (and bigger), than they look.
Nash was a game of missed opportunities for the top 5 as the bowlers came up trumps. A costly missed run through involving Ian ‘too big for the game’ Moran and Will ‘crop top’ Hay was the pivotal moment as Tom ‘No one’s too big for the game’ Keirath led the bowlers to victory.
The warm up was a sign of things to come as Will ‘shit sorry I thought you were a demon’ Hay decided to throw a ball at my chin whilst hitting slips catches. Greg ‘the pro’ Mail lost the toss, again, and we were in the field on a pleasant day for our return to number one.
Josh ‘Milkers’ Toyer took the new ball as Marty ‘100% humidity’ Paskal was relegated. Mrs Hector couldn’t believe that her star, sitting at 3rd in the O’Reilly medal could be denied a chance to jump into the lead and decided to boycott leaving Marty to explain later via text message that it actually was him opening the bowling and there’s now a younger, slightly less hairy, possibly more handsome version who doesn’t need any ‘help with his chat’ that has joined us in the top grade. There are numerous ways to distinguish the difference between the parrot and the tourist, including: Fashion – Marty dresses like not so well known cricketers such as ‘Reardo’, Jake Haberfield, ‘Fergo’ (who is now well known), Nathan Rimmington and the majority of the SACA and Bulls 2nd XI sides… most of whom refuse to dress like they’re on a retirement holiday from Denmark. However, on field the best and also most unpleasant method of differentiating the two brothers from the central coast is sweat detection. Prior to bowling a ball, the moisture that Hector had indirectly created in the first session was getting the better of JT.
Ian ‘Greeny’ Moran’s hero status is also being questioned as he stubbed his toe and fell over before beginning a rendition of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin in agony. He then proceeded to leave the field, shower and start planning the post-match circuit. Stuey Griffin also went down, with Chris griffin declaring that he shouldn’t dive because he’s too skinny and he’s guaranteed to hurt himself. Nigel ‘Flanders’ Cowell also fell over but Mail managed to protect the image of the skinny men, staying upright despite the laws of physics suggesting that an object so thin would fall over in the slightest breeze.
At the end of the day, Blacktown are 7-300 planning to bat on into next week. Unable to dismiss the tail while the men from from west stone walled late in the day means that the students have some work to do to take the points next week. Apart from that, JT took 2 on debut, Hector took a screamer and 2 of their blokes batted quite well.
Day 2
With the sun out, the pitch flat and the outfield looking to have improved considerably, the setting was grand for the students to succeed on day 2.
Nash was played 5 on 5 with ‘Greeny’ (not short for Greenhorn) Moran refereeing in what was surely to benefit the batting side. The bowlers however took an early lead with some aggressive play, influenced by the recent addition of JT and TK to the side. However, aggression was about all the bowlers had with minimal contributions from both the parrot and Flanders Cowell. This cost them as the batters claimed victory thanks to a dubious run through (Mail donated beer to Moran post match.. cheers). Morgs meanwhile may well have fitted in better warming up with the Blacktown boys as he’s struggled to assert his authority in nash this season (and more so because of his striking similarities to the opposition).
The parrot was at his usual best, perched around the other side of the ground at one point impersonating a damp rid bucket. This prior to one of the more interesting tactical moves of the season as Mail sent Hec out to run for the injured Ian. Frightened when seeing Hector padding up so early, I was unsure if he had been promoted up the batting order, was worried about getting timed out, going for throw downs or just practicing putting on his gear. The decision to use Marty as a runner might seem strange, although realistically Mail was never going to do it and Hayza would be the last guy chosen for the job (especially with Ian in the middle). So when Hayza fell courtesy of one of the less believable catches, he disappeared to the sheds to fight demons and Hec pranced out completing all his usual stretches on the way. The confusion was evident as Marty at times was still doing calf stretches at square leg instead of running. Unfortunately Ian was bowled, followed by Patches who played a similar shot to see his off stump knocked back and before lunch, the units were reeling, 8 wickets down with less than 50 on the board… unbelievable, unacceptable and underwhelming (harsh, but in this case the use of the word ‘underwhelming’ is warranted). Eventually all out for 103, thanks largely to TK’s fighting innings which at least took the score to three figures in what was an extremely disappointing and surely a one off day.
Blacktown opted for batting practice in the afternoon and approaching 4pm they decided it was time to start defending again much to the despair of Mail, TK and the like. It should be noted however that for future matches it is probably best to leave Morgs do the talking because they are unable to comprehend the dry, witty, intelligent sledging delivered by mail. It was also noted early in the day that in this match report, ‘you can write whatever you like about these blokes because they’re not going to be able to understand it, let alone read it’. Unfortunately for us, they were better where it mattered… it seems they were indeed better than they look.
Milf
1st Grade Twenty20
Sutho (150), Uni (6 – 152 off 19.5) B. Larkin 90*, M. Paskal 2-22.
After having it handed to them the day before by the Blacktown bandits, the students turned up to Scotty and Morg’s home ground with one thing in mind – redemption. Seeing the PG’s lads cop a similar hiding probably didn’t do wonders for the nerds confidence pre game, but when an early nash was called by Mail in the absence of the 20/20 specialist captain Will ‘I’m all over the shop out here’ Hay all else took a back seat.
Some high intensity nash set the tone for what was to be an enthralling game of cricket to follow. Victory to the bowlers, largely attributed to the second XI injection of Greg ‘I swear me and Deef are just friends’ Mail.
William tossed, yet again we lost, and back into the field it was. The all star line up of the Sutherland squad appeared intimidating on paper, and the bowlers had a serious challenge in front of them. Special mention must go to Marty ‘But that’s not the definition of a clearing shower’ Paskal, and Tim ‘I still don’t drop them’ Ley, who were impeccable at worst.
After a rain interrupted 20 overs, and a masterclass in how to play the reverse sweep by Phil Jacques, the shire XI scrambled to 150.
Hayza went early, giving Ben ‘Patches’ Larkin the chance to rise from his death bed and prove that you don’t need to be able to bench more than the bar to find the fence. In what was one of the truly great digs seen in recent times for the club, Chip, as he is affectionately known on the bean scene, went about peeling, dicing, and carving runs to all corners of the Shire. Special note must be made of Ben’s brief interlude for a family BBQ. Needless to say, in one of the more fortunate turns of events for the team, the fatter of the two Griffin brothers was run out. The middle order came and went, before Tom ‘the burglar’ Keirath decided it was yet again time to give the top order snuffs a batting lesson.
Coming down to the final over needing 10 for victory, TK became badly confused. Despite having been engrossed in the game for over 3hrs, Tom, still thinking he was on the nash field, and being the counterattacking mastermind he is, attempted to get the maximum 4 points on offer by heading the ball. We were happy to settle for the free run and re-bowl. Adro aptly despatched the former NZ international for a few boundaries and it was game over.
Stew Griffin stealing the show with 90 not from 58 balls. A great victory to keep the demons of the West’s tie at bay, and gives the Uni boys some much needed momentum after a sore and sorry Saturday.
CG
First Innings:
Sydney Uni – 8/384 (Adam Theobald 138, Chris Jones 73)
Blacktown – 10/269 (Josh Ryan 5/54, Nick Dunford 3/67)
Second Innings:
Blacktown – 0/85
The Uni boys made vast tracks out to Blacktown in order to maintain their position aloft the 2nd grade points table in spite of the scorching heat. After completing a 300 km bike ride for charity during the week, the distance for Josh “the finest of rigs” Ryan seemed little more than a warm up. The day’s proceedings yet again began with the customary game of Nash. The young guns strived early to show their scintillating form of prior weeks and again asserted their dominance early thanks to some inspirational goal keeping by Tim “Mclovin” Ley. However a late equalizer by the pensioners saw the game end in a 1-1 draw.
After winning the toss, Adam “so bald” Theobald, decided the Uni boys would handle the willow, so confidently striding to the crease came Mark “the strongest of chests” Faraday and Josh “the broken bean” Ryan. Both got the Units off to a good start with a solid opening stand of 52 (M. Faraday 27, J. Ryan 14) before unluckily falling in quick succession to the only two balls that moved all day. This led to the arrival of Adam “I sold my Porsche for a wedding ring” Theobald and Chris “the most positive men of all” Jones to the crease. Together they destroyed the Blacktown bowling with ease in a Match winning partnership of 207 (A. Theobald 138, C. Jones 73). The Uni boys finished the innings with some quick runs thanks to some good hitting from Nick “stinky” Dunford, Tim “horns” Ley (33) and Stu “Leunig” Mclean (20*) at 8/384.
With 8 overs left in the day the Units were keen to jag a wicket or 2 and finish strongly. Nick “Nippers” Dunford got the ball rolling with an early wicket and got the Uni boys well on top early on in the Blacktown innings. Unfortunately your scribe “the most natural of brown heads” grassed a second chance to end the day with Blacktown 1/25.
The 2nd day’s proceedings began with a light shower, which cleared early to the relief of the Uni boys. Nick “Movember Man” Dunford (3/67) again got the Uni boys off to a strong start for the day with an early wicket. Tim “the unluckiest of men” Ley also bowled well with chances going down off his quality bowling. With 8 drop catches for the innings, an area the Units will need to improve; it was hard to believe the Uni boys would still be on top. Chris “Trent” Withers also toiled hard unluckily, with his spell being far too good for the Batsmen.
The introduction of none other than Josh “never to be outspoken” Ryan to the bowling crease saw the game take a new intensity level. With frustration painted across the face of the Blacktown batsmen Josh “Stick to umpiring” Ryan bowled a devastating spell of 12.5 overs – 5/54. With first innings points wrapped up (Blacktown 10/269) and a lead of 115 runs on the board the Uni boys decided to enforce the follow on much to the frustration of the Blacktown players.
Again both Tim “Mclovin” Ley and Chris “I bet frequently” Withers bowled well with chances going down left, right and centre. Blacktown finished their second dig on 0/85 and the game was called to a close. No doubt the Sydney Uni boys gave away the chance of an outright with many dropped chances. Much improvement will be needed in the week to come in order to take maximum points and win close games. However on the whole, a pleasing performance from the Units who at last dominated a team from start to finish.
Liam Robertson
A picturesque Uni No.2 greeted the students in preparation for the tussle against Blacktown and it really was God’s own day at Uni. For the second week running, your scribe found himself in an unusually fresh state and at the ground 2 hours early – this trend has somewhat alarmed the marketing executives at Pepsi, and they have advised that they are currently reviewing their long standing Friday night sponsorship arrangement. As the clock ticked down to 11:30 it appeared more and more likely that a case would be lurked by the units, however all were disappointed when it was found that instead of there being an extra set of training kit hung up on the wall in the changerooms as was initially thought, it was in fact just the leopard blending in with the white background as usual.
The game they play in heaven was a 5 on 5 affair, as unfortunately (Th)AJ was momentarily delayed by a parked car on the Princes Highway and was still en route. Personally it was a forgettable affair, and I am sure that the match will be consigned to the dustbin of history. The elderly gentlemen continued their recent strategy of allowing the young pups to win a couple and therefore get their confidence up, and that is as it should be, as it really was becoming ridiculous there for a while, and grave concerns were held for the welfare of the youngsters. Special mention to Mark ‘Dementia is as Dementia does’ Hackett and Hasi ‘I’ll just play blind as its embarrassing to tape my glasses to my head’ Balasurija as being the standouts on the day.
And so on to the cricket…
The toss was won by D ‘2 up for dummies’ Ward for the first time in living memory, and he elected to bat on a surface that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the middle of the St John’s nets. Mark ‘Brass is Iron and Chromium – I got my chemistry degrees from a cereal box’ Hackett and Suda ‘How’s my differentials’ Sivapalan got us off to a solid start, displaying the kind of innate understanding of one another that only comes from 35 hours a week of throw downs together. Hackett in particular was looking in excellent touch; however his dismissal for a well made 46 sparked an alarming collapse with Messrs Leopard, Knuckle, Cowan and Lawrence coming and going without troubling the scorers very much. Michael ‘Fadi’ Culkoff and D ‘Bringing racism back’ Ward then steadied the ship and put together a much needed partnership that got the students out of some trouble and on the way to 200. As your scribe was busy ‘earning’ his second TFC of the day fielding in first grade for most of the partnership, details of the strokeplay are scarce, however I am confident that buses would have been driven in the sort of regularity that would make the STA proud. Some lower order bustling saw the units bowled out for 215, which it must be said was well below par on a good surface, however there were 15 overs with which to make inroads into the Blacktown innings and hopefully get back on top. Fadi Culkoff and Jimmy ‘The original bustler’ Kalagazooglious opened up and bowled quality areas, with Culks snaring a couple of early poles in a welcome return to quick bowling following a few weeks off with a suspect heartstring. Kags bustled hard into the wind without reward, however the early points in the bustle-off were taken by A ‘Can I claim the cost of a case on car insurance’ J, who bustled well for a wicket late in the day.
All in all there were patches of quality in a day which didn’t quite go to plan, however with some application next week, the 6 points should be forthcoming.
Smash
Day 2 – Proudly brought to you by Pepsi®
Sydney University 216 (Hackett 46, Culkoff 44, Sivapalan 37, Ward 34) def Blacktown (Culkoff 4/38, Lawrence 2/20, Grant 2/38)
A week is a long time in politics, and indeed also in cricket related sponsorship deals – after an intense series of discussions with the marketing executives at Pepsi and approx 3 feet of rain falling on Friday evening, your scribe is pleased to advise that the long-standing Pepsi sponsorship is now back in full swing and both parties couldn’t be happier…
Notwithstanding the above, blinding sun greeted your scribe as he arrived to Uni 1 in order to listen (again) to Geoff’s chat about winning $000’s on the Melbourne Cup at the sort of odds only being offered for other sure things like:
- The Rig appearing on the cover of ‘Matrimony Monthly’;
- D Ward not blowing up on any given day; and
- the leopard acquiring a tan.
(Note for young players, the probabilities respectively are 0, 0 and 0)
After mixing up a few beverages, delivering some throw downs and lurking around in the field for 5 overs to give Scotty a chance to continue to nurse his df injury, it was time to head up to No. 2 and to be greeted by the 17 individual pieces of cover that make up ‘the covers’, and an absolute belter of a pitch. Removing the covers soon became an issue (mainly because the 3 feet of rain that fell the night before had conspired to accumulate underneath / inside said covers) and the result was an absolutely saturated area a couple of metres off the pitch. Super-soppers were the order of the day (that is once our intrepid leader’s rage had subsided enough for him to utter any coherent words other than those not suitable for print here), however it was tough going for the 2 blokes who actually put their hands up to do the manual labour (Messrs Beer mat [tailor made for soaking] and Lawrence). It could only be described as beer and skittles for the other 9 lurkers (you know who you are) and of particular note was Mark ‘and Suda’ Hackett playing ‘Major Baseball League’ with each other and generally capering / mincing about.
After proceeding for an hour and not doing much other than to turn the square into mud, salvation arrived in the form of Ray our chief groundsman, who brought in the heavy machinery and arranged for some hessian to be pegged down over the offending area. The umpires were just about happy with the situation and cricket was able to be played after a brief warm up period. Many thanks must go to Ray who came in on his day off to get us a game, and we certainly wouldn’t have got on without his efforts.
Nashball was a hard fought encounter between the old and the young and scores were level until the game was rudely interrupted with news from the umpires that play would commence in 25 mins. D ‘More ar*e than class’ Ward, possibly with a portent of things to come, decided we would resume nash for an additional 5 mins and then warm up. The clock was ticking down and the scores were still level when the man of the moment Ward (whose only contribution to the game thus far was to injure himself) decided to have a wild left-footed hack at the ball near his own line. The ball headed long and very, very wide and the youngster’s goaltender Pork ‘Dementia seems to be contagious’ Knuckle came out to meet it and mount one last attack.
‘The game they play in heaven’ was never a more apt description as divine intervention is the only way to describe what happened next. Pork Knuckle went down to the ground (from the first but not the last sniper of the day) and the ball bounced due right and while the rest of the field watched on in disbelief / jubilation, it rolled end over end 245 times and trickled into the recently vacated goal. Pandemonium ensues – it’s the sweetest of victories to the old boys and the youngsters are back on suicide watch…
Now on to the game
Blacktown resumed at 3 for 30 and the Units were looking to remain on top and take some early poles. Jimmy ‘Nickname required – Bustler has now been taken’ Kalzagalious and Fadi ‘Suck my’ Culkoff opened up and bowled good areas, and Kalzag was rewarded with the first scalp. A ‘That’s right, I’m the real bustler’ J and Lawrence Josh then came on and both bowled well to continue the steady flow of wickets and ensure that the uni boys had their tails up in the field and on track to attain first innings points. That is everyone except The Leopard, whose tail was most certainly down after one of the more amusing incidents in grade cricket history where he appeared to be the victim of a stereotypical South African big game hunter who must have been lurking in the bushes on the edge of the field. As the Leopard was off chasing the leather on a pretty flat stretch of turf, he went down heavily to the ground and lay prone – to the casual observer it seemed that the hunter must have also taken his trophy head and made a switch as by this point the Leopard was suffering from a couple of hours in the mid-afternoon sun and was beginning to resemble the ball he was chasing.
A quick fire partnership and some lusty hitting saw the Blacktown boys mount a revival prior to tea which got them within range, however the timely return of Fadi Culkoff into the attack saw him pick up both of the partnership in a clinical spell of fast bowling, which was interspersed with some quality slow-medium poaching by Mark ‘Freebies’ Hackett (1/0). A special mention goes to ‘Blow ups’ Ward who was tidy behind the stumps and took 5 catches to go with his runs last week.
6 points to the good guys on a day which had its frustrations; but it certainly was a great effort from the bowlers to turn up and get the result on a very good pitch for batting. For the units, fielding and batting once again left something to be desired; however we are not a million miles away from realising that potential and putting it all together.
Peter Epsi
Sydney University 8/262 (Nick Fitzgerald 131, Alex Barwick 59)
5 saw the good guys travel to Blacktown to the famous Jim Harnshaw Oval, famed for its short boundaries and ample shade (cough) Upon awaking at a hideously early hour, the my first thought for the day was how ironic that it was that Nick Burke was suddenly unavailable when 4s were due to play in the far off fringes of Sydney. The trip there proved eventful with Sanjiv “the tourguide” Khalkho pointing out all the finest features of the M7 landscape, however, for all his local knowledge, Sanjiv was unable to accurately estimate the amount of time that it would take to reach our destination. Having been assured that the trip would take the best part of an hour and a half, we arrived at the ground roughly 30 minutes after departure and a good 50ish minutes before we were due to warm up. However, our early arrival left ample time for sanjiv to marvel at the wonders of the model cars being raced nearby, with which he was well and truly enthrawled.
On to Nash. For the third week in a row teams were divided into city and country and the nash that resulted could only be seen as a reflection of significantly different upbringings. The country boys played a simply stunning brand of free flowing nash. To be fair, country were all over the city boys, who seemed uncertain of how to act and react in the open spaces of the whalan facility. This clearly reflects their underprivledged upbringing in the urban ghettos of sydney, where green grass and open spaces were a scarce commodity. The city boys seemed reluctant to venture away from their goal mouth, relying upon fast breaks and long toe punts for their, “attacks”. Highlight of the days play was a scintelating strike by ed freeman from ten meters out which in almost any environment would have been considered a clear goal. However, the city boys refused to concede that the goal was legitimate, and the game ended in a scoreless draw. I fear that unless city develop more cohesion in attack, and are able to move away from their defensive mindset, this sort of result could become the norm rather than the exception.
There was also some cricket played. Daniel “I love Phil Logan” Bragg, finally won a toss, and the dents found themselves having first use of a flat track. Michael “Rowdy” Barwick, Ed “Nick Barwick, no Alex Fitzgerald, oh damn” Freeman, Justin “enterage” Younis and Cindy “I don’t give tips” Crawford all came and went for not much, leaving us in a bit of trouble. Highlight of the day was the 150ish run partnership between Nick “little man syndrome” Fitzgerald and Alex “im always mildly surprised when I get out” Barwick. These two steadied the ship when it was all looking a little shaky at 4 for not much and were able to consolidate and then put blacktown to the sword. Credit to Nick for carrying on with his innings after passing his ton, in spite of his over zealous celebrations. Once the 60 over mark was passed, it was decided that the tempo needed to be upped, and wickets fell in the search of quick runs. It was left to Charlie “still yet to acquire a permanent, imaginative, nick-name” Cull and Ed “yes Im related to the Arnotts biscuits people, no we don’t get free biscuits” Arnott to throw the willow for the last few overs to take the total to a respectable 8-260 odd.
Of particular note during the day was the flourishing friendship between Ed “that’s one dollar” Freeman and Ben “Joystick” Joy. These two poms are obviously relishing their shared cultural identity, as they spent time kicking their rounded “football” together, drinking excessive amounts of tea together, or simply arguing with crawford and anyone else that would listen that it was “chomping” at the bit, rather than, “champing”. So, the stage is set for uni to take 1st innings points next week… until next time, Charlie Cull.
Day 2
Bragg 5 wickets, Sanj 3, Joy 1.
Arriving at blacktown 40mins early again (cheers Sanj), I wondered what the day would have in store for us? Would blacktown rise to the challenge of the imposing uni total? As it turned out, no.
The highlight of the day was definitely nashball, which at last reached a standard good enough to write home about. The country boys finally put the points on the board that reflected the run of play over the past 3 rounds, and were run away winners with brilliance again from our two poms.
As for the cricket, Ben “gangles” Joy and Charlie “gangles” Cull opened the bowling and toiled for a bit with the reverend finally picking up the first of their openers in about the 15th over. The rest of the day went something like this, Daniel “dreadlocks” Bragg and the sandman Khalko bowl from either end. Maiden, Maiden, nick, nudge, maiden, wicket, nick, nudge, maiden, wicket, wicket. In summary, Braggy and Sanj bowled really well and Blacktown pretty much just rolled over and died.
The long sequences of dot balls were broken by some spectuacular catches to Barwick (the rowdy one) and an absolute screamer to Dan “superman” Bragg who put his new aerodynamic haircut to good use as he took a diving, one handed caught and bowled, parallel to the ground at full stretch. Seriously, it was amazing.
Credit to the uni boys for not letting up the pressure and for taking their chances when they came. Bring on randy petes! At home! Yeah!
Your scribe
Charlie Cull
On an outfield in superb condition for a game of nosh, the old boys started well with a miraculous long range strike from Jessep the first goal of a somewhat low scoring game. Struggling at 3-0, the inexperienced youngsters pegged one back late but were no match for the calm and collected veterans. Upon winning the toss, Chris Davey and Jack Hammond left any disappointment behind and, after a steady start, proceeded to dominate the even younger Blacktown attack. Both were smart and composed in their batting, with Hammond picking balls off a length over mid wicket with ease. Hammond ended on 54 with Davey scoring 45. This brought Paul O’halloran to the crease who looked comfortable from the start and seemed to be in for the long haul. Ed Quoyle was also looking good before he was skillfully run out for 13, attempting a quick single just before a delightful (if tomato sauce lacking) tea. Jack Lawson joined O’halloran and together they continued to punish the bad balls they received from the two Blacktown leggies. Unfortunately O’halloran’s innings ended on 65 when he was run out by a sharp bit of fielding at cover, while Lawson made it to 78 before he was caught at cover in the pursuit of quick runs. Although shaky early, Khongwar eventually found his feet and added invaluable runs towards the end of the innings, along with Jessep who invented a few impressive shots and ran hard to contribute an important 25. Declaring at an imposing 5/308, captain Rodgers was keen for a few wickets before the end of the day. Glynne was denied in his first over taking a wicket with a no ball but Metcalf was rewarded immediately at the other end. His solo appeal paid off and taught us to back him in his judgement. Spin was introduced in the last two overs and, just as it appeared Blacktown would be going to stumps at 1/23, O’halloran capped of a great day with some great suspense-mongering followed by a wicket on the last ball before stumps. This left Sydney Uni in a commanding position with a lead of 285 and a long day ahead of Blacktown next Saturday.
Uni dominates for two days for comprehensive first innings win.
Sydney Uni 5 (dec) – 309 (J Lawson 78, P O’halloran 62, J Hammond 54, C Davey 45, N Bray 2-57) bt Blacktown 133 (G Mccartin 25, P O’halloran 4-35, G Metcalfe 2-32, E Quoyle 2-33).
The start of day 2 was an exciting one, with the young boys actually competitive in Nash for the first time in a while. After a controversial penalty to the old boys and some expansive running play from both sides scores were locked at 3-3 late in the game. However, a dangerous cross met with an emphatic, Peter Crouch-like finish ended the young boys hopes on a warm, sticky Saturday at St Pauls. With Blacktown resuming at 2-33, the first session took patience and resilience from the Uni boys with a regular, if not overwhelming, fall of wickets. Glynn bowled well early with limited luck, snaring a caught behind to take the first wicket of the day as he tested both the batsmen and his swimming ability in the pool of sweat he left down at fine leg. Quoyle entered the attack after the openers and, through his consistency and some good keeping from Peacock down legside, snared a couple of wickets for himself. He was not helped by ‘3-chance Hammond’s’ fielding at gully who, after a drop and a juggle, eventually snaffled one up. A run out from the deep was just what the doctor ordered and set Blacktown on the inevitable path of capitulation. O’halloran was again the most threatening bowler and, with the help of a Metcalfe caught behind and some legspin from Jack ‘a full toss is a wicket ball’ Lawson, he helped finish the innings off just after tea. Sent back in well behind and with 40 overs to survive, the Blacktown batsmen took their time. Although the match looked set for a result at times, the flat deck and patient batting got the better of uni and the match petered out. Across both weeks, however, it was a clinical, confident display from uni against a sub-standard opposition that bodes well for the season ahead.
Jack Lawson
Day one
SUCC all out 237 (J Waterlow 85 not out, S Cowell 38, S Singh 32) v Kensington Tech.
We turned up Alexandria Park to be greeted by a field which had more sand on it than Bondi Beach . At least it would have suited our resident "Pom" - Steve ''Frog'' Green, who would have felt right at home, just like the "Pom" backpackers who invade Bondi and have turned it in to a Ghetto.
Having left our boardies, tanning lotion, surf boards, and, in Jono "Ranga" Momsen's case, floaties at home, we actually got to play a game of cricket, which was something different given the spate of wet weather which has followed us so far this season and allowed us to complete just two of four games.
But first, the traditional Nash was played with a tried and tested formula used to determine the sides - the muscle-bound, macho guys in singlets against the hairy-chested, intelligence challenged whimps in shirts. Sadly, the singlets were at a severe disadvantage as we could not use our speed and skill in the sandy conditions while the slow-footed, slow thinking shirts adapted very well. The 3-1 scoreline did not reflect the superiority of the singlets.
The frivolity dispensed with it was down to the toss. Simon ''Nigel'' Cowell called correctly and we batted on a strip that resembled my Dad's backyard, plenty of tufts of weeds, some grass and a couple of bare patches. At 4-31, including an unlucky first ball duck for Dave ''Booker T and the MG's'' Brooker (never heard of Booker T but my Dad says they were a group in the 60s!) things looked bleak.
Jono (18) and yours truly (14) helped steady the ship before the real fireworks began. Up to the stage steps Jarod "Low Tide'' Waterlow and skipper Cowell. They piled on a 61 run partnership with Skip contributing 38 in a swashbuckling innings. But, that paled in to insignificance in comparison to "Low Tide'' Waterlow, who pummeled the attack for a brilliant 85 not out, including a six and 14 exquisite boundaries. It must have had something to do with all the studying he did before he went in to bat. If he performs as well in exams as he does in batting "Low Tide'' will be a professor before we know it!
He put on 24 for the ninth wicket with Steve ''Frog'' Green and a scintillating 75 runs with number 11 Suni ''Daylight'' Singh, who knocked up a swashbuckling 32 that included four sixes! All in all SUCC put on 160 runs while "Low Tide'' was at the crease, going from 7-77 to 237.
It was Daylight's last six which brought up the sixth six (try saying that fast or, in the case of the older guys in our team, minus their false teeth) that led to the quote of the day. With all the boys screaming ''horns'' Suriya turned around and asked quizzically 'what are horns?'. Onya Suriya!
So, with 237 on board SUCC happily went out to test out Kensington Tech's batting. Skip Cowell claimed a wicket in his third over and the boys from the tech have it all to do at 1-31 after 10 overs.
Still, there is plenty of work to do for ourselves. The ball turns to mush very quickly and that's when the bowlers will have to work hard for their wickets.
Dave Gatt (with the usual help from a family member who thinks he is funny and is under the impression he can write for some strange reason)
Sydney University 239 (Jarrod Waterlow 85 not out, Simon Cowell 38, Sunjeev Singh 32) lost to Kensington Tech 7-240 (Steve Green 3-52 off 28 overs, Simon Cowell 2-50, Dave Gatt 1-25, Sunjeev Singh 1-28).
Day two
Grey, overcast skies greeted us at Alexandria as rain again threatened to spoil the day's cricket. But, the weather held off long enough to let play start on time with the Tech resuming at 1-31 and SUCC confident of gaining the points. A second wicket (to Sunjeev) not long after the start had our opponents at 2-37 and we could smell blood. We claimed another ''victim'' of sorts when yours truly, having delivered two lethal bouncers (my story and I'm sticking to it) - one which skimmed the front of the head of the batsman - then proceeded to snap the handle of the bat belonging to the same batsman.
Unfortunately a rain delay not long after did nothing for the state of the ball. Taking advantage of the conditions Tech slowly, but surely started to put together a decent score.
Steady partnerships kept Tech in the game as we just couldn't string together a series of wickets.At 5-158 we gave ourselves some hope but they steadied the ship with a sixth wicket partnership of 47.
While none of their batsmen got over 40, every one of them got a start and helped contribute to the score as they batted patiently and with purpose before finally reaching the target of 240 for the loss of seven wickets. Our cause was not helped by some average fielding -something we will need to address as a team. Steven ''Kermit the Frog'' Green was the pick of the bowlers with 3-52 off 28 overs. He would have slept well on Sunday night! Skipper Cowell also toiled away and probably deserved better figures than 2-50 off 19 overs while Sunjeev was economical with 1-28 off 10 overs.
The day was not a complete loss with Suriya again providing light relief with some of his sledging at the batsmen, but we are not sure it had too much effect!
Dave Gatt
The SUCC Sunday League boys returned to the playing field for their second outing of the season against the Galwedi Lankans on a well grassed but hard No 2 deck.
Batting first, the Lankans left no doubt about their intentions but an overly aggressive approach soon saw them struggling at 3-40, despite a healthy run rate of just under 6 an over.
Jack Boehm remained calm under pressure and bowled out for an impressive 1-27 off his 8 overs. Cam Hawkins provided plenty of subtlety, with his accurate wrist spin confounding even batters who are renowned for their skill against spin (when they came out to bowl, the Lankans were able to boast about 6 tweekers in their ranks).
The rest of our bowlers worked hard but were not consistent enough, which allowed the Lankans to first consolidate then get away from us for an imposing total of 219 from their 40 overs. Ani Shinde was the next best of our bowlers, returning 2-41 and continuing to bowl with good pace in the face of a rather fierce assault from the early and late order Lankan batters.
In the field, our boys tried hard but for those playing on No 2 for the first time, it was a lesson in what an unforgiving venue it can be when batters are set and on a roll.
The required rate of 5.4 an over immediately had our batters under pressure, which built quickly as we made a solid but slow start. The inevitable call on us to lift our scoring rate resulted in some rash shots and we were soon in deep trouble at 3-35 from 11 overs. Cormack O’Connor was the pick of the top order, with a well compiled 17.
Skipper Matt Scaiffe took it upon himself to get us back in the hunt but when he departed for a hard hit 24 (including a massive horn that had the Breakers ducking for cover on No 1), the task looked beyond us. Some well struck boundaries from Tom (I’m 3 years younger but much bigger than Jack) Hill, Luke Goldsmith and Jack Boehm kept the runs ticking over but we were eventually dismissed for 110. As noted by the skipper, there are no bonus points for getting 50% of the target!
The bottom line is that we were outgunned by a more experienced and physically stronger opponent. This is, however, a learning experience for a team comprised largely of current and recent Green Shield players. Importantly, our participation in the Sunday League provides an extra game for most of our boys against quite strong teams.
Moving forward, the bowlers need to focus on a consistent line, with 4 or 5 balls per over in the right spot not good enough. The batters need to focus on accumulating runs, particularly early in their innings, and remember that when they need to go over the top, there is often a lot to be said for going down the ground rather than straight for Cow Corner. In the field, we just need more focus on staying in the game at all times.
Phil Logan
The "Max Bonnell golden pen award" results.
Points for this week
1st Grade 3.8
2nd Grade No report seen, no points
3rd Grade 3.9 Hugely entertaining although I didn't understand vast amounts of it
4th Grade 3.8
5th Grade 3.7
6th Grade 3.6
3rd Grade is this week's winner.