SUCC 1st - 5th Grade v Gordon.
SUCC Metro v Sydney.
The "Max Bonnell Golden Pen Award" points tally
1st grade | 2nd grade | 3rd grade | 4th grade | 5th grade | 6th grade |
Sydney Uni 5/251 (W. Hay 82, I. Moran 74, G. Mail 46 n.o.) def. by Gordon 8/252 (T. Kierath 3/47, J.Toyer 2/37, G. Mail 2/46)
With 14 completed rounds, the students entered the 15th and final with somewhat of a point to prove, endeavouring to alleviate the pain of recent losses with a strong win heading into week 1 of the finals.
Usually the days proceedings begin with the customary game of Nash but I feel it would be rude of your scribe to selectively omit Ian ‘The self proclaimed Incredible Hulk’ Moran’s marlin on yours truly. The details elude me momentarily but it had something to do with a stump and the square…..
Well of course we did play Nash which saw the model-esque bottom 6 (Robbo excluded) take on the facially disadvantaged top 5. A closely contested opening ensued despite no tally being notched on the scoreboard before single points were traded. The real game began as Josh ‘But I couldn’t stop’ Toyer took out Greg ‘Bullshit you couldn’t stop’ Mail in the south-western plains of the Nashball arena. The kafuffle was soon swept to one side as the Stinker himself waddled in for a cheeky run through to hand over the $3 fine despite ‘The Hulk’ claiming a late winner from Bubble Boy.
It goes without saying that the coin fell Gordon’s way but all was not lost as the Packman opted to roll the arm over, bringing a schoolboy chuckle from Gerg. Will ‘Victor’ Hay and Scott ‘Aaron Carter’ Henry guided the good guys through the first 10 at a gentle pace before Bubble Boy squirted one to a roaming cover for 12. From here the uni boys consolidated, building the run rate steadily as ‘John’ and ‘Victor V Neck’ dominated the Stags’ attack. A healthy partnership was forged, yielding 146 runs in quick time. A notable highlight was Ian’s denial of Robbo to offer him a drink despite the underlying message attached re powerplay from the man in charge. But the ‘Secret Salmon’ is better for the run, especially after admitting he hasn’t put in this season. The second wicket fell with Hayza being yorked for a very well made 82, leaving him to retreat to the sheds only to put his shirt on back to front. Scotty followed soon after for a valuable 74, leaving Greg ‘Just because he’s above me, doesn’t mean I can’t take the piss out of Huw McKay’ Mail to pick up the tempo heading into the final overs. The tennis ball himself was busy at the crease, chipping them round coupled with attacking running with sound support from Alf, the departing Pom and Stinker. Junk finished with an unbeaten 46 from 37 balls, giving Gordon 252 to chase for a post season beer.
With 10 chicken burgers now the responsibility of our respective digestive systems (Alf had stir fry), the uni boys returned to the field of play with strong intentions of running through the Stags line up with disciplined areas. Josh ‘Skater Boy’ Toyer (2/37) didn’t miss the memo, picking up the first 2 poles (both fellow Central Coastians) with the total just 13. Maileeee (2/46) brought himself into the attack with the primary intention of lurking a Bill O’Reilly point or 3. He was off to a good start with ‘the Natural Redhead’ supporting his fellow ginger topped skipper with a grab on the fence, evoking a now characteristic celebration from GM with the lofted right arm and prominent index finger. ‘Tommy Two Plates’ (3/47) was thrown the leather to trap Big Mac in front, leaving Gordon 4/64. ‘The Incredible Culk’ (1/45) then ambled to the crease in typical fashion, grabbing an edge behind to take his maiden first grade wicket and simultaneously give your scribe grab number 1. It goes without saying that this small period of play yielded a number of dollars…… From here Gordon forged a strong partnership, and one that would prove to be match-winning, taking them from 5/66 to 6/187. Generous fielding and wayward areas saw Gordon reach the final over with 9 required. Here 2 successive boundaries from the 3rd and 4th deliveries followed an earlier wide to give them the win and leave the scholars empty handed.
Needing a win to consolidate a finals appearance, the loss was met with nervous poise as we awaited conformation from other results. Thankfully Bankstown didn’t collect the double bonus point, in fact quite the opposite, as Randy Petes took them apart meaning a tough showdown is now scheduled at Caringbah next Saturday as we take on the table topping Sharks.
Until next time….
Yours in match reporting,
Crowls
Sydney University 5/191 (Ben Larkin 61, Dave Miller 47*, Nick Larkin 43, Matt Morgan 28* defeated Gordon 190 (Shashi Keshar 5/39, Tim Ley 4/30
Wow.. last round already! A little cooler at this point of the season and on one of the more comfortable Saturday’s we’ve experienced this season, the students travelled to Chatswood to take on the stags. No one would quite anticipate the events to follow..
At 9am the students begin their customary game of Nash.. Unfortunately, Matthew ‘moo-moo’ Morgan hadn’t allowed sufficient time to travel the 73 km from Carmens, via Uni no.1 to drop off the Chicken Burgers. To make things worse, morgs then arrived and played the final minutes for the wrong team… all on debut! The youngsters still managed to take the beers in a convincing display, with Ben ‘Nick’ Larkin scoring his first Nash ball point in his time at the club. Congratulations Chip, I know you’ve worked hard for this. For the old guys, less worrying about your arthritis, receding hairlines, jobs and mortgages and more nash ball practice. Special mention to Nick ‘when I score a century I’m going to blow a kiss to my gf on the hill – no f***# it, the game can wait.. I’ll go and give her a kiss because she’s amazing and it’s what she’d want’ Larkin who performed much better in goals this week having gone missing against the Peels.
So Theo, the shrinking ship lost the toss and we were in the field (who said there’s a difference between 1’s and 2’s?). A great start from Plug and Kagsy on a flat wicket ensured the students were always leading the way but it was not until the spin twins, stu and shashi came on that a real stranglehold was taken. After his first over went for near 20, sheshi fought back to take 5/39..well done sherps! Meanwhile, at the other end Leunig had to draw pictures for the batsmen who were getting beaten by extraordinary turn and bounce.. If your scribe had improved his VJ, or impersonated Ben Larkin in a more positive manner this day.. Stu may well have taken the rest.
Josh ‘I need to start learning to throw left handed’ Ryan, who keeps telling us he’s as clean as mustard, despite mustard not being all that ‘clean’ also deserves special mention.. Rig is the first player in my time at the club to be the victim of a ‘scholachi’.. well done pegs! Rig, yes, it is ridiculous and too easy (pump fists in air). You’re not as bad as I thought Rig, but we’re all looking forward to seeing what sort of influence you have on your new apprentice!
Chasing 191 to win, the brothers Larkin were determined to get us back on the beers at uni 1 asap. Peppering the short boundary at all angles, it was a very enjoyable display with Ben’s flat six (at catchable height all the way) to the cover fence a highlight. All of a sudden, whispers of a double bony were heard in attempt to leap to second spot on the ladder. With all of us, except Ben and Nick knowing we had 25 overs.. not 20 (which had they kept going was probably likely) the decision was made to go for it. WAIT.. hold that thought, perhaps we’ll just settle for the win after losing 5-1 including Ben for a blistering 61 and Nick for 43. Still needing 75 runs to win Thorlo joined yours truly at the crease and he could have been mistaken for thinking I was Ben ‘patches’ Larkin.. No, not because I’ve been sticking to a strict diet of celery and pine nuts or applying surplus amounts of sunscreen but because of my susceptibility to injury. Not the best idea swinging hard and throwing your shoulder out but nevertheless there was a job to be done and opening bowler, genuine good guy and team physio, Kags told me I was ok, to stop carrying on and to keep batting.
After I’d finished crying about my sore arm, we managed to clean up the left over runs in a similar way to which Rig cleans up the scraps on a night out… not necessarily pretty, often taking longer than required but in a relatively clinical manner 5 wickets down in the 39th over. Great effort with some excellent spells of bowling and aggressive batting ensured the win and strong momentum going into the semi final.
Looking forward to the finals campaign and hopefully bringing home the ham for the 3rd successive time!
DM
Sydney Uni 6/241 (C Cull 69* J Younes 57, V Poolagasundrum 32) defeated Gordon 6/240
We knew this was a crucial match in the context of the competition. A win would present us with the chance of making the ‘Finals,’ provided one of the clubs above us, namely Sutherland, Randwick-Petersham, Western Suburbs or North Sydney were to lose.
With this knowledge in mind, there was a sense of apprehension amongst all the players as we wheeled in our kits to the cramp yet vintage St Paul’s change room. The usual pre-match warm up of ‘Nashball’ saw the ‘oldies’ win five to three against the ‘youngsters.’ After the excitement of ‘Nash,’ skipper Jimmy Rodgers outlined the importance of such a fixture, and from then on there was a sense of urgency and determination in the pre-match warm-up.
We were charged with the task of bowling first on what Jimmy classified as ‘one of the best pitches he’d ever seen at Paul’s.’ This did not deter our bowlers from bowling beautifully in the first hour. The pick of the crop was Charlie Cull who bowled with a real sense of venom and unerring accuracy, relinquishing only four runs from his first seven overs. He was well supported by left arm spinner Charlie McKeith at the other end. After eleven overs, the visitors had only managed to score 13 runs. However, from here matters became more difficult for us. The Gordon batsman preyed on some full length bowling and drove with ease down the ground on an unusually quick Paul’s outfield.
Despite this, we managed to claim our first wicket courtesy of a run out, executed by the athletic Gus Glynne. McKeith was then brought back for his second spell, and deceived the number 3 Gordon batsman in flight, with Justin ‘the Prince’ Younes taking a comfortable catch. With these two wickets in quick succession we felt we could claw our way back into the game. Gus bowled an excellent first spell, honing in on the stumps and getting the ball to seam both ways off the deck. However, we were unable to break through their middle order. Jimmy ‘the Fox’ Rodgers also bowled with guile and panache, but was unable to attain a breakthrough. Ed Quoyle then brought about a rash stroke which saw Gus take a good catch running forward down low at mid-on.
Nonetheless, after the second drinks break Gordon applied the accelerators on their innings. Although Ed managed two direct hit run outs, one which was indeed ‘dubious’ as he had claimed, Gordon managed to hammer 86 runs in their final ten overs. Glynne wrote his name into the wickets column claiming a scalp on the penultimate ball. Gordon finished with an impressive 6-240 from their allotted 50 overs.
During the lunch break it was revealed that Jimmy was featured in the ‘Fitz Files’ as a swarm of his contemporaries started to populate the scoreboard hill to see the Fox’s team perhaps for the last time. The odds were against us and a fabulous effort was required from our batsmen if were to pose a threat to Gordon’s total. We did not want our season to finish here, there was feeling that something special just had to happen.
Justin ‘the Prince’ Younes and Aaron ‘Dribble D’ Khongwar were aggressive from the outset. Khongwar pulled off some punishing blows over mid-wicket. However, it was Justin who looked in incredible touch. He struck the pace bowlers through the covers and pulled the short ball with remarkable ease. This was complimented by a glorious flick off Khongwar’s pads which raced to the boundary at a rate of knots. After a stand of 69 in the space of 13 overs, Aaron was dismissed was 27. This brought James Walsh to the crease. He looked in ominous form as he effortlessly clipped a ball off his pads to the square leg fence. Off the field it was revealed that Aaron ‘Dribble D’ Khongwar had changed his rap name to ‘Delirious.’ Charlie Cull was quick to note that the name was taken by a 90s Christian Boy Band! On the field, the game changed. We were cruising at 1-104, before Justin fell for an elegant 57. Nick Burke was then adjudged lbw, an interesting decision considering he was about five feet down the wicket. The veteran Ed Quoyle and Walshy started to calm proceedings down. Although Walshy looked in fantastic touch he was caught at short cover off a leading edge, unfortunate, considering he was scoring at a rampant pace. This brought yours truly to the crease. The game was certainly swinging like a pendulum, and it swung Gordon’s way when Ed was caught in the slips.
At 5-119 the game was slipping away from us, victory seeming more unlikely. Charlie Cull strode to the wicket with a sense of purpose. He was focused from the outset as he initially pushed the singles. Then as the two of us started to get our eye in, we started to dispatch the bad ball to the fence. Charlie was superb. He played shots all around the ground. He pulled and swept the spinners with remarkable ease. He clouted the fast bowlers through midwicket and supremely down the ground, and who could forget his delicate late cuts which he executed with precision through the slip cordon. Even when we weren’t able to find the fence, we ran hard between the wickets turning ones into twos and twos into threes. The longer Charlie stayed at the wicket, the more my belief started to grow that we could win this match. Unfortunately, yours truly managed to be dismissed in another ludicrous manner, run out (or stumped- no one really knows) down the leg-side.
Nonetheless, at this stage we had placed ourselves in a winning position at 6-208. Ben Peacock joined Charlie and the two did an excellent job under considerable pressure to peal off the remaining 33 runs. Benny was striking the ball beautifully and he made a well paced 15 not out. Despite this, it was Charlie who still held the innings together, turning over the strike and striking a boundary when needed.
As we won the match with 3 overs remaining thanks to a Peacock drive, we all knew the man of the moment was certainly Jimmy for his outstanding service to Sydney University Cricket. However, it was Charlie who had played a brilliant knock, simply brilliant. Coming in under enormous pressure for the team and personally, he answered his critics with a chanceless knock and wonderful bowling performance (0/20 in ten overs in a game where both teams scored 5/over with ease). The team song was belted out by all, even those who didn’t know the words. A great victory as we march into the ‘Finals.’ Surely there are more special things to come.
Virosh “Pool boy” Poologasundram
A Day in the Life of a Metro Cup Cricketer
As dawn broke on a chilly Saturday morning, a group of eleven sportsmen awoke, ready for a long days cricket at the hallowed turf of Birchgrove Oval, home of the first official rugby league match in Australia. As players converged from all parts of Sydney to this once highly renowned oval, the groundsman was marking out what appeared to be a nice short boundary, perfect for the one day format scheduled for the days play. As our eleven assembled it was be revealed that only three of the opposition had decided to turn up, a pretty disappointing showing in all aspects.
With a possible forfeit imminent, the team (the one with the correct amount of players) decided to play Nashball to pass the time until, hopefully, the rest of the other team turned up. The game that followed could be considered nothing more than inspirational. The usual Shirts (Bertelle, Hawkins, Captain Cowell, Rowdy Barwick, Mr. Oporto) vs. Skins (The Other Barwick, Golden Knob Gatt, Watermelon, Kermit, Samwise Mahahahahahabady) fixture, with The Male Model Bertelle unusually on the shirts team, the cold air not agreeing with him. The beginning of the game spelt disaster for the Skins team, with Watermelon misdirecting a pass towards one of his team mates which landed on the elder Cowell brother’s (also turned specialist batsman due to injury) chest and a throw through for a 1-0 lead. Not the start that the highly talented, almost majestic Skins were looking for. A stirring early performance from Rowdy Barwick and Captain Cowell blew the Shirts out to an 8-1, then 10-2 lead, with the Skins still trying to cling to some hope. This triggered a restructuring of the Skins formation, with The Other Barwick moving further forward from the midfield, and Watermelon slotting back into a full back role. This caused instant success with a couple of well placed kicks to get the scores a bit closer. A spectacular half volley strike from The Other Barwick who was around 25 metres from goal, a notable highlight of the flurry of points, and a lowlight being Samwise’s kick over the top from around 3 metres away. The scores narrowing with the Shirts at a 10-8 lead, kept quiet due to a resilient Jamie Carragher-like defensive effort from Watermelon, settling into his role as defender. 12-12 and the call for first to 15. It happened in slow motion, a cross in from The Other Barwick, Golden Knob leaping into the air calling “MY HEADER”, jubilation followed, after a titanic struggle lasting nearly 45 minutes, and possibly the worst victory celebration ever by Gatt, a comeback for the ages on the hallowed turf of Birchgrove Oval. A memorable Skins victory. The Shirts loss was summed up by Rowdy’s unusual quietness, revealing it was the worst day of his life, and the worst and only Nash defeat of his season. The Nash finals series begins next week with the Skins feeling confident after a magnificent showing.
A forfeit from Sydney CC secured us second position in the minor premiership and a home qualifying final, but not in the way we had hoped and after a brekkie of cookies and lollies, the executive decision was made to relocate back to Uni to support our lads in the chase for finals positions. Ever the club team, the Metro Cup lads went and supported the Ones and were treated to a masterful display of batting by Moran and Hay with special mentions to CJ for his last innings for the club, good luck back at Somerset. A chicken burger later and relocation to Pauls after listening to steady wickets fall up on Uni 2 and we set in for a good run chase from the boys in 5’s. We were treated to an elegant Khongwar innings and a quality showing from Prince, definitely spurred on by the presence of the highly respected Metro Cup boys. A quality partnership later (a great innings from Charlie, very entertaining) and a 5s win and onwards down to Uni 1 for a BBQ to recognise the end of the round fixtures and the start of the finals with 1s, 2s, 5s and Metro all through. Not only a farewell to CJ, but mention must go to the imminent retirement (though there are still sceptics) of James Rodgers, whose 38 seasons for the club cement him in the ancient history books and SUCC folklore, and hopefully the 5s boys will send him off with a premiership. A couple of drinks and sausages later, and the long drive home. A quite enjoyable day in life of a Metro Cup player, even though there was no cricket played by the team.