1ST GRADE
Sydney Uni 227: H Kerr 54, D Mortimer 37, E Cowan 29
Northern District 6-228: T Ley 3-27
After a washout last week the students were looking to be back in the winners circle. After a hotly contested game of nash, Uni won the toss and quickly elected to bat. 15 overs in and Hayden Kerr with the ever youthful Steven Hobson had taken the score to 0-90. A brilliant opening stand had put the students in a strong position as the pair combined powerful stroke play with some sharp running between the wickets. Shortly after passing his 3rd half century for the year, Kerr was dismissed having played a brilliant innings. From that moment ND's began to steadily apply the brakes and the constant loss of wickets throughout the innings had uni eventually dismissed for 227 in the 49th over. Failure to bat out the innings, a cardinal sin that would eventually come back to haunt us.
With the wicket offering inconsistent pace and bounce Uni believed they were a strong chance to defend the total of 227. It was Joe Kershaw who provided the initial breakthrough for Uni who had started the innings in very tidy fashion restricting the scoring rate of the ND's batsmen. However at the halfway stage ND's seemed to be coasting with 9 wickets still in the shed and less than half the runs required. A brilliant piece of fielding from S Hobson gave Uni a crucial breakthrough and the momentum of the game began to change. With ND's now requiring 80 from 130 balls, Uni steadily applied the pressure as the RRR began to rise. Crucial wickets were picked up by Tim Ley & Liam Robertson as Uni hopes of a win grew. ND's needing 7 an over for the last 5 overs an exciting contest was unfolding. A couple of missed chances by the Uni side as the game went down to the wire would prove costly.
Requiring 16 off the last 2 overs it was anyones game to win. ND's held their nerve to clinch a narrow victory with 3 balls to spare. A well contested game of cricket which will stand us in good stead for the season to come.
2ND GRADE
Sydney Uni 9-217: J Hill, 41, J Holloway 38, C Litchfield 37
Northern District 218: J Holloway 2-38, J Craig-Dobson 2-42, B Joy 2-66
Second grade started the morning with young putting in a comprehensive defensive Nash display to grind out a well deserved 1-0 victory. A fantastic turn around considering the last round aggregate of 23-0 in favour of the older statesmen.
Returning skipper James Larkin had no luck with the toss of the coin and with that, we were sent into the field ready to rip in. Despite a run a ball 50 (and some very clean striking) from one of the rangers opening batsmen we were able to restrict the damage on the scoreboard through some tight bowling and general chewing of the dots by the other opening stick. This in turn led to a couple of wickets falling while also stemming the scoring rate in the middle overs, a few good cameos from the middle/lower order combined with some foxing in the field for successful run-outs had ND’s bowled out in the last over for 218, with TK the pick of the bowlers with an economical 1/29 off his 10 overs.
The chase started solidly with the wombat J Hill and Litchy forming a good opening partnership to really set us up a platform to chase the target. A few wickets leading into the middle session slowed the progress a bit and heading into the last 10 overs we required 6 an over with wickets in hand, some lusty hitting from Crowls/TK in the last 10 had the equation down to 10 off 3 overs but some tight death bowling as well as good fielding left us needing 4 off the last ball, with the ball hit to the boundary and 2 being run the final result was a heartbreaking 1 run loss. The boys will be looking to finish with a better result next week into the Christmas break against Fairfield.
3RD GRADE
Sydney Uni 252: A Shaw 119, A Cowan 36, T Galvin 26
Northern District: 6-259 (dec)
An early morning trip to the rain belt in Summer is always met with trepidation, not least of which would be felt by top order batsmen at the prospect of a juicy green seamer and an ageless Phil Melville lying in wait. The units arrived bright and early to be indeed faced with such, however the toss was won by your scribe (2 in a row, in a frightening return to mathematic normalcy, both leading to 0 points), but more on that later.
Absolute panic ripped through the dressing room circa 9am, as it was confirmed by the latecomers that no-one had managed to bring a Nashball. A game of fielding soccer was narrowly avoided as a young legend from NDs volunteered a soccerball that we could use for our warm up. The game was an interesting affair, with the new pill serving to provide much easier ball in hand and ground play but a diabolical passing game with the slippery soccerball being hard to grip (at least that is what I said to excuse my fumbles). Galvin the standout, with a full piece of skill on display, however old had too much talent and ended up being justifiably victorious.
As mentioned above we won the toss and elected to bowl, and after a slightly delayed start it was game on. A strong start was made by the NDs openers, aided by some profligacy in the slip cordon (see above, new ball also slippery). At 0/80 the game was getting away, but some quick wickets from Danno and L Newington changed the game back in our favour. We promptly lost that ascendancy however, and a classy 90-odd from Jace Hayward and some solid contributions from the middle order meant that we went to the KFC interval needing 260 to win, Danne and Lawso the pick of the bowlers. It should be noted that new levels (depths?) of rareness were reached (plumbed?) by Lawson, who inexplicably had a nosebleed for 40 overs, and bowled with what appeared to be a blood-soaked tissue hanging out of his nose. Claytonesq levels, and the graph is currently being updated after these scenes, just in time for the xmas party next week.
After a sumptuous chicken feast (including the mattress being alphaed by the KFC server who rated his accent but not much else) it was on to the chase. Tight lines and a bit of wobble each way were exactly what was expected however it was not easy to deal with, and the Units soon found ourselves in serious trouble at 4/34 after 12 with more than 6 an over needed. Galvin joined Shaw and set about getting us back in the contest, and with your scribe finally scoring some runs we put together back to back 80 run partnerships at a run-a-ball which meant that with 10 to go we were every chance. However, some disciplined bowling and composed fielding meant that the Rangers ended up with the spoils, and Liamo was caught on the longest boundary to end a gallant runchase. Special mention to the young kid Joe Hiley who has a big future with his left-arm orthos, and of course the old dog Phil Melville who I understand is 3 times as old but still knocked over our top order with consummate ease.
Disappointing result but there was one shining light, the innings of the man of the match, Alex Shaw. Shawry came in at 2/17 and left at 8/231, and scored 119 of those. He batted with power and patience, and played shots all around the ground in what was most certainly his best innings in SUCC colours, and therefore his life (all other colours being subservient). It was a pleasure to watch from the other end, and a real shame that the rest of us couldn’t quite get enough in support to get a famous victory, but hats off to the young man.
A trip to Cabramatta is next for a chance at 6 points before the break, and a step up is needed if we are to regain our position in the top 6 after a couple of fruitless weeks.
4TH GRADE
Sydney Uni 167: AJ Grant 40, B Dilley 35, K Jacob 26
Northern District 7-204 (cc): J Rinka 2-37
4s had a frantic start to the game with only 10 players present at the coin toss. The julios grabbed the 3 dollars in a clinical 3-1 demolition of the nuffies in nash.
Nds got off to a good start in the first ten before Jazz snicked off the opener and we grabbed an 11th man who happened to play baseball. Shez and Ollie then proceeded to put the squeeze on with Shez bowling 3 maidens in a row. This led them to be restricted to 200 from their 50.
Uni started off well with the bat with a fifty opening stand. Dill played well and so did AJ and Fullerton with a few bombs along the way. Unfortunately some consistent wickets throughout the game meant that we fell 30 runs short.
5TH GRADE
Sydney Uni 6-261 (cc): R Browne 64, H farrow 62, L McElduff 45
Northern District 177: A Wilkinson 4-14, N Barnet 2-40
A strong 5th grade unit travelled up to Storey Park aiming to build their momentum against the winless Northern Districts. The Youth barely had the chance to build an attack so stifled were they by the organised and disciplined Olds. Slick ball movement, precision passing, and especially the objective refereeing a hallmark of their superior game. Debutant Barnett was a surprise star for the Young avoiding the pitfalls of the newer player and forcing a higher standard from his teammates. An effort that would fall in vain as the Olds won comfortably 6-2. A sloppy piece of goal keeping by your scribe unfortunately allowing them onto the scoreboard. A bleak Christmas looms for the youth if they face another loss next week.
The toss was won, and even under overcast skies the students were confident to bat and set a total. McElduff and Farrow got to work and notched up their 50 and 100 run partnerships with ease. Both looked comfortable until the NDs captain trapped the Crab in front of middle for 45. He would later end Farrow's innings on 62. The rest of the bowling attack was mercilessly taken apart by the combination of Robbie Browne and Christian Lorenzato. Browne hit his first 50 for the club with 10 boundaries and 1 maximum. Lorenzato continued his good run of form finishing with 44 before he was run out off a direct hit that probably should have been sent upstairs for referral (read: looked very close from the scorer's table). Reaching the 50 over mark at 261 the students were happy with their innings on a pitch that was as slow as Islam's running between the wickets.
NDs started strongly in their chase going at 7 an over for the first 10. But once the top order had made their way back to the change rooms the game was all but won for the students. A spectacular outfield catch by Browne, more run outs and a bit of infield catching practice locked in the six points with a few overs to spare. We travel out to Don Dawson just before the break to try and set up a late charge for the top 6.
SYDNEY UNI LIONS
Sydney Uni: Champe Joo Lennox 66, T Derrick 33, T Synnott 20
Cricketers Club: Champe Joo Lennox 3-46, Prasan A 2-28, Olly O 2-36
SU Lions welcomed SUCC players Tom Derrick, Jacob Pockney, Tim Synott , and Champe Joo Lennox into their side. This doubled the energy and enthusiasm the side went about all aspects of the game, but especially fielding. Croft lost the toss, again, so will be relieved of this task (toss) next time he skippers. Lions were asked to field.
CC always bat with depth and this day was to be no different. Prasan A and Olly O bowled reasonably good areas but anything loose went to the fence quickly. Both ended with 2 well deserved wickets. Nick Bowman came on and was also rewarded a bowled scalp courtesy of the slight up and down nature of the wicket. But the real highlights of the bowling were Tim Synott’s leg-spin and Champe’s pace and guile, notwithstanding a no ball issue which he will hopefully get rid of soon. Tim deserved a couple of poles but kept the scoring down and Champe got 3 but could have had more with at least one bowled victim off a no-ball. In the field Tom D kept all batsmen honest with his speed to the ball and sharp arm and Jacob took the catch of the season so far at backward point. Pieter Mees again showed his keeping skills would not be out of place in a higher grade and took a very impressive catch and almost had a stumping off Tim S.
The CC score of 204 was not out of reach on the quick outfield.
Tom and Tim S started our chase brightly. Unfortunately at 0-54 both got out when well set after making the scoring look easy. We then lost Jacob, Matt Freeman and Prasan cheaply so were quickly 5-60 odd. Croft looked to score a few but was beaten by the accuracy and movement off the wicket. In walked Champe batting at 8. When he had unleashed a few boundaries and was asked were he normally bats, he said in the top 5 and this will be his position next game.
It reminded the skipper Croft of a young Ash Cowan in his first SUCC game at Rance vs Penrith early 2000’s. “Oh yeah I like hitting lofted boundaries and I don’t normally bat at 8!”. Well we hope Champe has some of the impact batting higher that Ash did and still does. Champe was supported by Pieter Mees for awhile but when he got out 2nd time Champe had to make the all the scoring himself and eventually went for a big shot when only left with one more batting partner. His 66 was a great dig to watch and indicated to the club he will be handy addition in grade, especially if he can sort out his run up. We eventually fell 40 short but had a good chat and bevvy with the CC guys after the match, and also complemented them on the best arvo tea in C + S.
This was the last of our Jack Pace Shield games (knock-out). With one more game before the Christmas break all commented on the relaxed feel but great approach to the games in SU Lions and look forward to getting back in the winners column.