1ST GRADE
Sydney Uni 1-12
Parramatta 313: L Robertson 3-12, T Ley 3-73, B Joy 2-49, J Kershaw 2-68
2ND GRADE
Sydney Uni 9-361: N Craze 110, J Crowley 75*, S Hobson 70, T Kierath 32
Parramatta: N/A
3RD GRADE
Sydney Uni 261: C Litchfield 70, M Powys 66, A Cowan 46, E Arnott 38
Parramatta 0-8
In a return to 2-day cricket the Units travelled out to Merrylands in search of another 6 points against the table topping eels. Various methods and means were used to arrive at the superb complex, and the majority (i.e 7) found ourselves out on the luxurious grounds well in time for Nash. The minority followed afterwards, with Messer’s Wood and Litchfield choosing to do a scenic tour of Parramatta’s CBD of traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and one-way streets to the tune of 40 mins late and a case of premiums. Each.
At any rate 4v3 Nash turned into 5v4, and Dibbly-Dobson (much like his patented medium-pacers) swung both ways. A hard-fought game in steamy conditions and the young were well on-top, fitness and pace being the order of the day. One of the highest-quality games in club history ended up with Powys calmly slotting the ball home under the wall for an old victory, having quite rightly shouldered your scribe off the ball. 8 of the players had an excellent game, however I was absolutely horrific once again, and a further reinvention is required if I am to continue to be allowed to play Nash instead of being made to referee (or instituting a leopardesq lap of the field for warm-ups)…
The best ground in lower-grade cricket™ didn’t disappoint, and the skippers were faced with a very easy decision if the face of the SCA appointed “coin” fell in our selected position (Obverse: SCA logo, Reverse: I dunno, some other insignia). In what is becoming an alarming return to mathematical normalcy (LWLW last 4 games) the SCA was presented to the western Sydney sun and I had no hesitation in electing to bat. Dishonourable mention to Dobson, who audibly cheered at the coin toss result despite the game having not yet commenced.
Openers Powys and Hill strode to the centre and began a circumspect and ruthlessly aggressive start, depending on who was bowling and who was on strike. Powys took a particular liking to the bowlers from the (southern?) end, with Pike copping full treatment as his first 3 overs went for 36. The score after 6 overs though was about 37, as Sullivan continued his excellent form for the season in bowling extremely well from the other end. Skipper Jase Coleman followed, and Powys continued his aggressive stance, with fielders being pushed back to the fence in an attempt to stem the flow of runs. Hillsy batted with patience and it was a solid partnership, however 0/88 became 2/88 and 3/92 as the eels showed why they have been rolling through opponents all season, with 3 quick wickets evening up the match. Powys once again making batting look so easy at the top of the order with a superb 66 to follow up his recent prolific run of form.
This brought Ed Arnott out to the crease and a began period of accumulation and a high standard of cricket, with tight bowling and disciplined batting being the order of the day. Bowlers Sullivan, Drinnan, Coleman and the cagey Anand tightened the screws and the match was evenly poised either side of tea. After an excellently compiled 38 from Arnott was ended by a sharp run-out, and Galvin came and went, your scribe joined Charlie Litchfield in the centre with the game delicately positioned at 5/185. As followers of my cricket can attest to (i.e. anyone that has seen me bat in any format), cagey disciplined bowling is usually met with outlandishly aggressive batting, and this was to be no different. After a couple of close shaves (i.e. dropped catches) the ball started finding the middle and the runs started flowing and the game turned back in our favour. The partnership was eventually broken with Litchfield being unfortunately adjudged caught behind for an excellent 70 in his first game back with us this year. He hit the ball to all areas of the field, batted with intelligence and hard-running which was the backbone of our innings.
Your scribe was dismissed for 46 in a familiarly comical fashion, trying to deposit one too many over the ropes (stumped by 2m, face down facing the stumps and no, that is not the first time that has happened) and with the tail not wagging for the first time this year, we found ourselves slumping from 5/247 to all-out 261, with the offie Talwar picking up 3 wickets late on.
All in all, a very solid day and an excellent total against a good attack, but we probably felt that we had the platform to end on a score starting with 3 rather than 2. Backing us to be up to our best to take the 10 wickets next week on a good surface against a quality opposition.
4TH GRADE
Sydney Uni: N/A
Parramatta 213: T Fullerton 4-30, J Rinka 2-31, O Thompson 2-51
5TH GRADE
Sydney Uni 9-265: N Mortimer 127, A Wilkinson 37, C Lorenzato 28
Parramatta 1-47
METRO CUP
Sydney Uni 235: M Veltro 74, Z Islam 64, A Kirubanandan 28
Blacktown 7-103: M Ghumman 4-12, A Kirubanandan 2-33
Another beautiful day for a game of cricket with the Metro team down at St Pauls playing Blacktown. Opinion amongst the boys is that the deck looks the same as recent weeks and
although we expect some early movement and a few popping deliveries it should be a road later on in the day. The toss is won and therefore there's no hesitation in padding up and heading to the crease with the intent of seeing off the first 10 overs and then building the innings from there.
Unfortunately, we lose both our openers in those first 10 overs and need to regroup but this brings our new number 3 Izzy to the crease. Izzy joins us after playing all previous matches in 5's this season and brings his immense talent and an experienced head to the team. Izzy just played his natural game and runs came freely down the ground in spirited and impressive fashion! 64 runs scored before he falls trying to loft one ball too many over the ropes.
Max Veltro and Ashwin Kirubanandan set sail building a solid 78 run partnership in the middle order that was exactly what was required. Max played another excellent innings that included 11 fours and 2 sixes. While this may look like a swashbuckling innings most of Max's shots were measured and with little risk. Ashwin played his role and is enjoying his batting making 28 this time around. With the intention of having a crack at the opposition later in the day, the tail put in a few little cameos and our total settled on 235 after 50.3 overs.
The Uni Captain with high expectations was demanding a return of 4-5 opposition wickets in the 21 overs before stumps. With an injury while batting to Jon Alyward we are left with only 2 fast bowlers for the day which was not ideal in achieving this goal.
Blacktown pulled a move sometimes seen in Metro of sending a tailender up the order to have
a dash in the hopes of scoring some quick runs and wrecking the new ball. With the crazy short boundary on one side of the field, this was not a bad tactic but in the mind of the Uni skipper also an encouraging sign of a lack of confidence in their top order batsmen to chase our total. The batsman aptly named "Savage" took a particular shining to Prasan's bowling and dispensed the ball to the boundary. Anything not wide was punished.
60 runs are scored before a change in bowling and an immediate breakthrough by our secret weapon Muhammad "6 for 10" Ghumman. It's great to have a reliable guy in the team like Mo, who although perceived as a part timer, the skipper can just give the ball to and tell him to get it done. Getting it done was exactly what he did and with enthusiasm levels in the field reaching fever
pitch we went on to claim 6 for 1 at one point. Mo finishing with 4-12 off 5 overs.
Special mention to the classy Ashwin who had his end knuckled down the entire session
and also took a fabulous diving caught and bowled. 2-33 off 11. Blacktown finishing a shortened day due to the many delays 7-103. Uni 132 ahead with 3 wickets to claim but still a lot of work ahead to guarantee the points.
Overall a day which saw far more positives than negatives and with some tough games coming up before finals we are right where we want to be in terms of our playing standards.