1ST GRADE
Sydney Uni -
UNSW 7-286: T Ley 3-38, B Joy 2-50
2ND GRADE
Sydney Uni 10-173: T Kierath 37, E Arnott 30
UNSW 5-31: J Craig-Dobson 2-12
The units arrived at No 1 after a thumping with against Norths, albeit not our finest batting performance. Nash was predictable. Young with the extra man. Young score early. Young celebrate too hard. Old win. JCD had the ref looking for more cards that a black jack dealer and his 3 penalties ended up the difference.
Another lost toss and another bat first on a Uni 1 wicket that was underprepared with a generous green tinge. Brothers Hill and Powys punished the short ball and Uni was flying at 0-32. A lack of application and some misplaced ‘intent’ then had Uni reeling at 5-64. Stoic defense combined with some lower ordering hitting led to a par score of 173.
Still seeing the ball seaming around in the 70th over gave us hope so using the new ball would be critical. Tatey gave us a ‘fighting’ chance with the dismissal of Bandari in the first over. JCD made amends for Nash thriving on the wicket he cleared had helped prepare with 2 in an over. Danne and D Holloway threatened so much the prospect of a Friday night out proved too tempting for the batsman who left balls going into offstump. At 5-31 SU ended with the upper hand.
3RD GRADE
Sydney Uni 4-40: AJ Grant 18
UNSW 178: J Toyer 7-45, A Cowan 2-22
After a harrowing bye week (which no-one enjoys) it was back to business for the Units who travelled to Dave Philips South to take on the Bees. After an administration snafu, the newly promoted Bustler found himself taking the scenic route via Cahill Park to the tune of one case, and young Hayden Storey (on debut) also found himself short 24 lagers.
Nash commenced short-handed but not without a notable inclusion with scorer-elect Mr Pope finding himself fit enough (just) in his convalescence to play Nash, but unfortunately not fit enough to don the whites. An obscenely good game ensued, with the level at unprecedented heights throughout a hard-fought and at times spiteful encounter. The young however had the class and the fitness (Pope, AJ and your scribe not suited to 2-way running) and a delightful soccer goal from the debutant Storey meant that Old were in the end comfortably beaten. Leggie once again outmuscled Big Toy in the 50/50s, and this no doubt served to enrage him further (more on that later).
The toss was run and lost (shock me), and UNSW elected to bat on a bare surface that promised to be a good track. A sombre mood was evident as we applied black armbands in respect after the sad news overnight of the passing of Nicky’s father Ross, and then it was on to business.
An early wicket to Toyerbald with Robbo taking a screamer was the only highlight as the Bees belied their hitherto modest season to get off to a great start. Your scribe also lurked a wicket, but it was pretty grim reading for the scorer Pope as at 2/115 off 30 odd overs the Bees were looking strong to post a big total. Pope therefore was working more on sharpening his chat than his pencils in order to attract the attention of a certain Katie Mack, who was patiently waiting to bat and no doubt wondering why she had subjected herself to spending an otherwise glorious Saturday off listening to the mundane, punishing chat that grade cricketers effuse when congregated on the sideline.
Enter Anger Management’s Josh Toyer, who after earlier getting hit out of the attack had spent the previous 25 overs seething in rage in and around the fine leg/cover regions. He stormed in for a “look before tea” with instant results, nicking off Patel for a well compiled 62. The outrageousness of the celebration and the guttural roar of triumph upon this dismissal by the bowler is something that cannot be conveyed adequately through this medium. Suffice to say that small animals around the Dave Philips complex now live in constant fear because a new terror has arrived to hunt them.
A wicket to Wood followed and suddenly the game changed either side of tea, and when Toyer removed the dangerous skipper Charlwood and Katie Mack in quick succession we were back on top. A couple of partnerships through the tail kept the scoreboard ticking along, but the final introduction of Toyer into the attack yielded the last 2 wickets in 2 balls and the Bees had lost 7/63 to be all out 178.
The Units had 17 overs to negotiate before stumps and your scribe’s decision to meet these with outright aggression was not as successful as it could have been (read very unsuccessful, albeit comical). With some good bowling and a couple of tired dismissals we find ourselves evenly poised at 4/40 after stumps. Young Brayden Dilley (not on debut, thanks Milestone Monday for $1) showing experience beyond his years to dig in and ensure that he was there at the end. Ultimately a disappointing end to the day after such a strong fightback, and there is work to be done next week to secure the 6 points, however we are confident of getting the right result.
Finally, the contribution of Josh Toyer cannot be understated, both with and without the ball. Always he puts in 100% effort, and his 1/28 off 4 became 7/45 off 15.4 purely because of his effort and skill. Wickets were achieved where others failed through either sheer pace or guile, a well disguised slower ball just as effective as a fast yorker. All day he put in and saved runs in the field, and it gives me no small amount of pleasure to be writing this report to celebrate his success that his effort brings. No doubt he will hit a thousand balls this week just in case, and his 7 wickets will mean nothing if they don’t result in 6 points, and a match-winning 30* to win the game would be the icing on the cake.
4TH GRADE
Sydney Uni 3-86: A Bell 37*
UNSW 133: J Rinka 3-22, A Peek 3-29
A different fourth-grade side was set to face the rival Uni with 7 changes being made from the previous round, with Tom Draca and Ethan Jamieson making their debuts and Vince Umbers, Rob Browne, Hugh Farrow, Liam McElduff and Brodie Frost all returning to the side. With AJ stepping up to play in 3s and previous fill in captains Tom Fullerton and Olly Thompson away it gave Aidan Peek an opportunity to lead the side. The side arrived at Cahill Park intrigued how the pitch would play considering the struggles teams have had batting there in the past.
Nash was an interesting affair, as a different squad led to unknown playing combinations but in the end the Nuffies continued their solid form in 2018 winning 2-0. The luxury of deciding what to do was out of our hands as UNSW won the toss and decided to bat. One of the few things not to change, the opening bowling pair of Peek and Rinka continued their solid form having UNSW 3/18 in the first 10 overs. Continuous tight bowling from Draca and Browne and high intensity in the field lead to a mix up between senior batters and Umbers combined with Farrow, who is in charge of the keeping duties this round, pounced on an opportunity to snag a run out.
The next wicket - the most important wicket - came from the young leg spinner Jamieson who despite being whacked over his head for 6 maintained a cool head and had the last laugh as he, in combination with a brilliant outfield catch from Motimer, claimed the wicket of the UNSW skipper two overs before tea. The wicket proved beneficial as Umbers was able to grab another wicket in the last over before tea.
UNSW resumed after the tea break at 6/89 and it would be the more experienced bowlers in the bowling line up Rinka and Peek to get the next 3 wickets before a frustrating last wicket partnership could only be broken by some sharp fielding by Draca who claimed a direct hit run out.
With 25 overs left to play it was a good opportunity to make some progress into the 134 runs required to win. UNSW started well with the ball collecting the wickets of openers McElduff and Umbers and the team was faced with an ugly and unfortunately familiar situation being 2/6 in the first 3 overs. However, Mortimer and Bell steadied the ship before Mortimer was unable to keep one out for a well-made 19. This brought the calm head of Frost to the crease where in combination with Bell was able to bat out the remaining overs leaving us 3/86 with 48 runs required next week. Bell will resume on 37 and Frost on 11.
5TH GRADE
Sydney Uni 117: A Wilkinson 53
UNSW 6-69: M Miles 3-19, A Kirubanandan 2-18
METRO CUP
Sydney Uni 2-9
Penrith 9-279: P Adikarige 4-18, S De Silva 3-20, T Synnott 2-63
SYDNEY UNI LIONS
Sydney Uni 3-126
St George 125