Kingsgrove Sports Twenty20 Cup:
Sydney Uni vs Fairfield-Liverpool
Sunday 3rd December
Rosedale Oval
D Holloway
N Craze
B Joy
J Kershaw
T Cummins +
D Mortimer
B Trevor-Jones
T Ley
L Robertson (c)
J Larkin
D Malone
H Kerr
Sydney Uni Lions:
Sydney Uni Lions vs Beavers
Sunday 3rd December
Goddard Oval
Yap (c)
A Hunter
Mees +
P Bowman
N Bowman
Le Couteur
M Webb
O Ottosson
A Kirubanandan
M Ghumman
A Wilkinson
Best of luck to all players this weekend!
Sydney Uni 8-351 (dec): S Hobson 109, T Cummins 73*, B Trevor-Jones 41
Sydney 0-4
Sydney Uni 117: J Holloway 37, J Craig-Dobson 24
Sydney 7-142: L Neil-Smith 3-37
Sydney Uni 8-319: J Hill 110, J Crowley 53, T Galvin 41
Day 1 of Round 6 and it was back to fortress Camperdown to take on the undefeated Tigers who are sitting one place above us on the ladder. A beautiful warm sunny day coupled with some quality cafes and lush surrounds meant that it was going to be an excellent spectating day, with local talent guaranteed to be out and about. Unfortunately, the only scantily dressed person on display was Liamo, who took it upon himself to have his rig out for most of the first session and his hours of sunbaking may have improved his tan, but certainly not his wallet as he was relieved of bulk $$$ in the post-match circle.
Nash was commenced with a couple of notable omissions from the young side, Danne and Kevvy battling the traffic to the tune of a case of premiums. This was to prove terminal for young, who went behind early and were never able to recover even with the arrival of their leader (and Kevvy). Good work from the underrated Peek and a really impressive piece of play from Galvin weren’t enough and old took the spoils in what would ultimately be a good indicator of the day to come.
“The sun even shines on a dog’s a*se somedays, anyone can win the lottery” and so it was to be as mathematics be damned, I actually won the toss and elected to bat on a hard wicket with a good coverage of grass. The units got off to a solid start, and the first strong partnership began when Dr Chris Brown met the Wombat in the middle and they got into the grind and started to get on top.
A classy 50-odd from Crowls, 40-odd from Galvin and some excellent late order hitting from Peeky on debut and the (now quite well tanned) Liam meant that we ended the day in an excellent position, 8/319 from the allotted 80 overs. Obviously, this was largely due to the excellent knock from Jack Hill. The day (and the weekend really) were his, and from the start he was in command displaying a full 45-degree range of strokeplay (both in front of and behind point for a mainly coloured in wagon wheel). Hillsy was extremely good all day, a chanceless ton which barely had a false shot. He stayed patient and accumulated his runs throughout the day, finally falling for 110 looking for quick runs with the score at 275.
All in all a great day, and with showers forecast for week 2 we are going to need to maximise opportunities to take the 10 wickets against a side that no doubt has a formidable batting line up, being undefeated this year.
Sydney Uni 171: A Bell 45, T Fullerton 45
Sydney 1-15: J Rinka 1-1
Sydney Uni 205: Z Islam 59, C Lorenzato 51
Sydney 3-117: S Pathak 2-12, A Wilkinson 1-15
Sydney Uni 140: R Rahman 61, M Ghumman 42
Georges River 8-141 (dec): J Pockey 3-27, J Aylward 2-18, M Shanahan 1-23
Round 7 for Metro saw the team travel to beautiful Bland Oval to play George's River. Unfortunately due to some late unavailabilities, we are left one player short for the clash.
The toss is won and we choose to bat on what looks like a slightly thatchy but otherwise hard pitch.
The new opening pair Rahman and Ghumman have a measured and solid start both seeing off the new ball. After the first 15 overs the boys really found their range, particularly Rahman who began to open the shoulders and find the boundary as his confidence grew. Some glorious shots were played by the little fella who's fluidity some teamates have started likening to the great Tendulkar. An impressive stand of 101 until Mo Ghumman is caught for 42. Rahman is trapped in front soon after well forward of the crease for 61. A fine cricket innings!
Then came a disappointing display of cavallier cowboy cricket where neither the bowlers or the match situation were shown any respect. The batsmen refusing to try and build an innings before attacking all out. 7-18 lost and we're heading out to bowl in shock 40 overs early with only 140 on the board.
We certainly took the field with a positive attitude and were treating the situation as if the match was just starting and we were bowling first. With the turning deck, 45m straight boundaries and the earlier opposition demonstration of left arm orthodox being extremely effective some experimentation was in order and we opened the attack with the accurate pace of Prasan and a couple of overs of spin of from debutant Om Prekesh Sah. A bold but calculated move that would have paid off if a very confident LBW shout had been given in Om's second over.
Back to full pace mode and Max Shanahan joined Prasan in the attack. Max claims a pole in his second over and the score is 1-24 and team confidence is buoyed. Prasan unlucky with a missed slips chance bowls well but wicketless and is replaced by our very own Englishman Jacob Pockey in his first bowling outing for the season. Jacob showed a little understandable rust early but fired up in the second half of his spell taking 3-27 off 8 overs. The game is poised at 5-87 and we don't feel out of the contest.
Time to bring on Wild Thing Jon Alywood who was ferocious and basically unplayable. A wicket with his first and fifth balls and nobody wants to come out and bat against him at this point! Such a shame Jono was limited to 6 overs due to age restrictions. Om returns to bowl his spin and immediately makes an impact claiming 2 wickets in 2 balls in his first over. An opportunistic stumping to Cade and an undeniable LBW.
The score is 8-102. 39 runs to claim victory for George's River and 2 wickets required for the students to claim 1st innings points. The situation was certainly tense and runs were hard to come by as the overs ticked by. We toiled away with Shanahan and the Adikarage at one end and Om continuing from the other but with calm captain Jasper batting with big hitter Panchal our total was achieved with 3 overs left in the day. A surprise declaration sees our openers having to see out the final over of the day finishing 0-0. This leaves us with a massive opportunity to bat properly next week and claim outright points with our bowling heavy attack
Sydney Uni vs Sydney
Drummoyne 10:30am
Jack Holloway (c)
Ryan McElduff
Charles Litchfield
Nicky Craze
Lewis Bedford
Matt Powys
Ed Arnott +
Tom Kierath
Lawrence Neil-Smith
Jono Craig-Dobson
Kieran Tate/Ben Joy
Sydney Uni vs Sydney
St Paul's 10:30am
Suda Sivapalan
Vince Umbers
Julian Dimas
Nick Mortimer
Rob Browne
Zohirul Islam
Christian Lorenzato +
Ashwin Kirubanandan
Shivansh Pathak/
Murray Miles
Tom Draca
Andrew Wilkinson (c)
Sydney Uni vs Sydney
Camperdown 10:30am
Ryan Danne
Kevin Jacob
Jack Hill
Alex Shaw
James Crowley +
Ash Cowan (c)
Tom Galvin
Josh Toyer
Aidan Peek/Kieran Tate
Liam Whitaker
Jack Lawson
Sydney Uni vs Georges River
Bland Oval 12:15pm
Rakin Rahman
Jacob Pockney
Max Veltro
Harry Gibson
Jon Aylward
Tim Synnott
Muhammad Ghumman
Greg Cade (c) +
Om Prakash Sah/
Shivansh Pathak
Max Shanahan
Peasan Adikarige
Sydney Uni vs Sydney
Birchgrove 10:30am
Liam McElduff
Brayden Dilley
Alex Bell
Tom Fullerton
AJ Grant (c)
Oliver Thompson
Hayden Storey +
Hugh Farrow
Murray Miles/Aidan Peek
Jazz Rinka
Jono Phoebus
Lions vs Nondescripts
Alexandria Oval 1:30pm
Team TBA
Sydney Uni 320: D Mortimer 73, T Cummins 70*, H Kerr 59
Penrith 285: D Holloway 3-43, H Kerr 2-22, T Ley 2-51, B Joy, 2-69
Day 2- Probability of Precipitation (PoP) - describes the chance of precipitation occurring at any point you select in the area. [PoP = C x A where "C" = the confidence that precipitation will occur somewhere in the forecast area, and where "A" = the percent of the area that will receive measurable precipitation, if it occurs at all.
Inquisitive students turned up on Day 2 to Howell Oval having been reliably informed by Tim Bailey and friends that in fact the entire days play would be lost to the 100% chance of rain forecast every hour till stumps. A confused Damien Mortimer took the field at 10:30am when even his Apple iPhone informed him that it was 100% raining. Well it wasn't and it wouldn't all day. The Penrith side got off to a brisk start and before long the score had moved to 0/48. Ben Joy provided the crucial breakthrough dismissing DiBartolo for a quickfire 35. From there, Uni applied constant pressure to claim another 4 wickets prior to lunch leaving Penrith at 5/84. Tim Cummins continued his brilliant game against his former team, taking some superb catches along the way.
The middle session was hard toil with Penrith captain M Castle & J Sammut combining for a lengthy partnership. When D Holloway made the breakthrough it was his 3rd wicket for the day in a return of 3/43. The big left arm quick has been on the money of late and looks to be finding his feet in the top grade. Promising signs. H Kerr and B Joy returned to end the 7th and 8th wicket partnership respectively each taking their 2nd wicket of the day. When T Ley chimed in with the 9th wicket and the score on 237 the game looked all but over. However some missed chances in the outfield along with some quality batting by the Penrith skipper who by this stage had passed 100* meant the Cats now required less than 40. With the 2nd new ball finally available T Ley wrapped up the innings to hand the Students a well earned 6 points and another opportunity to sing the song. Still frazzled by the lack of rain despite his iPhone telling him it was currently raining D Mortimer led us in song: "Some come to fear us, while others..."
Sydney Uni 281: N Craze 129, J Craig-Dobson 37, R Danne 31
Penrith 8-282: K Tate 3-38, R McElduff 2-48, J Craig-Dobson 2-81
After Nicky Craze’s phenomenal century last week, Uni had set a total of 281 for Penrith in Day 2.
The Nash report was far less shocking than the prior week, it was a routing and after some initial pressure from the young side, the elders took control in what was a one sided affair. 5-0 to the elders was a fair result, and it must be noted that Nicky Craze hasn’t let a goal in on either week. Talent.
It was another good wicket at No1 and looked well suited for the batting side from early on. The usual opening bowling spell from Neil-Smith and Dobson was fairly conservative, challenging the batsmen on line and length. However, the wicket offered little and subsequently entertained the wishes of Penrith, who won the first session fairly comfortably. It was a tough challenge for skipper Jack Holloway, who was forced to change plans fairly regularly in the hope that new bowlers would present new challenges, which he did well. To the credit of Ryan McElduff, our lone off-spinner, bowled with variety and guile. He opened up a window by sending back Long on, tempting the left handed batsman to advance and play in a way that Uni wanted. It did certainly feel that the day was drifting fairly quickly into Penrith’s hands, but, as many a cricketer will appreciate, it is rarely a story without twist nor turn. In a plot twist that both Machiavelli and Byron would be proud of, wickets seemed to tumble at regular and important times. A rejuvenated Uni side, led by Kieran Tate’s hustling seam bowling, quickly began to notch up the seemingly absent pressure, and now, the timings of the day began to coincide with the innings, and there were both concerns of time and wickets for Penrith. Uni were able to take 8 wickets, but missed out narrowly on points, after a bold strike finished the innings off for Penrith and they had won on first innings.
In truth, there was very little that separated the two sides in terms of skills. Uni should be proud of their efforts considering their youthfulness and there are plenty of positives to take forward. Again, fine regards to Nicky Craze for his innings that gave Uni something to play with for the bowlers, and to Kieran Tate who scored 26* at 11 and bowled with pace and pressure. Thanks also to Lew McMahon and Fletch for their help at the ground throughout the day.
Onto the next!
Sydney Uni 222: T Galvin 55, J Crowley 29, M Robinson 29
Penrith 132 & 2-93: S Wood 4-37, J Toyer 3-38 & 1-25, J Lawson 2-34
Day 2 of Round 5 was same bat time, same bat station at Cat Park. Once again, various means were used to arrive at the ground (Essence M2/M7/M4 the best, train to St Marys then beg teammates for a lift to the ground the worst). The inclement weather and dubious forecast was seen by some of the more inexperienced members as cause for a Friday meeting with P Epsi esquire, however wiser heads knew that regardless of the actual weather, an early start and 1-hour trip to Penrith was going to be required, so really, little was to be gained. Leggie Newington was the big loser on the day, he has presumably just returned to being sober while reading this report after his 19th b’day celebrations carried on in Shire into the early hours in what appeared to be a massive bender.
At any rate, the Units were faced with a hard green pitch and overcast conditions, which caused Chrissy Withers to start salivating and skipper Greigo to decide that he would revert to bowling seam up given the conditions, his offies copping some treatment the previous week. Nash was commenced, and an on-time start was forecast.
In the middle of a spirited contest, the youth found themselves ahead and we were playing on the “skipper’s watch”, which is basically that game time is unlimited until old get ahead, at which point it is “last play”. It then started raining. Given the competitive nature of 3rd grade Nash, no quarter was asked or given, and the game continued. At some length. The rain got much heavier, but as we were still behind, the game continued. At some length. After 20 mins or so, the game was finally called in the pouring rain and we retired to the sheds, young having sealed the win. Penrith no doubt thought we were ridiculous in playing the game in the rain, a fact made clear to me as we enjoyed some libations (in excellent company) post-match.
The game situation required us to get 65 runs with 7 wickets in hand, which wasn’t going to be easy, as the conditions favoured the home side. Crowls and Robbo got us off to a solid start, but after they both departed the cats had a bit of a sniff. This did not deter Tom Galvin, who in a spectacular piece of batting, got the job done in excellent style in what was without doubt his best innings for the club. A cameo from Wood later on also yielded good results, and we ended up posting a Benaud’s 222, and a lead of 90.
An ultimately futile attempt at maximum points was entered into, but a classy 50 from one of the cats’ young guns meant that we were no danger. Special mention to Galvin once again, as he put together a pretty useful piece of bowling in the middle in his first overs in 3rd grade.
After the game fines, a few beers and a catch up with the Penrith lads was one of the highlights of the day. This is something that is woefully underutilised in the lower grades, there should be more of it. 4th on the table and it is on to next week when we return to fortress Camperdown to take on the 3rd placed Balmain tigers, who will provide a stern test.
Sydney Uni 85 & 3-51: A Bell 32 & 25*, L McElduff 17
Penrith 8-108 (dec): J Rinka 3-20, S Canagasingham 3-40
4th Grade arrived at Snape Park on Day 2 with 58 runs left to defend and 8 wickets still to take. With the cloudy skies and the occasional spray just prior to the commencement of play, the students were determined to utilise the favourable conditions to apply some real pressure on Penrith.
Stand-in skipper Olly Thompson made it clear that high energy was required and it started with Nash. The Julios were confident as ever, but a sneaky run through from Christian Lorenzato early in the piece gave the Nuffs an advantage which the Julios weren’t able to claw back. 4-1 to the Nuffs.
The new look opening combination of Jazz Rinka and Shehan Canagasingham looked to start things off well with the ball. Much like last week, dot balls eventually led to a breakthrough for Jazz and the students were in with a chance. However, Penrith’s 4th wicket partnership took control of the game for the Cats, before Olly’s quick reflexes removed their skipper, with a classic run out at the non-striker’s end. Penrith’s incumbent batsman was clearly distraught and it seemed clear that Penrith didn’t have much batting left. Sure enough, a few quick wickets followed for Jazz (3-20), Shehan (3-40) and Murray Miles (1-28), before some lower order hitting took Penrith over the line.
At 8-108, Penrith declared and sent us back in to bat following the tea break, with a slim lead of 23, in a somewhat wishful attempt to claim 10 points. For us, it was a good opportunity to get some time out in the middle, following two poor performances with the bat. Openers McElduff and Storey set the tone nicely. Alex Bell top scored once again (25*), showing a combination of solid defence and controlled aggression, to ensure that Penrith’s captain finally called it a day at around 4.45 pm, with the students on 3-51 after 27 overs.
Overall, a disappointing result for 4th Grade, but nevertheless, still many positives to take from the performance. To have kept the game alive for 42 overs considering there were only 58 runs left to defend at the start of Day 2 is a credit to the overall efforts in the field by all 11 players. The bowlers toiled all day with their consistent line and length and great support was provided by the fielders, with the likes of Hugh Farrow and Liam McElduff leading in this department. In the end, we were probably 40 runs short with the bat.
The lads will be determined to turn things around next weekend as we come up against last season’s 4th Grade Premiers, Sydney.
Sydney Uni 82 & 80: N Mortimer 30 &20, T Derrick 24
Penrith 8-294 (dec): Z Islam 3-35, A Wilkinson 2-45
Sydney Uni 6-330 (dec): J Aylward 102, S Sivapalan 53, M Ghumman 51
Randick 85 & 5-181: T Synnott 4-22 & 2-50, M Shanahan 3-23, J Aylward 2-41
A reluctantly agreed on 30 minute delay to the start was simply putting off the inevitable for Randwick as they faced a stoic and determined Metro side on day 2 at St Paul's. Continuing to bowl with the opposition score on 3-50 the plan of attack was to tie down one end
with the leg spin of Tim Synnott (a glaring omission from the Clayton graph just quietly)
and continue rotating the quicks downhill from the street end.
Randwick's plan appeared to be making every effort to slow things down hoping the weather would save them while also trying to block out the 80 overs. A futile effort that played into our well made plans. Synnott rolled through maiden after maiden finishing with an incredible 8 maidens out of the 13 overs he bowled. The batsmen had no answer and Tim finished with 4-22. Adikarage and Shanahan bowled with good range finishing with 0-14 and 3-23 respectively.
Once the first couple of wickets fell the opposition couldn't stem the tide and were eventually bowled out for 85 after 21 overs of the days play. There was no hesitation in enforcing the follow on and our focus became simulating semi-final cricket and bowling Randwick out for a second time in the day.
Randwick changes tack in the second dig and alternated between aggressive patches of hitting out and conservative blocking stages. This made it hard for the Uni bowlers to get into a good rhythm until the score was on 63. Wild thing Jon Aylward bowling off a shorter run and within himself striking with a signature off cutter rattling off stump. Oliver Ottosson then was rewarded for his great shape and lines picking up his first wicket for the club.
Another 50 odd run partnership followed until the return to the bowling crease of Synnott.
A sharp stumping to Cade and the score is 3-119 off 31 overs with 26 overs left in the day. Then a harrowing moment as diving for the ball through point, debutant S.J DeSilva dislocates his shoulder. In distress, the enthusiastic young player is sent to the hospital for assessment.
Arriving back at the ground we are given the good news by S.J. that the damage is minimal. A minor miracle based on the earlier diagnosis from his 10 amateur doctor teammates who were convinced the season was over for the Sri Lankin!
The day wound down into a bit of a stalemate but based on the recent events in third grade we had no intention of winding up early and pushed on with the same level of energy that was on display the entire day.
In the final over of the day rain started bucketing down just as Tim was releasing a vicious wrong'un. Distracted, the batsman played all around the ball and was bowled. A fitting way to wind up the day. 5 wickets claimed in the second dig and 6 points in the bag.
In the lead up to Christmas, we need to continue the upward trend for the Metro team if we are going to stick with competition leaders Gordon and Penrith. Thanks to the club for helping put a competitive team on the field this round. With players coming back there will be some selection headaches this week no doubt after some impressive performances from rookie players!
Joe Kershaw continued his outstanding start to the Futures League season by grabbing five wickets for ACT/NSW Country against South Australia in Adelaide today.
ACT/Country was defending a modest first innings of 198, but Kershaw kept his side in the game by removing SA captain Jake Winter and former UNSW Bee, Ben Wakim, in a hostile opening spell. He then ran through the lower order, dismissing Daniel Drew, Nick Winter and Luke Robins to finish with the excellent figures of 5-79, holding South Australia to a lead of only 105.
Kershaw has been in outstanding form this season, after missing most of 2016-17 with injuries. He has now taken nine wickets in his first two Futures League appearances.
A short time ago, ACT/Country had reached 43 without loss in its second innings.
The students took the foot of the mountains eager to continue the form shown thus far. Winning the toss and electing to bat on what looked a batting day the students found themselves in a spot of bother early. Losing 4 wickets with the score on just 70 it was up to the the middle to rescue the ship, and rescue the ship they did. A counter attacking innings by Damien Mortimer (75) and Hayden Kerr (60) led the fightback for the students who quickly turned around the poor start.
A few more quick wickets and again Uni were under some pressure. Enter Tim Cummins against his old side, he mixed delicate touch with some powerful stroke play to lead the charge well into the final session. Ably supported by strong contributions right down the order in the form of Tim Ley and Dugald Holloway the students were eventually dismissed for 320 with Cummins left stranded on 70*. A mark of the uni side so far this year has been the ability to find necessary contributions when desperately needed. A good sign for the season ahead. With Penrith 0/3 from 3 overs, the 2nd days play is well poised.
Sydney Uni 320: D Mortimer 73, T Cummins 70*, H Kerr 59
Penrith: 0-3
Sydney Uni 281: N Craze 129, J Craig Dobson 37, R Danne 31
Penrith 0-16
Day 1 of Round 5 saw the Units travel out to Bill Ball aka Cook Park to face the cats at the foot of the mountains. Various means were used to arrive (ours was the classic meet at Essence and then M2/M7/M4), but in an unprecedented display everyone managed to arrive on time and the full XI was (relatively) bright eyed and bushy tailed for Nash.
Wholesale changes due to unavailabilities this round meant that the youth were missing their top 3 (such has been their lack of quality that now Kevvy could be considered top 3) and this coupled with old having the extra man meant that there was only ever going to be one result – an absolute rout. Normal service was restored and the mercy rule was applied with old approaching 10 and young failing to have a shot on target. After multiple $$$ were incurred by your scribe, among others, for fraternising with the opposition, the toss was arranged. Speaking of normal service, Penrith won the toss (seems like all anyone has to do is simply attend the toss to win it against me) and their skipper Pete had no hesitation in choosing to bat on a hard wicket that looked perfect for batting.
Toyer, bald and the recently returned Sam Wood (a genuine candidate to take Danno’s place as No1 contender for the “Jack Maddocks perpetual Best Young Rig” trophy) opened the bowling and bowled with quality pace and accuracy to make scoring tough. Both were rewarded with early wickets and the Units were further emboldened by the Alpha wicky, Jack Hill and Tom Fullers being flawless in the cordon with all picking up catches.
The spin twins Whitaker and Lawson (combined height 3.2m, combined rare 18.7) then entered the attack and pressure was mounted from both ends with each delivering their best spell of the year. Both Liamo and Leggie Newington bowled accurately and scoring was stifled as the spinners turned the screws and the Units took control. After a sumptuous repast (best tea in grade cricket), further wickets to Toyer and Wood and an excellent piece of foxing from Tom Galvin to force a run-out meant that Uni took 10 wickets for 132 in just over 54 overs. Despite taking out the tin can and oiling up the shoulder, your scribe was not required to attempt some burglary/legside stumpings and overall it was a high-quality bowling and fielding effort from the entire side in a pleasing turnaround from last week.
The Units were faced with 23 overs to eat into the deficit and openers Hill and debutant Dilley strode out to the crease to face a hostile spell from former Uni stalwart, mostly coloured-in gentleman and all-round good guy Chrissy Withers. Withers wound back the clock and bowled with pace, accuracy and most of all aggression (which was directed in order at himself, the umpire, the universe, the batsmen, his teammates and finally, himself). A few wickets fell but at the close we are well placed at 3/68 with the Alpha wicky 20* and Michael Robbo at the crease.
Further fraternisation awaits week 2 as the units will endeavour to tick off the required and then see what can be made in the afternoon.
Sydney Uni 3-68: J Hill 21, J Crowley 20*
Penrith 132: S Wood 4-37, J Toyer 3-38, J Lawson 2-34
Sydney Uni 85: A Bell 32, L McElduff 17, M Miles 15
Penrith 2-27: S Canagasingham 1-6, J Rinka 1-7
We were greeted at Rance Oval with an encouraging message for the day ahead, bellowed from the passenger seat of a moving car; the exact wording indistinguishable from the revving of the engine. If local knowledge is much to go by they must have said "Rance is a road mate, win the toss and bat" - perhaps foreshadowing the day ahead. Putting this helpful piece of information aside we began to balance teams for Nash. Unable to find enough Olds and with a flood of Nuffies, teams were instead chosen by the colour of one's shoes (white vs coloured). Some poor keeping early on meant the white wheels went up 2-0. Jono Phoebus left his mark on the game by slotting a header into the bottom left corner to put the colours well ahead. In a desperate attempt to bring his team back into the game, Jarrod Morley matched up against Islam in a goal line collision that saw the latter man out for the remainder of the contest (see photo). Colours finished the victors at 5-2 despite losing their match defining presence in goals.
The coin seems to be landing on tails as often as I write match reports this season and the students were put to the field. The home team started quickly albeit unconvincingly with many of their runs coming off the outside edge. Tom Draca bowled with ferocity and pace with the new ball - especially troubling the left hander. Phoebus made the first breakthrough swinging the ball around the batsman and into off stump. Tight bowling and disciplined fielding held back the flow of runs until the tea break where we were rewarded with a diverse and substantial array of food.
Having been energised during the break Penrith's batting set out with a renewed vigour, intent on pushing the run rate and scoring freely on a wicket that was now giving little assistance to our bowling. The wisdom of the drive by local from the morning was starting to sink in. Nick Mortimer managed to burgle the wicket of their captain who was taking immense pleasure in sending the ball further over the fence with every hit. Islam and Shivansh Pathak also bowled well and were rewarded with wickets before the home team declared at 8/294. Sent out to negotiate a short period before the end of the day the students are 2/19 with Islam dominating the run scoring and looking to build his contribution for day 2.
Sydney Uni 2-19: Z Islam 13*
Penrith 8-294 (dec)
A dramatically inexperienced team but a welcome home game this week for the Metro side vs Randwick Green. A physically lost but principally won toss as Uni is sent in on a flat deck, with a quick field and on a sticky warm day. An exciting trifecta and an opportunity to take control of the day from the beginning.
As usual, a pregame plan is discussed and new opening pair Rahman and Kirubanandan take to the crease. A solid start and a slowly climbing run rate as the pair's confidence began to increase.
A slight lapse in concentration and Rahman is out caught for 27. An opening stand of 56 off just 11 overs. Kirubanandan was in fine touch, placing the ball exquisitely into the gaps on either side of the field and never looked like getting out by the bowlers on merit. Then a moment of madness as Ashwin is dismissed for 48 "mankad" by Randwicks salty captain.
The less said about the incident the better...
Veteran presence Sivapalan joins Synnott at the crease and things keep rolling on steadily until Tim is caught behind for 32 just as he was looking most comfortable. 3/125 off 27 overs. Sivapalan played a calm and careful innings playing each ball on merit and taking opportunities when presented. 53 in his first match for some time a good sign of things to come as he get's more matches under his belt. Our "wild thing" Jon Aylward returns to the team after an injury lay off to play as a batsman. As usual, a patient start for Jono, hitting his first three balls for 4,4 and 6!
From then on the young hitter played an extremely mature innings displaying extraordinary power and placement on his way to a career-high 102. Greenie's will look forward to Jon joining them this season. Special mention goes to the big fella Muhammad Ghumman who finally getting a chance to bat dispensed the ball to all areas of the construction sites around the ground for a quick fire 51.
With all original targets exceeded a declaration comes at 6/330 off 53.4 overs and a chance to get a head start on next weeks tasks. Kirubanandan and Shanahan take the new ball and a nervous start with both bowlers struggling a little to find the "4th stump" line initially. Some adjustments are made and Max claims the first wicket with a sharp chance going to Tim at gully. 1/8 and we're off and running. Ashwin found his range and bowling with good heat claimed his first scalp for the club finishing the day with 1/16 off 9 overs. Oli Ottosson getting his first chance with the team this season came on and bowled with good shape finishing with 0/8 off 6. Team leggie and "shirtless scorer" Tim Synnott bowled a consistent little spell claiming a vital pole and mental victory for the team in the final over of the day. 1/0 off 2.4 overs.
Randwick 3/50 off 24 overs at stumps and with the job only just over half done we know what needs to be worked on at training this week for us to claim the 6 points with the expectation of going for 10. Overall a very fine and fun day with all the boys starting to buy into what it means to play for our mighty club!
Sydney Uni 6-330 (dec): J Aylward 102, S Sivapalan 53, M Ghumman 51
Randwick 3-50: T Synnott 1-0, A Kirubanandan 1-16, M Shanahan 1-17
Sydney University Cricket Club is proud to announce its A.W. Green Shield squad for 2017-18.
The squad will be coached by former 1st Grade quick, Nigel Cowell. Their first match for the season will be on Thursday 14th December against Campbelltown-Camden.
Congratulations to all players selected in the squad. We wish you all the best for the 2017-18 season.
