New year, same old stuff
We’re a couple of weeks into the new year, which means that most of those earnest resolutions made late on 31 December are now receding into the distance. Not much has changed in Premier Cricket, either. On Saturday, St George won and Blake McDonald scored 184. Chatswood Oval had a road where its pitch should be, and Tym Crawford smashed 164. It’s just like 2023.
Will Salzmann hits it cleanly
Sydney University went down to Gordon at Chatswood Oval, after the inevitable (but still impressive) Tym Crawford century. But they went down fighting, thanks in part to an exceptional all-round effort from Will Salzmann, who backed up his four wickets with a spectacular innings. Opening the Students’ innings with Jack Attenborough, Salzmann played circumspectly for a couple of overs, and then put his foot down. He hit Quincy Titterton for an off-driven four that was pure timing, pulled a good length ball over mid-wicket for 6 and cracked a free hit over cover for 6 more. Salzmann was equally brutal when Nick Toohey bowled the sixth over, playing a casual flick off his hip over the backward square fence and cover-driving for 4. A pull for 4 from Toohey’s bowling brought up his 50 from only 30 balls. He’d reached 91 from 54 when he sliced a drive at Connor Cook to cover, but it was an exhilarating innings, full of clean hitting and deft timing.
Baxter Holt is still pretty useful
Just a couple of seasons ago, Baxter Holt was the next big thing for the NSW Blues and Sydney Thunder. He hasn’t played for either team this season, but he still has impressive credentials as a keeper/batsman, and he bailed Eastern Suburbs out of a hole at North Sydney on Saturday. The Bears batted first and posted 241 – not a big score at North Sydney Oval, but something of a recovery after Sam Skelly struck twice in his second over. That included the big wicket of Justin Avendano, caught by Holt without scoring. But Easts didn’t do much better against the new ball – they lost two for seven, and were then 3-56 when Angus Robson was dismissed. It took Holt nine balls to get off the mark, but he did it in style, clipping Ollie Knight through mid-wicket for 4, then repeating the stroke to the next delivery. He then welcomed Harrison Lee-Young to the bowling crease with a sweetly timed cover drive to the fence. Lee-Young, who has a distinctive, slightly slinging action, made an important breakthrough when Angus Robson top-edged a pull shot straight up in the air, but Holt and Will Simpson settled the game with an unbroken stand of 177 in 31 overs. Holt was clam, well-organised and unhurried, and ended up unbeaten on 104 from 109 balls.
Sometimes it does a bit early
Anyway, one thing we definitely learned is that if you play at Blacktown International Sports Park, the surface seems to be quite helpful to bowlers with the new ball in hand (as the late, great Alan Davidson used to say, “it’s a bit conducive”). Mosman played Northern District at Blacktown on Saturday, and it took only three balls for Elijah Eales to remove Cameron Tunks. After 16 overs, a pretty handy Northern District lineup had crashed to 6 for 48. Most of that damage was done by St Patrick’s Strathfield schoolboy, Josh Malone, whose haul of 4-20 from ten overs included Scott Rodgie and the in-form Mitchell Crayn. But former Mosman player Danul Dassanayake steadied the innings, Josh Baker contributed 41 from number ten, and Northern District battled their way to 178. But what Elijah Eales and Josh Malone can do, Ross Pawson and Jake Cicotta can also do, and Mosman slumped to 5 for 44 in reply. There was no recovery for the Whales – Cincotta ended up with 5-19, and having been 6-48 early in the game, Northern District won by 70 runs.
There’s still plenty of fight left in Sydney
For quite a while, the game between Penrith and Sydney seemed to be going the way you’d expect. Penrith, playing for a place in the top six, batted first and racked up five for 283, with Nick Adams hitting 102 and Brent Williams 84. Sydney, playing for self-respect and to avoid the foot of the ladder, lost its first two wickets to Ryan Fletcher with only seven runs on the board. So far, so predictable. But Sydney captain Nathan Doyle wrestled his side back into the contest with a fighting innings of 102 and Sydney looked well placed at 3 for 173. But Luke Hodges produced a mean spell of slow bowling, picking up three important wickets, and with four overs remaining, Sydney still needed 42 runs with two wickets in hand. At the crease were Thomas Mullen, who had reached double figures only twice in 14 matches this season, and Ellis Sherriff, who bats behind Thomas Mullen. The left-handed Mullen began by swishing hopefully at Fletcher, but then started to make contact, clubbing an inelegant slog past mid-on for a couple, and flat-batting a 4 through cover. 36 needed from three overs. 15 came from the 48th over, bowled by Liam Doddrell, including a ridiculous stroke played by Mullen from several feet outside leg stump, that sent the ball to third man for 4, and a nicely-timed pickup from Sherriff over mid-on for six. The excellent Fletcher pulled things back in the 49th over, allowing only five singles, which meant that 16 runs were needed from Doddrell’s final over. Mullen, giving himself room, clubbed 4 past point and punched a single to deep cover. Doddrell bowled a length ball to Sherriff, who slog-swept it over midwicket for 6. That meant that Sydney wanted five runs from three balls, but Sherriff needed only one of them, picking up a low full toss and swinging it over the boundary for, maybe, the most implausible win of the season so far.