Jack Wood is seeing them OK
Hawkesbury bowled 120 balls to Randwick-Petersham on Saturday, and eleven of them – just one shy of 10% - went over the boundary for six. Chief executioner was Jack Wood, whose batting at the top of the order creates a fairly simple equation: generally, if he faces close to 60 balls, Randwick-Petersham wins. On Saturday, Wood reached his century with a hard-run two from the final delivery of the innings, and his 101 not out was studded with 8 fours and 6 sixes. The bowlers struggled with the incredibly windy conditions, but that didn’t detract from a perfectly-paced innings. Wood’s aggression at the top of the order was critical to Randwick-Petersham’s white ball strategy last season, and with two wins from the opening day of the season, the club looks well set to reach the T20 playoffs yet again.
Herft’s here
He’s 22 years old, Melbourne-born. He’s opened the batting with David Warner and Jason Roy, shared the middle order with Chris Lynn, Beau Webster and Rassie van der Dussen. He’s played professionally in more than half a dozen countries. He’s the international cricketer you’ve never heard of. Welcome to the distinctly 21st-century cricket career of Kobe Herft. Over the last few years, Herft has played for the Cayman Bay Stingrays in the Max60 Caribbean tournament, for the Chennai Braves in the Abu Dhabi T10, for the Bulawayo Braves in the Zimbabwe T10 and for the Brampton Wolves in the Global T20 Canada. Anywhere where people bash a white ball around for abbreviated periods, Herft is likely to turn up. If there’s an Albanian Super Gjashtë six-over competition next year, expect Herft to be there. More conventionally, he has appeared in Victorian Premier Cricket, in the Birmingham League, for the Warwickshire and Sussex 2nd XIs and even for the Gentlemen of Essex. On Saturday, Herft made his first appearance in NSW Premier Cricket, for Sydney University against Northern District. He didn’t get much to do, but could yet make an important contribution to the Students’ white ball campaign.
There’s another McLean at Gordon
Readers of a certain age may recall a young batsman from Lismore bashing Grade bowlers around for Gordon in the early 1990s. No, not the left-hander who went off to play in Perth, the other one – Paul McLean. Five Things still shudders at the memory of McLean smacking the ball around to all parts of Killara Oval, so it’s some consolation that now a new generation of bowlers gets to enjoy the feeling of being smashed around by a McLean from Lismore. Rory McLean, son of Paul, has been involved with Gordon for a couple of seasons, and made his First Grade debut in the T20 double-header on Saturday, announcing his arrival by carving 53 not out from only 25 balls against Western Suburbs. Showing no sign of nerves, McLean played a neat square drive (a shot he seems to like) to get off the mark first ball. He produced a nice slog-sweep for four from Josh Clarke, used his feet well to alter the length, and whacked anything short, including a bizarre slower-ball-bouncer-gone-wrong from Michael Dawson, which disappeared over the mid-wicket boundary. He looks like a player to watch.
There’s no place like home
Despite McLean’s impressive debut, Wests outplayed Gordon on Saturday, largely because leg-spinner Tom Brooks took two for 16 in his four overs. Brooks (back from a stint in Melbourne) is part of an interesting trend this season, of players returning to the clubs they recently left. Also back from Melbourne is Arjun Nair, who was excellent for Fairfield-Liverpool with both bat and ball. Justin Avendano, a Bear once more, steered North Sydney to victory over Bankstown by thumping 99 not out from 70 balls, six of which he hit over the fence. Matt Rodgers, back at Sydney, didn’t get to bat, but was happy to bank the win over Hawkesbury. And Harry Conway, returning from Adelaide, was back at Eastern Suburbs. One exception to the rule is Charlie Stobo, now with Manly after his time in Perth: it will take quite a while to adjust to a Stobo playing for someone other than Gordon.
The Bees don’t give up
University of NSW has endured any number of setbacks on and off the field over the last few years, yet somehow the Bees find ways to remain competitive. On Saturday, their pursuit of 166 against Mosman appeared doomed when the eighth wicket fell to a run out with 12 runs still needed from nine balls – three of them to be bowled by Shield player Jake Nisbet. Declan White hit his first ball for four and then two singles were scrambled: six needed from Jake Turner’s final over. Turner’s first ball dismissed Jack Hardwick-Owen, but Nikhil Thokola squeezed the second away for a single, and White smashed the third over the boundary to seal the points. Special mention to Tasmania’s own Nivethan Radakrishnan, who took two cheap wickets for the Bees, and in the process appeared for his fifth club in NSW Premier Cricket.