Parramatta is vulnerable to a dose of its own medicine
In recent seasons, a great deal of Parramatta’s success has been due to unspectacularly skilful seam bowling: line and length, a bit of movement, discipline and control. Which was exactly how North Sydney’s Joel Austin undid them at Merrylands on Saturday. Austin is a right-arm medium pacer with an economical run and no great speed and only a handful of First Grade games behind him, but he bowled with immaculate accuracy and did just enough with the ball to keep Parramatta’s batting guessing. Parramatta began well when openers William Jarman and Dhruv Kant shared a solid stand of 45, but both fell to James Campbell, and then Andrew Calvert drove Austin’s fifth ball straight to cover. No one really got going after that, and the last six wickets fell for only eleven runs. Parramatta managed only 119, and Austin’s share of the damage was five for ten from 34 balls. Justin Avendano, 60 not out from 64 balls, then carried UTS North Sydney to victory by nine wickets.
The Students started solidly
Sydney University continued its solid start to the season with a five-wicket victory over Campbelltown-Camden. The result was set up by tidy bowling; even though Anthony Mosca and Bailey Abela scored 55 runs before the first wicket fell, they used 14 overs to do it, and were never allowed to accelerate. Damien Mortimer made a crucial contribution in the middle overs, grabbing two quick wickets, including the dangerous Henry Railz. Mortimer’s second wicket, a lightning-fast leg side stumping, gave Tim Cummins his 550th dismissal in First Grade – he’s only the third player to reach that milestone, and now sits just seven behind record-holder Anthony Sams. Patrick Xie gave University an ideal start in the Powerplay overs, and clubbed his way to 56 from 50 balls, but Campbelltown’s spinners worked their way back into the game, taking three wickets in as many overs. The outcome was settled by a calm fifth-wicket stand between Mortimer and Cameron Frendo.
Sydney has a handy attack
Granted, Saturday was a good day to bowl first, but even so Sydney has put together a very handy pace attack this season. Oddly, Sutherland’s Andrew Deitz and Max Robinson gave their side a rapid start, peeling 41 runs from the first seven overs, after which six wickets crashed for only four runs (and they came from a single stroke). Harry Manenti had four for four from his first two overs; Benji Floros chipped in with the other two. Floros has spent the last few seasons on the fringe of professional cricket; Queensland gave him three Sheffield Shield games, in which he was quietly efficient, and he did quite well in a handful of limited overs matches for Surrey earlier this year. He picked up three for 17 against Sutherland, and if he and Manenti stay in the lineup, Sydney may well upset a few more sides this season. As for Sutherland, they managed 77. They didn’t win.
Mosman swept Randwick-Petersham
We’re not saying it hasn’t happened, but Five Things certainly can’t remember the last time Mosman beat Randwick-Petersham in every grade. In Firsts, Mosman’s 8 for 229 was built upon Ryan Hicks’ 77, after which Elijah Eales took two early wickets to put his side on top. Alex Lee-Young and Riley Ayre added an unbeaten 109 for the third wicket, but had fallen behind the DLS rate when play ended early. The Second Grade match was dominated by Hugo Farquharson, owner of the most Mosman name ever, who hit his first ball for a single and then went nuts, carving 33 runs from a James Ward over that included four sixes, two fours and a no ball. Altogether, Farquharson cleared the boundary eight times; his 122 not out lasted for only 59 balls. Josh Brownie’s 4 for 24 was decisive in Third Grade, and Aditya Saini, with 4 for 20, set up the win in Fourths. The tightest game was Fifth Grade, where Randwick-Petersham needed eight to win from the final over with four wickets standing, only for Alex Burkhart to produce a double-wicket maiden.
Chris Green is a decent First Grader
The sight of Chris Green playing in a Northern District shirt tells you one thing: there isn’t (with all respect to the Kingsgrove Sports tournament) a major T20 competition going on anywhere in the world at the moment. If there were, odds are that Green would be in it: this is a man who has played for the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, Barbados Royals, Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Islamabad United, Jamica Tallawahs, Kolkota Knight Riders, Multan Sultans, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Trent Rockets and Welsh Fire, and that’s leaving plenty out. All that makes him a useful person to have coming in when you’re two for 21 in the ninth over against Western Suburbs. Green’s 58, which included a nice straight six off Angus Cumming, helped his side reach 179, a total he defended with his miserly off-breaks. Wests were a touch unlucky: although they bowled out their opponents for 179, DLS left them needing 161 from 32 overs. They began well, bringing up 50 without loss in the 12th over, but then Green got to work. After 25 balls, he had three for seven, and as the required rate climbed, left-armer Jonty Webb capitalised with five for 27.