Martin Guptill will drive you
Is there anyone out there who isn’t rebuilding? The Northern District team that faced up to Blacktown included five club debutants, and most other clubs fielded at least a sprinkling of new players. The most conspicuous newcomer was Blacktown’s marquee player, New Zealander Martin Guptill, whose previous gig was for the Antwerp Anchors in the EuroT20 in Belgium and who has been around so long that it’s something of a surprise to see that he’s still only 39. Guptill’s day at Joe McAleer began with the game against Northern District: he actually let his first couple of balls go, before creaming the next one through cover for four. Guptill’s game is largely based on the fact that he can drive just about anything in his half of the pitch, and he belted a string of fierce drives from Addison Sherriff in the second over. The first ball of the third over, from Nikhil Thokala, disappeared over wide mid-on for six, and Guptill then murdered spinner Tom O’Connell, blasting him for two successive, massive sixes. His 55 from 34 set up Blacktown’s first win of the day, and then his 61 not out from 42 steered his side to a second victory, over North Sydney. So, a shrewd piece of recruiting by Blacktown, and perhaps a glimpse into the future, when some bright spark decides to privatise the Kingsgrove Sports T20s so that ex-internationals from everywhere will flock to be a part of it.
It’s an old idea, and sometimes it works
Pull up a chair, and Five Things will bore you rigid with stories about how Premier Cricket was in the old days, when it was called Grade Cricket and cricketers often played it for twenty years without dreaming of changing clubs. No longer: very few players today have lasted more than five seasons without a switch. Deep in the bones of many grade cricketers is the belief that their disappointing season was somehow not their fault, but the club’s, and everything can be put right by a change of scene. And very occasionally, it works. Take Ben Mitchell, who is now with his third club, University of NSW. Mitchell had a lacklustre season at Randwick-Petersham last summer: he spent a lot of time in seconds where he had one great match as a bowler, but did little else – his highest score of the season was 33. Moving to University of NSW has given him not only the confidence that comes from the assurance of a regular place, but the opportunity to play a key role in the team. He beat Hawkesbury almost on his own, taking four for 12 before hitting 62 from 42 balls. He had a little luck; his first ball for the Bees was a juicy full-bunger that Arjun Nair slapped straight to cover, but his bowling was tidy and thoughtful and his hitting was crisp and clean. It wasn’t his fault that his side was swatted aside by St George later in the day: three for 31 and 49 from 33 was another impressive contribution.
The Students won a tight one
Sydney University redeemed a limp batting performance against Hawkesbury with a tenacious effort in the field. The Students lost wickets carelessly, but reached a defendable total of 132 because their two old cool heads, Damien Mortimer and Tim Cummins, produced a vital stabilising partnership before bowlers Cameron Frendo and Fletcher May bashed vital runs from the last few overs of the innings. Kieran Tate then grabbed the big wicket of Arjun Nair in his first over, and debutant Aryan Menon struck with his fourth ball. Taj Brar and Dale McKay batted the Hawks into a powerful position, but left-arm spinner Bailey Lidgard struck twice, and the University attack bowled full and straight to dry up the runs. Menon, big and bustling, ended the innings with 3 for 21, which is more wickets than he managed in his three Second Grade appearances last season. Hawkesbury lost only six wickets, but ended up 17 runs short, giving the Students an important win over a team that they’ve struggled against in recent years. University’s new coloured strip, incidentally, makes it look as though they’re on the same team as the umpires, which can’t be a bad thing.
Close finish of the day was at Bankstown
In a scenario stolen from Australia’s best-known beer commercial, Bankstown’s Niran Wijewardene needed to hit the final ball of the day, from Harry Thomas, over the boundary to win the game. Thomas held his nerve, speared the ball in on a full length at the pads, and celebrated as hard as a man can when he’s just been paddled for four. Gordon took the game by a single run, but in truth Bankstown blew it. Chasing a target of 150, which seemed about par, they needed nine from the final over with six wickets in hand. Thomas, an opening bowler who’s new to Gordon but has plenty of experience in Tasmania and the ACT, was entrusted with the ball. A leg-bye was taken from his first ball, but Ryan Freeman was run out from the next delivery trying to scramble a single. When Justin Felsch slapped his first ball to the sweeper at deep cover, Bankstown needed eight from three, and the odds had shifted to Gordon. Thomas produced a full toss down leg side, which Wijewardene would have been better off leaving to get the wide, but which he edged for a single. Reehab Afzaal drove crisply but was held to another single, setting up the game for Wijewardene’s final, futile boundary.
No relation to Riley Airee
St George continues to be quite good at cricket. A challenging target of 142 set by Sydney was obliterated by openers Sam Heazlett (92 from 45) and Luke Bartier (49 off 28) in just 12.1 overs. It isn’t well-remembered, outside the Heazlett family, that Sam once played a one-day international for Australia (the one against New Zealand on 30 January 2017 when Marcus Stoinis went beserk) and he remains a very clean striker of the ball. He wasn’t, however, the only ex-international in the side, because Kamal Singh Airee played three one-day internationals and a string of T20s for Nepal about four years ago. A right-arm seamer, Airee has a robust action, bowls a heavy ball, and bowls straight. He wrapped up the UNSW innings in the Saints’ second win of the day, hitting the stumps on repeat and taking four for six. Airee is the second Nepalese international to play First Grade in Sydney – if you can remember who the first one was, you probably need to get out a bit more.