Milestones Monday

Nick Larkin's dominant 129 against Sutherland was his fourth First Grade century of the season.  Only Jim Bogle (who hit five in 1918-19) has made more hundreds in a First Grade season for University although, unsurprisingly, Greg Mail has twice scored four (in 2006-07 and 2009-10).  During his innings, Nick became the fifth batsman (after Mail, Ian Moran, Ed Cowan and Adam Theobald) to pass 7000 runs for Sydney University.

Ryan Carters also emphasised his class with an unbeaten 167 against Sutherland - this was his second century and highest score for the Club, and he passed 1000 runs for the Club.

Ben Joy had a memorable day at Sutherland as well, taking career-best figures in First Grade.  His 5-53 was his first five-wicket return in Firsts, and when he removed Sutherland's captain, Chris Williams, he claimed his 350th wicket for the Club.

Lewis McMahon's incisive spell of 4-26 against Sutherland included his 100th wicket in Third Grade for the Club.

Angus Cusack marked his debut in Fourth Grade by taking 3-22 against Sutherland.

Ryan Holcroft's 3-18 against Sutherland was his best return in Fourth Grade.

Suda Sivapalan has reached 4000 runs for the Club.

Natesh Yoganand (3-27) and Jono Phoebus (3-42) both returned their best bowling figures in Fifth Grade against Sutherland.

And Josh Toyer is back.  Returning from injury, the match against Sutherland was only his second for the Club in Fifth Grade, the other coming in 2012-13, and his 49 with the bat and 2-24 with the ball both improved his best performances in the grade.

PLAYER OF ROUND 9

Voting has been completed for the Sydney Uni Cricket Player of the Round following Round 9 of the McDonald's NSW Premier Cricket competition.

The Surjits Player of the Round goes to Jono Craig-Dobson for career best 6/13 off 7.3 overs in third grades bonus point victory. 

The Nags Head Performance of the Round, goes to Hayden Kerr for his swashbuckling 94 off 58 balls including ten fours and five sixes.

Jonathan bowling with typical control and proved far too skilful for his opponents.  Opening the bowling Jonathan took four of the first six wickets to have Northern Districts reeling at 6/21 before coming back to clean up the tail dismissing Northern Districts for 112 in the 38th over. This was Jono's first five wicket haul for the year and his first Surjit's Player of the Round award.  Jono topped off the weekend taking four wickets in PGs victory over Gordon on Sunday. 

Hayden Ker started 2017 in impressive form, swinging his way to 94 off just 58 balls in PGs victory  over Gordon.  Doing their best impersonation of Dave Warner and Matthew Renshaw, Hayden and Kev Jacobs put on 107 for the first wicket with Hayden scoring 83 off them.  This is Hayden's second Performance of the Round award following his round 6 third grade century.  

There were a handful of other outstanding performances this round that require a mention;

Ed Cowan was a class above with his match winning 74 from 74 balls in 1st grades bonus point victory.

Tim Ley was outstanding in first grade, bowling with extraordinary control and pace finishing with figures of 2/13 off his ten.

Angus Cusack recorded his best figures for the club claiming 4/35 off his ten overs in fifth grade.

Brayden Dilley scored his second successive half century, posting 56 in fifth grades.

Five things we learned from Round Nine

1   Jason Sangha is earning his reputation

The guests at Western Suburbs’ 120th anniversary dinner last week were warned by the former Test bowler Rodney Hogg that Cricket Australia’s talent manager, Greg Chappell, was scouring the country for promising young embryos to sign up before they ruined their cricketing potential by being born.  It could have been Jason Sangha he had in mind – signed by Cricket NSW at only 16, Sangha made his List A debut for the Cricket Australia XI earlier this season, when he had precisely one First Grade fifty to his name.  The young Newcastle batsman’s promise is obvious, but there have been grumbles in the background that some of the game’s rewards have been bestowed too easily upon a player who had done relatively little outside age-group cricket.  The best way for Sangha to answer these murmurs was to score runs for Randwick-Petersham, which he did under the most testing circumstances on Saturday.  Chasing Bankstown’s modest 182, Randwick-Petersham slumped to four for 40 against an attack that included, improbably enough, four fast bowlers with first-class experience – Nathan McAndrew, Aaron Bird, Alister McDermott and Mitch Claydon.  Sangha produced his most impressive performance yet for his club, batting for almost two hours, hitting nine fours and a six, and reaching 60 from 89 balls before he fell to spinner Jarrad Burke.  He added 71 for the fifth wicket with James Psarakis at better than four runs an over, a stand that decided the match and lifted Randwick-Petersham into the top six.  Even Rodney Hogg would have been impressed.  Maybe.

2   Ed Cowan still knows how to clear the fences

2002-03 was a memorable season for Sydney University: it won the First Grade competition for the first time in 89 years, and two young batsmen engaged in a season-long tussle to see who could hit the ball over the fence most often.  It ended in a tie – Kevin Pietersen and Ed Cowan each finished the season with 19 sixes in First Grade.  As Cowan later remodelled himself so effectively as a risk-averse opening batsman, it bears repeating that early in his career he was often accused of playing a touch too freely.  At the University Cricket Ground on Saturday, Cowan played positively enough as he and Nick Larkin chased a bonus point against Northern District – their century partnership was posted in only the 23rd over.  But no-one was quite ready for what followed.  The 24th over of the innings was sent down by off-spinner Tom Felton, who has been consistently economical all season.  Larkin took a single from the second ball; Cowan slaughtered the next four for 4, 6, 6 and 6.  Bonus point achieved, with Cowan hitting four sixes altogether in his 74 from 74 balls.  University displaced Northern District as the competition leader with an emphatic all-round display.  The pace attack of Tim Ley, Tom Rogers and Ben Joy stifled the top order and wrecked the tail; Greg Mail prised out two important wickets; and spinners Devlin Malone and Ashton May sent down 15 overs between them, taking three wickets and allowing only 39 runs.  Larkin and Cowan chased down the target so efficiently that batsmen as dangerous as Ryan Carters, Damien Mortimer and Mail were not required.  University has lost only 50 wickets in nine matches this season: batting at five in this team can be very frustrating.

3   Mason Crane is a major asset for Gordon

Half-way through his season with Gordon, English leg-spinner Mason Crane is becoming an increasingly valuable asset to his club, as he develops impressively into an all-rounder.  He dominated the match against Parramatta, first by holding the lower order together with a fighting innings of 51.  He added 35 for the last wicket with Charlie Stobo, runs that were vital in a low-scoring game.  Then he struck twice, quickly, with the ball, removing Will Affleck and Tim Ward as Parramatta slumped to five for 82.  But, with its place in the top six at stake, Parramatta fought hard, and Trent Crittenden took the attack to Crane, hitting a rapid 62.  Crane absorbed the punishment, kept his length, and worked through the lower order to collect 5-66.  Gordon squeaked home by 22 runs and if anyone is happier than the Chatswood Oval supporters, it’s the Hampshire County Cricket Club, which will gain the benefit of Crane’s progress in the English summer.

4   Hawkesbury is always good for an upset

Hawkesbury is tracking in eleventh place now, within reach of the top six but never quite in it.  The Hawks seem to find ways of losing games to teams that they’re capable of beating, before springing upsets against sides that look stronger on paper.  Sydney became the latest team to learn how dangerous Hawkesbury can be, going down by two wickets in a tight struggle at Drummoyne Oval.  Aamir Jamal (3-44) removed the dangerous Joe Denly, and Josh Clarke enjoyed a rare triumph with the ball, wrapping up the Sydney innings to take 4-14.  Hawkesbury stumbled towards its target of 178, but a mature and composed innings by Corey Lowe clinched victory with two overs to spare.  The result means that Sydney has dropped out of the top six, and that only eight points separate third place on the table (38) from eleventh (30).

5   Some days you just get them

Tas Yazdani has been a consistent grade cricketer for more than a decade now, capturing over 350 wickets for Mosman and Eastern Suburbs, but without ever threatening to break any records except as the grade player whose name scores the highest in Scrabble (edging out Ben Dwarshuis).  Before Saturday he had taken a dozen wickets this season in Seconds for Easts at an average of about 25, which is pretty much what you’d expect – solid, reliable, unexceptional.  But on Saturday he took the new ball against Fairfield-Liverpool and caused havoc.  In his first spell, he removed Chris Jones, Mitchell Williams and Nick Johns to leave Fairfield reeling at 3-10, but then he was withdrawn from the attack by captain Kevin Pillay, whose undoubtedly cunning plan allowed Fairfield to recover to reach five for 158.  Then Yazdani got his hands on the ball again, and wrapped up the innings by dismissing Zac Johns, Jeremy Maher, Nathan Smith and Chad Sammut in rapid succession.  Fairfield was all out for 163, leaving Yazdani with the kind of figures rarely seen outside the under-14s: eight overs, five maidens, five runs, seven wickets.  His own explanation for his success was that “some days you just get them”, and who could argue with that?

ROUND 9 AGAINST NORTHERN DISTRICTS REPORT

1st Grade:

Northern Districts 10/131 (T Ley 2/14 off 10, D Malone 2/34, Mail 2/17, T Rogers 2/25) Defeated by Sydney University 0/132 (E Cowan 74, N Larkin 49).

Having (just) accounted for the cricket club formerly known as Balmain the week prior to the holiday break, the Students were back at home on the weekend to face table topping Northern District in the last of the preliminary one-day rounds. We had the full band back together with the Sixers releasing Carters and the Stars giving Devlin a break from Chapel St in favour of some match practice.

Skipper Larkin called correctly, and chose to bowl first on an evenly grassed, firm surface. A thick outfield and a hot, humid morning meant hard work for batsmen, bowlers and fielders alike. Uni were sharp in the field and the bowlers produced a solid team performance to dismiss the ladder leaders for 130 inside the allotted 50 overs. The score was more like 160 adjusted for the outfield, still a strong performance. Highlights included Tim Ley’s 2-14 from his 10 overs, and the opposition captain being the first man run out by Ben Joy in any format.
After lunch it was time for the rest to put their feet up and watch the show, as Larkin and Cowan made light work of the chase. A solid start against good new ball bowling was followed by clever placement and running between wicket. The Poodle even wound the clock back a few years and finished the game with a few large maximums from the off spinner, leaving just Mail inside the top six batsmen with less sixes than Ben Joy this summer.

2nd Grade: 

Sydney University 10/166 (J Holloway 40, D Holloway 28) Defeated by Northern Districts 8/167 (L Ford 38, J Holloway 3/19 off 8.5, K Elley 2/36)

The Uni boys arrived at Mark Taylor Oval in overcast conditions for the 2nd grade clash against Northern Districts. With rain around and what was clearly an unprepared wicket the start was delayed until 11:30. A tight game of Nash Ball, included a run through and a header leading to an old boy victory kicked off proceedings and got the group buzzing about the possibilities the day would offer.

However this didn’t last too long as Northern Districts won the toss, and sent us in to bat. Early wickets fell with Will Hay and James Larkin falling in consecutive balls, leaving the score at 2/8 off 3 overs. Wickets continued to fall throughout the innings with the score at 7/68. At this point posting 100 looked increasingly unlikely. Enter Brothers Rare (Holloway brothers.) Jack and Dugald combined for a 70 run partnership of which Jack played the aggressor role chipping balls over the infield and bashing them to the fence. This partnership, combined with a filthy hack over the bowler’s head for four from Liam Whittaker bumped the total up to 166.  After the lunch interval, we returned to the field at 3:30pm to defend our total.

Northern Districts got off to a flyer with boundaries and extras a constant. However, this all changed when Kieran Elley took 2 wickets in 1 over to get us back in the game. This was followed up by a miraculous spell of bowling from Jack Holloway, which produced 3 wickets for 19 runs off 8.5 overs and a tidy 9 overs from Liam Whitaker that provided 1 for 25. As the game lingered on, the possibility of a victory increased. Tight bowling and fielding from the Uni boys meant that Northern Districts struggled over the line to win by 2 wickets in the 44th over.

3rd Grade:

Northern Districts 10/112 (S McMahon 47*, J Craig-Dobson 6/13, L McMahon 2/25) Defeated by Sydney University 2/113 (J Crowley 45*, N Craze 30*, T Kierath 20)

The 3rd grade boys came back to fortress St. Pauls with a strong line up hoping to start the New Year with a big win.

A few extra kilos still lingering from the Christmas break coupled with the greasy conditions and a Pepsi meant that Nash ball was quite a sloppy affair, however tenacity and competitive spirit was as high as ever. The game was drawn out longer than usual due to both teams inability to break the nil – all deadlock. In the end the “olds” just had too much experience and scored the match winning goal via a powerful strike and a handy deflection delivered by keepers Beta and Gamma. Olds – 2, Young – 0.

Surprisingly, Ash Cowan won a toss and had no hesitation in sending the Rangers in on a green deck. The Students started superbly with Jono Craig-Dobson and Lewis McMahon making great use of the facilities and capturing some quick wickets. Joe Kershaw, making his come back after a lengthy lay off from bowling, bowled with great pace and aggression and chimed in with one wicket to have ND’s reeling at 7/30. ND’s then put on a handy lower order partnership to move their score up past 100. Tom Kierath grabbed the key wicket which broke the partnership and Craig-Dobson then came back to finish the job, finishing with career best figures of 6/13 off his 7 overs. James “Alpha Keeper” Crowley profited from the exceptional bowling taking four tidy catches behind the stumps.

The Students were largely untroubled in the run chase, moving past the required 112 with the loss of just 2 wickets. After Tom Kierath set the platform with a quick-fire 20, James Crowley (45*) and Nicky Craze (31*) combined brilliantly to score the required runs within 25 overs to get the win with a bonus point. This sees us back up in third place on the ladder.

4th Grade:

Northern Districts 10/109 (AJ Grant 3/25, A Peek 3/27, H Clark 2/24) Defeated by Sydney University 3/110 (B Larkin 45, A Shaw 32)

Fourth Grade arrived at Asquith expecting a delayed start, however as the covers were peeled back underneath lay an exceptional cricket wicket, hard with a decent grass coverage. Against last years minor premiers and the current ladder leaders, AJ won the toss and chose to bowl.  At the first drinks break the game was in the balance with NDs 2/55, enter AJ.  Two wickets in the first over after the break, followed by another in his next over saw NDs reeling at 5/65, Henry Clark chimed in from the other end claiming 2 as well.  Aidan Peek came back to finish the job and finished with 3 wickets as we dismissed NDs for a well underpar 109.

The run chase began strongly with a 50 run opening stand between Kevin Jacob(s) and 4th grade debutant Ben Larkin before Kevin was caught for 18. Fortunately, Ben (45) and Alex Shaw (32) iced the game out before Hugh Kermond and Vince Umbers got us over the line in the 39th over. A dominant victory and a solid all round performance.

5th Grade:

Northern Districts 7/224 (K Jayasekera 80, A Newton 62, A Cusack 4/35) Defeated Sydney University 10/208 (B Dilley 56, S Sivapalan 39 D Bryan 3/36)

Despite the wet conditions, both teams arrived at Camperdown to a relatively flat wicket. NDs batted with great intent and composure to post a dominant 224.  Angus Cusack was once again the stand out for Uni bowling with good pace and bounce to claim his best figures for the club, 4/35.  Angus was very well supported by Natesh and Sameer Murthy.

With the Bat the boys started strongly putting on 58 for the first wicket with Brayden Dilley scoring his second successive 50, before two more wickets before the score passed 100.   Suda Sivapalan and Brodie Frost combined well adding 42 and 39 respectively however continually losing wickets in clumps meant 224 was a bridge to far, as we were eventually dismissed for 208 in the 47th over. 

PGs:

Sydney University 10/269 (H Kerr 94 from 58 balls, N Craze 57, K Jacobs 24, P Rice 3/63) Defeated Gordon 10/249 (T Doyle 94, M Crane 53, J Craig-Dobson 4/53, L Neil-Smith 3/24)

It was a big match for the PGs side this past Sunday needing a win to keep themselves in the top 8 heading into the final round in two weeks. Uni won the toss against Gordon deciding to bat on a flat wicket out at Chatswood. A superb 94 from only 58 deliveries by in form Hayden Kerr got the side off to a great start before he was run out from spectacular fielding which was present throughout the whole of the first innings. Handy partnerships with both Kevin Jacobs (24) and Charles Litchfield (17) saw the team on 140 after 23 overs. The captain Nicky Craze then went on to score a chancy 57 with Ryan Danne (14) and Jono Craig-dobbo chipping in 17. Unfortunately the tail didn't wag and the side was bowled out in the 49th over for 269.

Young gun Lawrence Neil-Smith (3-24) and Kieran Elly Uni had the opposition 2 for 30. With a few drop catches and some poor fielding from the students saw Gordon put on a steady 100 run partnership leaving them with 13 overs to score 90 on the quick outfield of Chatswood, with plenty of wickets in hand. Tight bowling from liam whitikar (0-30) and Ryan Danne and wickets from Dobbo (4-53) backed up by classy keeping from Tom Galvin saw Gordon bowled out 20 runs short with 3 overs remaining.

The strong Uni side heads into the final round against Eastern suburbs, where a win will secure the students their first finals birth since we won the comp in 2010/11. 

Milestones Monday

First Grade's dominant, ten-wicket victory over Northern District, carried the team to first place on the competition table for the first time this season.

It was a big weekend for Jono Craig-Dobson. In Thirds against Northern District, his 6-13 was a career-best return for the Club, and the third time he has taken five wickets in an innings - besides which, while taking four more wickets against Gordon in Poidevin-Gray, he collected his 100th for the Club.

Hayden Kerr's blistering 94 from 58 balls against Gordon was his highest Poidevin-Gray score.

Angus Cusack, with 4-35 in Fifth Grade, achieved his best bowling analysis for the Club.

There have been plenty of career-best performances from the AW Green Shield team.  Against Manly, Jono Phoebus hit a career-best 72 and, in the gripping three-run win over Randwick-Petersham, Connor Slater's spell of 4-20 was a match-winner. 

Happy New Year + 100-Club Opportunities

Sydney University Cricket Club would like to take this opportunity to say we hope all our players and supporters have had a memorable festive period, and welcome to 2017!

We are excited about what 2017 holds in store both on and off the field, with all teams chasing finals glory, as well as some unique events set to take place.

With 2017 now with us, we'd like to remind all our players and supporters of the superb 100-Club offering that we are running throughout this season.

We have released a special 100-Club membership for $100 each, so jump onto our merchandise store here to get yours today (before your favourite number gets taken).

As part of the membership, you will receive a numbered Club baseball cap, updates on the Club's progress, and invites to 100 Club mini events.

Also as part of the membership, you will go in the draw to win one of three fantastic prizes including...

1st Prize:
Jonah's / Sydney Seaplanes 'Overnighter' Package (valued at $1,660)

2nd Prize:
$600 food & beverage gift card from Dedes Waterfront Group

3rd Prize:
The highly sought after Apple Watch valued at over $450.

Please check out the full details here.

The prize draw will take place at our Trivia Night fundraiser on Tuesday March 7th.

The memberships will help support the Club via funding various items that will set us apart from most other Premier Cricket clubs in Australia. This includes:

• a player video analysis package that allows players and coaches to easily watch and analyse their performances in home matches.
• providing subsidies to students who participate in our various Intervarsity Tours throughout the season.
• providing scholarship support to student cricketers via various support networks, such as tutors and specialist coaches.

Get in quick and buy yours for the new year, help your Club fund some wonderful programs, and give yourself the chance to spoil yourself or a loved one.

Click here to purchase one now!

Five Things We Learned from Round Eight

1   Sydney University might need to change its victory song

The song that Sydney University teams sing at the end of each win ends by asking “How did we do it?” to which the answer (stretched out over about eight syllables) is “easy”.  Well, maybe.  But Sydney University’s University’s nail-biting, three-run win over Sydney was its third successive victory by less than a single stroke, following its one-run T20 win over Bankstown and the five-run win against Mosman.  Some of the frayed nerves in the side will benefit from the Christmas break, but teams that win the tight finishes often end up playing finals cricket at the end of March.  University’s win was set up by a beautifully-constructed century from captain Nick Larkin (his ninth in First Grade, during which he passed 4500 First Grade runs), whose 138 came from only 147 deliveries.  He had good support from Ed Cowan and Damien Mortimer (whose 60 continued his exceptional run of form), and University’s eventual total of five for 253 was competitive though by no means unassailable.  Sydney’s ploy of opening its innings with Ben Manenti was highly successful, as the spinner retaliated for some of the rough treatment his bowling had received by blasting 50 from only 28 deliveries.  But he fell to Ben Joy, after which University’s all-rounders applied the brakes on Sydney’s middle order.  Ashton May took the key wicket of Joe Denly, Liam Robertson mixed up his pace deceptively, and Greg Mail struck three times in as many overs.  With two wickets in hand, Sydney needed 33 from the last three overs, and some furious hitting by Dan Jacob and Nic Bills reduced that target to eleven from the last over.  Tom Rogers held his nerve, firing in yorkers on a fourth-stump line, and University finished up just in front.  With that result, they leap-frog Sydney into fourth place on a very clustered table: now only two points separate the top five sides. 

2   Parramatta’s challenge is real

Parramatta hasn’t featured in the finals of the First Grade competition for so long that some of its current players weren’t born when it last happened.  But this year’s side might just change that.  It was something of a surprise when an outright win over St George in Round Seven propelled Parramatta into the top six, but there was no fluke about the team’s very solid win over Manly on Saturday.  Perhaps the most gratifying aspect of Parramatta’s victory was that Nick Bertus failed.  Parramatta has relied so heavily on the left-hander this year (he’s already notched up 722 runs for the club) that it was encouraging to see the rest of the top order stepping up and taking control of the game.  After tidy bowling (led by Scott Copperfield and Brad Taylor) contained Manly to six for 227 (in which opener Ryan Farrell notched a maiden century), Ben Abbott (55 from 28 balls), Brenton Cherry, Will Affleck and Adam Turrell all played so well that Parramatta reached its target with 13 overs to spare.  You could argue that Parramatta has benefited from a soft draw in the first half of the season, but any side that defeats St George and Manly in successive matches needs to be taken seriously.

3   There are no unbeaten sides left in First Grade, but Northern District won’t mind too much

It was a mixed weekend for Northern District, who surrendered its unbeaten record in First Grade but compensated for it by taking out the Kingsgrove Sports Twenty20 title the following day.  Northern District was comprehensively dismantled by Eastern Suburbs on Saturday, a result that would have been even worse but for the remarkable lone hand played by Jonathan Whealing, who contributed an unbeaten 91 to his side’s total of 183.  Sam Robson made the target look paltry, blasting 100 not out from 97 balls, with 8 fours and 4 sixes; his second-wicket stand of 130 with Simon Chu occupied only 65 minutes.  It wasn’t the best preparation for T20 finals day for NDs, but they had Daniel Hughes back in the side for Sunday, and he made a crucial difference, striking 64 in the preliminary final against Parramatta and 82 from 62 balls in the final against Mosman.  Chasing 154, Mosman looked out of the running when it lost its fifth wicket at 84 with only eight overs remaining, but Johan Botha produced another spectacular effort, thrashing 81 from 55 balls.  The last ball of the game was a showdown between Botha – who needed four to win the match – and regular Second Grade opening bowler Ross Pawson.  Pawson, who has played in the Riverina and Canberra, has done nothing exciting in Seconds this year, and had allowed 32 runs from his first 23 deliveries in the final.  But his last ball of the night was fast and straight and beat Botha’s hopeful swipe to shatter the stumps.  Botha’s performances in the competition were epic, but Northern District thoroughly deserved to win the first trophy of the season.

4   St George is never beaten until the last ball

For 99 overs, Campbelltown-Camden did almost nothing wrong in its match against St George at Bowral’s Bradman Oval.  They batted first, consistent opener Aaron Yabsley posted a solid 93, Jack Preddey and Jason Colliss accelerated nicely towards the end of the innings, and the eventual total of five for 297 was a very good one.  Then Jaydyn Simmons removed Nick Watkins and Stewart McCabe in his first three overs to reduce St George to two for 18.  Nick Stapleton (96), Jonathan Rose (74) and Luke Bartier (50) kept St George in the hunt, but it was always an over or two behind the required run rate after Monty Panesar produced his most effective spell of the season to date, taking 3-44 from his ten overs.  At the start of the 49th over of the innings, St George needed 30 runs with two wickets in hand.  Nathan Ellis swiped Luke Webb’s second ball over the fence, and then took a single, so the equation was 23 runs from nine balls with four wickets standing.  Left-armer Webb sent down a wide, but then removed Bartier and Harry Finch with successive balls.  Ellis was on strike for Simmons’ last over, with 22 still needed.  Simmons’ first ball was a no-ball; Ellis smashed each of the next three over the fence and, to make matters worse, the fourth delivery was a no-ball as well.  Ellis took a single from the fifth ball of the over to level the scores, and Matthew Lacey scampered a leg bye from the next delivery to give St George the most unlikely of victories with just one ball to spare.

5   Bankstown has put together a useful attack

Historically, there’s nothing unusual about Bankstown fielding a first-class pace attack: quite apart from being the home of the fiercest grade attack ever (Thomson and Pascoe on uncovered pitches in the days before helmets), in more recent years the club has been home to the likes of Nathan Bracken, Aaron Bird and Scott Thompson.  But it’s never had an attack quite like the one it fielded on Saturday, with three first-class bowlers of very varied pedigrees.  Mitch Claydon began his career with Campbelltown many years ago, but has qualified as an English player and carved out a successful career in the County Championship with Yorkshire, Durham and Kent.  He’s now in his first stint with Bankstown.  Nathan McAndrew has been a Bankstown mainstay for four and a half seasons, taking over 150 First Grade wickets, but he actually broke into first-class cricket last season in New Zealand, playing three games for Auckland.  And on Saturday, Claydon and McAndrew were joined by Sydney Thunder player Alister McDermott, who was making a guest appearance for Bankstown.  McDermott, son of Test bowler Craig, was only 18 when he made his first-class debut for Queensland in 2009-10, and he took 75 wickets in 20 first-class games.  Although he lost his State contract at the end of 2014-15, he’s still only 25 and, as he showed on Saturday, still has the potential to resume a first-class career.  At first, Penrith seemed untroubled by Bankstown’s new pace attack, hammering 47 without loss from the first six overs of the innings, but Claydon showed the value of his experience, McAndrew struck twice, and McDermott bowled beautifully to take 3-27 from his ten overs.  Penrith subsided to 130 all out in the 40th over and Bankstown made short work of the chase.  Bankstown’s conclusive victory gave it second place on the table, equal with Northern District on points but slightly behind on quotient.