Round 11 Review

1st Grade:

Blacktown 10/356 (A Lilley 77, J Fawcett 60, D Crawford 48, D Holloway 3/44, T Ley 3/72) Defeated by Sydney University 5/357 (G Mail 106*, E Cowan 79, D Mortimer 59, D Singh 2/66)

With temperatures, approximately 10 degrees warmer than last week Nick Larkin’s decision to bowl day one seemed a stroke of genius. With Joe McAleer looking as hard and as fast as ever, Nick and Ed Cowan quickly took control of the match. After their 6 hour, 330 run partnership on Monday in NSW Futures League game, you could forgive these two for being sick of each other’s company.  However, with ease they posted their 3rd 100 run opening stand for the students this year before Nick was run out for 42 perhaps they were sick of each other’s company after all. Ed continued his imperious form, before he was eventually dismissed for 79. Ryan Carters followed soon after and the game was back in the balance at 3/145. 

However, the odd couple of Damien Mortimer and Greg Mail joined forces and posted the second 100 run stand of the innings as Morts notched his 6th score over 50 for the year. Damien was dismissed for 59, bringing Ashton May to the crease at 4/246.  Ashton and Greg preceded to post the third significant stand of the day before Ashton fell 3 short of yet another 100-run partnership. Greg and Ashton where exceptional, taking total control and refusing to allow Blacktown a sniff.  Maily does what he does best, posting another first grade hundred (his 44th) finishing unbeaten on 106 as we passed Blacktown’s 356 with overs to spare. 

It was a truly impressive chase and further cemented our position as ladder leaders after 11 rounds. 

1st Grade Limited Overs Quarter-Final:

Penrith 10/165 (J Sammut 30, R Gibson 26, D Malone 6/36, T Rogers 3/28) Defeated Sydney University 10/136 (A May 36, J Lalor 3/30, J Wholohan 2/18)

After cruising through the rounds unbeaten the students arrived full of confidence for the qualifying final of the Limited Overs cup. 

Tommy Rogers got us off to the perfect start claiming a wicket in his first over, before a fifty run partnership from Gibson and Hackney.  Enter Deadly Devlin.  Devlin tore through the Penrith batting line up with variation and deception. After his first over went for 16, Devlin claimed 6/20 from his remaining nine overs. Penrith were in trouble at 7/109, before a few late partnerships enabled them to post a defendable total of 165.

With eight runs scored before a legal delivery bowled in the chase, the Uni boys appeared to be in the box seat.  However after a ferocious bumper from Lalor to Carters followed by an outstanding piece of fielding by Ryan Hackney to run out Damien Mortimer, the Uni boys were in trouble at 2/31. Unfortunately, wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and when Liam Robertson joined Ashton May the score sat at 4/53.  These two combined well and did their upmost to restore the chase as they added 50 odd before Robbo was run out from yet another athletic display from the Penrith fielders. 

Throughout our chase we were unable to ever take the game forward as the Penrith spinners bowled with exceptional control supported by an outstanding effort in the field.  Ultimately we fell thirty runs short in a rather disappointing display with the bat.   

2nd Grade: 

Blacktown 89 (G McCartin 23, J Craig-Dobson 4/33, L Neil-Smith 2/7) Sydney University 3/87 (B Trevor-Jones 34, N Craze 19)

Resuming the day needing just 3 runs to secure the 6 points, Nicky Craze and Ben Trevor-Jones quickly ticked over Blacktown’s 89 as the students then pressed on in an attempt to claim ten points.  Nicky, fresh from a week’s sabbatical in Perth, posted his highest score for Sydney Uni in second grade with an entertaining 58. The students were eventually dismissed after trying to up the ante with a lead of 110.  

Uni quicks, Lawrence Neil-Smith and Dugald Holloway had the openers in trouble early, however it quickly became apparent that the ten points was out of reach as Blacktown cruised to an unbeaten 100 run partnership.  On the break of tea, with Blacktown 2/170 uni had conceded the possibility of ten points however with the Blacktown opener unbeaten on 83, the decision was made to retake the field.  Dugald, clearly wanting to finish the day bumped the opener until he eventually skied one for a well taken catch by Ben Larkin.  Both sides happily agreed to end the day there, with the students claiming the 6 points and moving closer to a finals berth. 

3rd Grade:

Blacktown 10/142 (G Ganeshkumar 37, A Titterton 35, H Clark 3/23, R Kurtz 2/25, J Kershaw 2/30) Defeated by Sydney University 7/228 (T Kierath 103, K Jacobs 76)

The boys returned to Whalan for week 2 confident of continuing a winning run with a tick over 100 needed and 9 wickets in the hutch.

The fire in the thermometer was matched on the Nash field as 'Young' were once again handed an education, this time of the rule book as 'Old' exploited several little known rules to take the chocolates.

The sweaty conditions meant the lower order had their feet firmly up, taking refuge in the limited shade hopeful of a strong chase. They weren't disappointed as the 2nd wicket partnership of Kierath and Jacob put on a clinic adding 170 to see us over the line and give us a sneak look at an outright.

Images of a largely lifeless opening batsmen on the shower floor at tea foreshadowed the possibility of a new member in the exclusive 'Retired Cooked' club, but two hearty plates of tea meant TK forged on.

Some lusty hitting post tea allowed the Hail Mary play for 10 points but unfortunately a decrease in skin folds and morale was the only reward for the short stint in the oppressive fielding conditions.

We are back to Fortress Paul's next week, welcoming the Two-Blues in search of an 8th straight win.

4th Grade:

Blacktown 10/236 (A Gater 57, Y Sharma 33) defeated by Sydney University 9/239 (N Fitzgerald 72, R Kurtz 47*)

Returning to St Paul's oval to chase 236 for the win, 4th grade started the day in similar fashion to the week prior, with the nuffies comprehensively beating the self-proclaimed Julios. 

Losing a few early wickets had the students in trouble early, until Nick Fitzgerald joined Jack Hill on return after a 5 week American circuit to steady the ship.  Hilly showed his class in a fluent 37 while Nick harked back to the early 2010s with an impressive 72. A bit of a bumpy period post tea had us 9 down, bringing Ryan Kurtz and Angus Cusack to the crease. Following captain AJ Grant's regular and loud advice of "take your time" and "take it deep", the pair put on 45 runs for the 9th wicket partnership. With scores tired a slight mistake from the otherwise flawless Kurtz saw him chip one to straight midwicket only to be gifted a life.  Two balls later Ryan relished in punishing a short ball from the Blacktown spinner over midwicket to secure an incredible victory and his highest score for the club 47*. This places 4th grade in equal 5th place, only a point behind 4th.

5th Grade:

Sydney University 10/196 (S Murthy 46, C Lorenzato 44, B Frost 33, M Harris 32, H Rauf 4/37) Defeated by Blacktown 8/197 (M Brinnand 44, H Khan 36, C Slater 3/46, N Yoganand 2/49)

An incredible disappointing result for fifth grade on Saturday.  After a relatively strong performance last week on a tough deck and slow outfield the boys arrived for day two pumped and ready to go. 

Connor Slater broke through first on day two and bowled with exceptional control and spun the ball sharply.  A run out and then successive wickets to Connor and Sameer had the students on top, Blacktown 6/109. Natesh chimed in and grabbed the 7th as Blacktown went into tea struggling at 7/116. 

Momentum was with the students, however the heat seemed to sap our energy as we allowed the Blacktown 8th wicket partnership to get on top of us, as their number 9 posted an aggressive 44.  Eventually Connor dismissed him as well and at 8/166 there was still hopes we could reign in the 6 points.  However we were unable to make any further breakthroughs as they chased our 196 8 down in the 79th over.

 Overall a disappointing result, but a good lesson to our young players on the importance of pressing home the advantage and not allowing your opponents back into the game when you’ve got them on the ropes.

Metro Cup

Sydney University 8dec 315 (H Farrow 108, M Miles 49, B Kayani 34, S Blundell 4/122) Defeated Mosman 10/67 & 10/132 by an innings at 115 runs.

Day 2 at Balmoral served up an improvement on the already picturesque weather and saw a larger than average crowd gather to watch a lower grade cricket game. Almost as hard to spot a blade of grass on the wicket as it was to find a cloud in the sky. The 'olds' team regained their control of the Nash area with a blistering victory, despite a consolation run-through on the call of last play. Islam's goalkeeping ability put under intense scrutiny as he failed to even attempt defensive action on the rogue runner.

Resuming the day at 3/12 Mosman were put under immediate pressure after Jono Phoebus and Murray Miles combined well to take two wickets in their opening spell. The wicket betraying its softer underneath as Miles struggled to gain grip behind the crease. 2 wickets in the first Ethan Clout over had the home side reeling at 7/38. Some late hitting padded the score but in the end tight fielding produced the runout to end Mosman's innings at 67.

Asking the Mosman's captain to put the pads back on injected new life into the batting team as they went about dispatching the Kookaburra to the boundary. 22 runs off the first two overs on a wicket that had dried out considerably since the morning session made the quest for 10 points look much harder to complete. But the big swinging ploy brought about the opportunity for wickets and Miles and Phoebus obliged seeing the score to 3/31 at the tea break. All three wickets hitting the top of middle stump.

The introduction of spin to the dried out wicket made survival increasingly difficult for the batsman. Debut century maker Hugh Farrow opened his wicket taking account but the hero of the second innings was new found spin bowling prodigy Zohirul Islam. Taking his maiden 5fa for the club Islam spun and bounced his way around Mosman's defences until victory was achieved.

Bowling the Whales out for 132 in the second innings (and an overall lead of 115) was a strong victory gaining valuable points in the campaign towards finals. The students now move into the top 4 and journey to Kensington to play 5th placed Randwick-Petersham.

Larkin earns a Shield recall

Sydney University captain, Nick Larkin, has been named in the New South Wales twelve to play Victoria at the MCG in the Sheffield Shield match starting on Wednesday.

It's a vital match for the Blues, who are in fourth place on the table on 20.95 points and need to win to stay in touch with leaders Victoria (35.69) and South Australia (29.63). 

If he's selected in the final eleven, it will be Larkin's sixth first-class match for New South Wales.  He has earned his selection through the sheer weight of his scoring - so far this season, he has 918 runs for University at an average of 70.62, as well as 521 runs at 104.20 in the Futures League.  He has already hit three double centuries this season, one for University and two for NSW in the Futures League.  Also named in the New South Wales side was University's Ed Cowan, who last week hit 157 in the Futures League match against Victoria and 79 in First Grade's win over Blacktown.

Milestones Monday

Before the Futures League existed, there was an earlier, similar, competition known as the Cricket Australia Cup.  In that competition, back in 2008-09, Usman Khawaja scored double-centuries in two consecutive innings.  Last week’s Futures League match was noteworthy mostly for the fact that Nick Larkin scored his second successive double-century in the competition, matching Khawaja’s effort – but the striking thing about it was that Ed Cowan, who scored 157 himself, played in all four of the matches in which Khawaja and Larkin hit their double-centuries.

Nick Larkin’s 212 against Victoria was his highest score, and fifth century, in the Futures League.  In Futures League matches this season, Nick has 521 runs at 104.20. 

Ed Cowan’s appearance against Victoria was only his second Futures League match, although between 2002-03 and 2008-09 he played a few matches for New South Wales in the earlier versions of the competition, known as the Australian Cricket Board Cup and later the Cricket Australia Cup.  His 157, scored in an opening stand of 337 with Nick Larkin, was his first Futures League century.

Greg Mail extended several of his own records on the weekend, including the most centuries in a First Grade career (his match-winning 107 not out against Blacktown was his 44th); the most First Grade centuries for Sydney University (31); the most runs in a First Grade career (15,145) and the most First Grade runs for Sydney University (10,150). 

Tom Kierath hit his first Third Grade century in the match against Blacktown, and in the process passed 5000 runs for the club.  He has become the 22nd player to score 5000 runs for the Club, and none of those players has taken as many wickets as he has (currently 465).  Three other players (Greg Mail, Ian Moran and Ash Cowan) have scored more than 5000 runs for the Club and taken over 100 wickets; Mail has 221 wickets, while Moran took 337.

Nicky Craze’s 58 against Blacktown was his fifth half-century in Second Grade, but his first for Sydney University in that grade.

Kevin Jacob, with 76 in Third Grade against Blacktown, hit his highest score for the Club.

Nick Fitzgerald, with 72 against Blacktown in Fourth Grade, hit his highest score for the Club.

Ryan Kurtz’s match-winning 47 not out in Fourths against Blacktown was his highest score for the Club.

ROUND 11 DAY 1 REPORT AGAINST BLACKTOWN

1st Grade:

Blacktown 10/356 (A Lilley 77, J Fawcett 60, D Crawford 48, D Holloway 3/44, T Ley 3/72)

Trips west to play Blacktown have been memorable over the years. Flat, hard pitches and brutal conditions seem to draw out the strange and humorous. Greg Matthews once turned up with a live chicken, purchased at a roadside stall on the way out.  Ed Cowan has been lost and late, too far from Anzac Parade, more times than I can remember and SBS News once arrived for a ‘heatwave in the west’ story and found a willing interview participant, Hector Paskal.  When Saturday morning presented a well grassed pitch and a temperature ten degrees cooler than ‘normal,’ skipper Nick Larkin chose to field first.

The game itself had an odd rhythm to it, it felt like we were playing in a highlights package. We were unable to get enough balls in the right area early on, and the Blacktown batsmen responded with an attacking mindset. Thankfully they made enough mistakes too, wickets fell steadily enough to keep thoughts of bowling them out around tea in our minds. It wasn’t to be, a counter attacking hand from their no 7 taking the score toward 350 and the time toward (a late) stumps.

Tim Ley (22-3-3-72) was consistent and the pick of the bowlers, Tim Rogers (20-5-2-81) threatened to crack them open during a hostile old ball spell, Joy (15-3-2-53) did his best Moran impression (bowled well without luck) and Dugald (8.3-0-3-44) returned late to swing the second new ball to good effect. Our catching was at best scratchy and we will need to be close to our best next week to bring the points home.

2nd Grade: 

Blacktown 89 (G McCartin 23, J Craig-Dobson 4/33, L Neil-Smith 2/7) Sydney University 3/87 (B Trevor-Jones 34, N Craze 19)

The 2’s boys arrived on a hot and sweaty day after dropping the ball in the past two games, this was the game we needed to stand up. Will Hay stepped up in Dave Miller’s absence as captain. A fast and aggressive game of Nash saw the Old team go on to win with the extra man, a great physical start to the day to get the team ready for a big game ahead. The wicket looking hard with a fair bit of live grass on the top, being a good toss to lose the boys from Blacktown sent the Uni boys out to field.

Young Lawrence Neil-Smith to start us off with the ball from the grandstand end, sending them down at a serious pace. When the first wicket was taken by Lawrence there was a small collapse and Jono Craig-Dibbley-Dobson stole the show taking two quick wickets and even knocking a stump out of the ground! Great pace from the man known as School zone.

The ball seaming around in the first hour, Blacktown found themselves at 4-37 at drinks.

With Big Dugald being promoted up to 1st Grade, it brought up Lewis McMahon after finding some form with the ball over the last month or so. Lewis teamed up with Jack Holloway to keep us well in the game taking us past lunch into the next drinks break with some strong overs while the boys from Blacktown weren’t getting too far with the bat, the Uni boys staying well on top. After Dobson took his 4th wicket for the game bringing, ex-international test cricketer Corey Collymore at the age of 39. Collymore was eventually dismissed by Whitaker to bowl Blacktown out for 90.

Hay and James Larkin were to start us off with the bat. We lost Hay early in the innings, bringing in the keeper-bat Trevor-Jones who batted through the rest of the afternoon with young Nicky Craze after Larkin was dismissed for 17. The students to finish the day at 2-87. Going in to next weekend in a strong position hopeful for the outright win!

3rd Grade:

Blacktown 10/142 (G Ganeshkumar 37, A Titterton 35, H Clark 3/23, R Kurtz 2/25, J Kershaw 2/30) Sydney University 1/40 (K Jacobs 21, T Kierath 15, B Kannan 1/13).

3s boys arrived at Whalen looking to make it 7 wins in a row.  Tom Kierath was overjoyed with the soft green deck that confronted the students and his mood didn’t improve after a subpar Nash performance from the olds to lose in a very dubious 3 all draw (Ash Cowan used all his cheating ability to ensure the game ended in a draw).  Thankfully however Ash won the toss and asked the hosts to have a bat. With the opening pair of Kershaw and Toyer the students were ready to rip through the Blacktown top order.  Kershaw grabbed the edge in his second over and Toyer’s first three overs were maidens, as Blacktown crawled along to 1/3 in the 6th over.  Despite the bowler friendly conditions the hosts top order left well and managed to get through the first ten overs with the loss of just 1 wicket. However Clark Henry was able to get his first ball on the stumps and the Blacktown batsman, totally confused by what had transpired, forgot to hit the ball as it crashed into his toe in front of middle.   Clark grabbed the 3rd a few overs later with a sharp catch to Shaw at first slip, and Ash Cowan joined in getting the batsman to hit one straight to mid-on for a good catch to Nick Arnold.  Blacktown were now reeling at 4/21.

A few decent partnerships through the middle order and some lack luster fielding from the students saw Blacktown push towards the 100. Ryan Danne was the pick of the bowlers throughout the middle session regularly beating the bat, getting through his 8 overs and going for just 9 runs.  After the Tea break Joe Kershaw wound back the clock and decided to bounce the Blacktown Batsman out, however despite several close chances was unable to do so. Clark was brought back into the attack with immediate results, grabbing the top edge from a pull stroke caught at fine leg, much to Kershaw’s disgust. Ryan Kurtz, Danne and Kierath combined to clean up the tail ultimately dismissing Blacktown for 142. 

With 18 overs to bat on a still seaming wicket the boys were in for a tough time.  Losing Danne early had the students against the wall at 1/6 however Kevin Jacob(s) joined Kierath and the two of them batted with excellent control and maturity ensuring the scoreboard slowly ticked over ending the days play at 1/40.  Overall a good performance from the 3s boys and hopefully can rock up next week and get the job done.   

4th Grade:

Blacktown 10/236 (A Gater 57, Y Sharma 33)

The 4s boys arrived to Paul’s with a bit of a roll on from the previous two wins and were tasked with the challenge of a momentum gathering Blacktown outfit. Some changes and unavailability had led to a slightly different team sheet but a strong Uni team was assembled yet again.  The wicket looked a belter and all that remained was for the captain to cheat in Nash and win the toss.  Successful in 1 of the 2 requirements, the nuffies grabbed the points in Nash but the dents were subjected to field.  The early signs were good for the uni side with Peek continuing to show his impressive form and the physiotherapist’s best mate, Kieran Tate, coming back from injury buoyed the attack.  Blacktown were required to dig in and apply themselves for the first 20 overs which they negotiated well.  The good batting strip became more and more evident as we approached tea and the sun baked any life from the surface.  Blacktown 2/110ish at tea were well set.  Little be known to the Blacktown side was that the Uni boys were soon to employ a milo Cricket special with the rotation policy applied to have Tommy Galvin bowling (depiste being selected as a batsman and keeper in adjacent fixtures for the weekend).  Tommy in tandem with the quicks set about wrestling SUCC Back into a position that would be considered ahead of the ledger.  Some lusty blows from the tail pulled the match toward parity with the final wicket being taken in the 79th and the score settled at 236. 

Good toil from the team and strong rewards to Peeky and Galvs both grabbing 4 on a batting friendly day.  Disciplined Batting next week should hope to return a well-earned 6 points to the students.

5th Grade:

Sydney University 10/196 (S Murthy 46, C Lorenzato 44, B Frost 33, M Harris 32, H Rauf 4/37)

After getting the win last round, 5s were keen to continue their momentum. Thankfully, we arrived at Whalen and the 150m boundaries had been roped in a good 20/30 metres, however they seemed to have balanced the smaller boundaries with a raging green seamer.  After being sent in to bat, we struggled early getting to 4/53, however Christian Lorenzato batted with control and maturity for a solid 44 before being dismissed.  Brodie Frost and Skipper Mike Harris (32*) joined each other and proceeded to add 50 before Brodie departed for an aggressive 33.  Mikey was joined by Sameer who posted his highest score for the club with a powerful 46 helping the students to post 196 off 64 overs.

With time for 13 overs in the days play, the students set about making early inroads and Brodie Frost didn’t disappoint bowling with great pace and aggression dismissing the Blacktown opening bat for just 4 to finish the day with figures of 1/6 off 7.  Brodie was well supported by Natesh Yoganand who claimed the other opener in his spell of 1/6 off 4.  Blacktown ended the day at 2/22 with the students requiring a further 8 wickets for victory.   

Metro Cup

Sydney University 8dec 315 (H Farrow 108, M Miles 49) Mosman 3/12 (R Miles 2/6)

Arriving to sunny Balmoral the students had eyes on a big score and were not disappointed when the toss was won and the pads put on. However, a two paced wicket was the undoing of most of the top order as they were out caught playing across the line. Debutant Hugh Farrow steadied the ship with Tim Fitzgerald and Ethan Clout before going on to post his first century for the club. Murray Miles was on track for his second 50 in a row but ran himself out on 49 in an attempt to sneak Farrow to his milestone.

Declaring at 9/314 the bowlers set their sights on early breakthroughs in the final 9 overs of play. The two Miles brothers combined to take 3 wickets with Russell claiming two scalps in his first over. The early introduction of spin tested the second night watchman's footwork, however, no more wickets fell and the day ended with Mosman on 3/12.

PGs

Eastern Suburbs 10/137 (W Lawrance 44, J Remond 33, L Neil-Smith 3/18, J Craig-Dobson 3/22) Defeated by Sydney University 9/138 (R Danne 44, K Jacob 26, W Simpson 3/39, J Pattison 2/23). 

PG's had a nail biter win against Eastern Suburbs to finish 5th on the table securing a spot into the finals. The students had their first chase of the campaign after they bowled the low placed opposition out for 137 after 42 overs. The leaders of the attack were young gun Lawrence Neil-Smith (3-18) and Jono Craig-Dobson (3-22) both very economical of their 10 overs. Combing with spearhead Dugald Holloway (2-19) and Ryan Danne (1-23) saw uni blasting through easts containing them to a below par score on what seemed like another good no.1 deck. PG's bully Hayden Kerr blasted a quick fire 15 in the first overs before being dismissed followed by Kevin Jacob (26) and Ryan Danne (44) having the side 1 for 70 seeming to be cruising to the target. However ex-student Jonte Pattison and St Paul's college boy Jack Remond had other plans both taking a handful of wickets and a clinical run out saw the Dents 7 down with 14 runs remaining. another 2 wickets fell leaving Kieran Tate and Liam Whitikar to score the final 7 runs.

But the class of Tate and solid defence of Liam helped see Uni pass the total in the 43rd over. A good win leaving the students with a 5 game winning streak heading into the finals learning many lessons along the way. The boys now face Parramatta at Old Kings Oval in the qualifying final on February 19th. 

Milestones Monday

In the Metropolitan Cup match against Mosman, Hugh Farrow scored 108 in his first appearance for the Club.  Hugh has become only the 13th player to score a century on his Sydney University debut.

The Poidevin-Gray team's unnecessarily close win over Eastern Suburbs on Sunday carried the side into the finals of the competition for the first time since 2010-11 (when University, under Nick Larkin, won the competition).  The qualifying final will be played against Parramatta on 19 February.

Jono Craig-Dobson's 4-33 against Blacktown was his best bowling analysis in Second Grade.

Lawrence Neil-Smith improved on two career-best performances in as many days on the weekend: his 2-7 against Blacktown (from 12 overs) was his best effort in Second Grade, and his 3-18 against Eastern Suburbs was his best return in Poidevin-Gray.

During his dogged 32 not out in Fifth Grade, Mike Harris reached 1000 runs for the Club.

And finally, on milestone-watch: Tom Kierath is not out on 15 overnight in Third Grade, which gives him 4996 runs for the Club.  Just saying.  No pressure.

You might not remember... the unusual career of Alan Jakes

As a student - and later a teacher - of history, Alan Jakes understands that most things that happen have happened before, or will happen again.  Sydney University Cricket Club’s record books are full of records that are ripe to be broken.  Very few of them, no matter how impressive, will survive for very long.

But this one will. 

Never again, in these days of flat, covered pitches and massive bats, will a bowler play for nearly ten years, take nearly 300 wickets, and pay just eleven runs for each of them.

Between 1964 and 1973, Alan Jakes played only five full seasons for Sydney University, but he gathered 295 wickets at the ridiculously low average of 11.22.  Actually, he took a few more wickets than that – record-keeping being a fairly haphazard affair in the 1960s, he played several game in Thirds in which he enjoyed some success, but for which his bowling figures haven’t survived. 

And he did it after starting his career, after graduation, as a batsman in Fourth Grade.  “I did my History Honours degree as a night student”, he recalls.  “I was very busy, but I played a bit of church cricket on the weekend.  When I graduated, I decided to give it a go at University.  I started as a batsman who occasionally bowled, then I became an all-rounder, and then I got to Firsts as a bowler.”

Jakes’ career with the Club followed a peculiar trajectory.  He was graded as a batsman in Fourths in 1964-65, and in nine games there he batted consistently but bowled only 23 overs.  But when he was promoted, his captain in Thirds spotted his potential with the ball, and by the start of his second season, he was taking the new ball in Third Grade.  In 1965-66, he won the trophy for the Club’s leading wicket-taker – which he would win on three more occasions – and became a key member of the Second Grade side.  He was tireless, relentlessly accurate and utterly reliable.  “Give him the ball”, John Everett wrote in the annual report, “with instructions to bowl 15 overs, and no captain need worry any more”.  Perhaps his best effort was against Manly, when he followed an unbeaten 42 with 3-10; his 4-37 clinched a victory over Sydney.

These efforts won Jakes a place in the Intervarsity team that visited Melbourne, where he encountered Melbourne University’s Paul Sheahan, who had just won his place in the Victorian Sheffield Shield team.  “We found him rather difficult to dismiss”, Jakes remembers – accurately enough, as Sheahan was undefeated on 175 when Melbourne University declared at six for 406.  A tired Sydney team collapsed meekly and followed on.  An innings defeat seemed inevitable after a second collapse, and two hours play were left in the game when Jakes, batting at nine, joined all-rounder Bill Armstrong.  Armstrong counter-attacked, while Jakes blocked diligently.  After Armstrong was removed for a defiant 85, Jakes and leg-spinner Peter Cross survived the last few overs.  His 19 not out salvaged a draw from the wreckage of the game, and remained the batting performance of which he was most proud during his time at the Club.

Another good performance against Sydney in Seconds (6-57) earned Jakes his First Grade debut, against North Sydney, in December 1966.  He took only one wicket, but it was a good one, Test batsman Barry Shepherd, caught by Graham Dawson.  The following week, Jakes dismissed Gordon’s first three batsmen, including State opener Marshall Rosen, on his way to 3-48.  Clearly, Jakes had the ability to dismiss high-quality batsmen.  It looked as though a promising First Grade career had begun.  But the next match, against Northern District, was Jakes’ last in the top grade.  He had decided to travel overseas, and he played no more cricket for over a year.

“When I came back from overseas”, he says, “I had a lot of demands on my time.  “I wasn’t so serious about playing in the higher grades.  But the Club asked me to come back and play lower down, as captain of Fourth Grade.”  Whoever thought of this, it was an inspired idea.  Fourth Grade played 13 matches in 1969-70, in which Jakes bowled 236 overs (50 of them maidens) to take 76 wickets at an average of 9.77 – a club record which still stands, and is unlikely ever to be broken.  His own account of his success was that “the captain’s sustained impersonations of new ball exponent, medium pace hack and sub-medium off-spinner exposed the gullibility of 76 batsmen.”  More seriously, he reflects that “I had the ability to bowl off-breaks at medium pace, and on any pitch they turned a bit.”  On some of the pitches Fourth Grade played on – which could be primitive and were usually open to the elements – the ball turned much more than a bit and this, combined with his accuracy, made Jakes a deadly proposition.  Seven times, he took five wickets in an innings, with 7-20 against Manly his best performance.  Despite it all, Fourth Grade missed the semi-finals – its batting was so horribly fallible that Jakes, with 227 runs, was the season’s highest scorer. 

Jakes was almost as effective in 1970-71, and in 1971-72, when stepped down as captain to play Fourths under Austin Punch, he was irresistible.  Over the course of the season, he conceded fewer than two runs each eight-ball over, and took a wicket, on average, every 28 deliveries.  His 65 wickets in Fourths cost him only 6.98 runs each – figures that may well have been even better had he not been recalled (successfully) to fill a gap in Seconds.  When North Sydney was bundled out for only 77, Jakes took seven of the wickets for only six runs, setting up an outright victory.  His efforts carried University into the semi-final, where it was caught on a drying pitch and was forced to follow on against Petersham, but a belligerent second innings allowed University to declare and set Petersham a target of 114.  On a pitch that was now blameless, Petersham crashed to eight for 48, but was able to hold on and preserve its win on the first innings.  Jakes’ contribution, in his last match in Fourths, was 4-39 and 4-8.

There were three more matches, in Thirds, in 1972-73: in the last, he took 5-26.  But “I got married in 1972”, Jakes says, “and after that my time was spent elsewhere.  And my knees were starting to sag.”  Jakes had embarked upon a lengthy career as a history teacher in the New South Wales state system, taking posts as the History Master at Epping Boys High, Cronulla High School and then Port Hacking High School.  “I found that the best balance of the intellectual work, and interacting with young people”, he reflects.  “I lectured for a while in the University of NSW Diploma of Education course, teaching history theory, but I found I was happier in schools.”  He served as a popular, highly-regarded and teacher until his retirement.

Grade cricket has changed in all sorts of ways since Jakes played, but here’s one statistic to consider: last year, the leading bowler in Fourth Grade took 30 wickets at an average of 15.  Jakes, one suspects, would have regarded 30 wickets at 15 as five slightly disappointing matches.  Don’t expect to see another player like him any time soon.

PLAYER OF ROUND 10

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 Ryan Carters for his career high 167 in First Grades victory over Sutherland. 

The Nags Head Performance of the Round, goes to Nick Larkin for his 129 also in First Grades victory.

Ryan's flawless 167 came off 229 balls and set the tone for the dominant victory.  Ryan and Nick shared a 222 run partnership and really took the game away from Sutherland.  It is Ryan's first Surjit Player of the round and his second century this season after his 113 in round 6 against Gordon. 

Nick posted his fourth century in First Grade this season, and joined an elite group of Sydney University players to have scored 7000 runs for the club (Greg Mail, Adam Theobald, Ian Moran and Ed Cowan).  Only one player in the clubs history has scored more than 4 centuries in a single first grade season (Jim Bogle, 1918-19) and with five rounds to go Nick may challenge this record.  

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

Ben Joy was exceptionally close to claiming the Nags Performance of the Round with his first five wicket haul in First Grade, claiming 5/53 off his 15 overs. 

Lewis McMahon continued his good form taking 4/26 off 9.3 in Third Grade's victory. 

Josh Toyer was impressive in his comeback game, scoring 49 and taking 2/23 in Fifth Grade's win.