Larkin in form for the Blues

Sydney University captain Nick Larkin dominated the first session of today's Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Queensland at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

After Blues captain Moises Henriques won the toss and chose to bat, Larkin lost his opening partner Daniel Hughes to the last ball of the first over of the match.  When the second NSW wicket fell four balls later, the home side found itself in unexpected trouble at 2 for 2.  showing great maturity and composure,  Larkin rebuilt the innings in company with Kurtis Patterson, with whom he added 156 for the third wicket in unpleasantly hot conditions.  Larkin drove fluently and was merciless whenever the ball drifted on to his pads.  He reached 86 from 138 balls, hitting eleven 4s, before he hit a return catch to Queensland off-spinner Jason Floros, who dived to his right to haul in a one-handed grab.

A short time ago, New South Wales had reached 3 for 167.

PLAYER OF ROUND 12

Voting has been completed for the Sydney Uni Cricket Player of the Round following Round 12 of the McDonald's NSW Premier Cricket competition.

The Surjits Player of the Round goes to Damien Mortimer who scored a match winning 85 from 200 balls in First Grade's victory over Parramatta. 

The Nags Head Performance of the Round is won for the second successive week by Tom Kierath for his 34 and 3/20 off ten in Third Grade's comprehensive victory over Parramatta. 

Damien's 85 was his 7th score over 50 for the year and his second successive two day 50 after his 59 in round 11 against Blacktown.  Damien showed fantastic patience and discipline to battle through an exceptionally difficult early period and combined fantastically well with Ben Trevor-Jones to blunt the energetic Parramatta attack.  

Tom Kierath fresh from an outstanding 100 in round 11 against Blacktown opened the batting again in very difficult circumstances and proceeded to bat Parramatta out of the game.  His 34 set the tone for a perfectly paced and executed one day innings from Third Grade. Then with the ball, Tom was as frugal as ever, going at just two an over from his ten overs and claiming three important wickets.  

There were a handful of other outstanding performances this round:

Ethan Clout dominated with the bat and ball scoring a critical 66* and then claiming two for 13 with the ball in Metro Cup's victory. 

Ben Larkin joined TK at the top of the order in Third Grade and dominated with 64. 

Ayush Mishra tore through Randwick-Petersham's Metro Cup side claiming 4/38. 

Nick Powys set up the thrilling tie in Fifth Grade with an inventive 56. 

Devlin Malone was once again in the wickets claiming 3/47 in First Grade's comprehensive victory over Parramatta. 

Kieran Tate starred in Third Grade taking 3/38 from his allotted ten overs.  

Ryan Holcroft dominated Fourths with 3/26 from his ten overs.

Five Things We Learned From Round 12

1   Sydney University will be playing finals cricket

With three rounds remaining, the one prediction about this season's First Grade finals that we can make with absolute confidence is that Sydney University will take part.  University’s win over Parramatta in Round 12 preserved its place at the head of the ladder on 61 points, 21 clear of seventh-placed Manly.  Mathematically, it’s still theoretically possible for University to miss out: there are, technically, 27 points left to play for (if a team won both two-day games outright and scored a bonus point in the 50-over game in Round 15), so in some conceivable universe either Manly or Parramatta could overhaul University, but it would be a very optimistic punter who took those odds.  University’s match with Parramatta was an attritional affair, with the home side batting through the first day to reach seven for 262 – an unusually slow rate of scoring for this season.  Nick Larkin, Ed Cowan and Ryan Carters were all on Shield duty, and the Parramatta attack bowled through the heat with impressive discipline and commitment.  Ben Martin was especially impressive, moving the ball away on a great line just on or outside off stump, and his six wickets were a fair reward for a lion-hearted display in oppressive conditions.  Medium pacer Trent Crittenden was so tidy that his first seven overs were maidens.  But Damien Mortimer continued his exceptional form this season, constructing an invaluable innings of 85 in nearly three and a half hours, and there were good contributions from Ben Trevor-Jones, Greg Mail (who went past 500 runs for the season for the 17th time in First Grade) and promising newcomer Hayden Kerr.  Parramatta’s reply never really got out of first gear after Ben Joy bowled Brenton Cherry in his first over.  The dangerous Nick Bertus was run out in a catastrophic mix-up, and Devlin Malone then sliced through the middle order, while Ashton May picked up a couple of wickets with his off-breaks.  Despite missing four first-choice players (opening bowler Tom Rogers was also out of the side on Futures League duty), University defeated another top-six side by 166 runs - an ominous performance at this time of year.

2   Outrights make things unpredictable

One reason why it’s unwise to offer too many more predictions about finals places is the prospect that teams might collect outright points in the next two rounds.  Penrith, for example, leap-frogged several other sides into the top six by claiming full points against local rivals Hawkesbury.  Josh Lalor and Ryan Smith set up the result by bundling Hawkesbury out in only 37 overs on the first day; and they shared another eight wickets in the second innings, with Smith taking ten for the match.  Penrith was left to chase 146 at less than five an over, a target that was never in doubt after Johnny DiBartolo hacked 44 from 26 balls, including three sixes.  Penrith’s win didn’t only push First Grade into the top six – the 60 points from the First Grade win also helped the Panthers to snatch the lead in the Club Championship.

3   It’s time to mention Mason Crane again

We tried not to say much about Mason Crane last week because, to be honest, there’s nothing very new to learn about him – he’s already proved this season that he’s one of the more exciting young talents from county cricket to have played in Sydney for some time.  Last weekend, he went in to bat with Gordon five for 140 against Sydney – not the most secure position by any means – and although he only scored 30, he shared a sixth wicket partnership of 82 with Ashley Doolan (whose innings ended, unfortunately, on 99) that enabled Gordon to post the respectable total of 337.  Sydney’s openers then shared a threatening partnership of 80, until Crane broke through by removing Matt Rodgers.  Crane then worked his way through the rest of the innings to take 7-53 – his third bag of seven wickets in as many matches.  Pedantic aside: the SCA has suggested that this matches the feat of Penrith’s Paul Thomas (left-arm orthodox, with a slow, loopy flight) in taking seven wickets in each of three successive innings, but actually Crane’s sequence is 7, 1, 7 and 7, because he bowled in the second innings against Mosman.  It really doesn’t matter: in Gordon’s last three games, Crane has taken 22 wickets while the rest of Gordon’s attack has gathered 11 between them.  It’s his bowling that has kept Gordon near the top of the table, and no doubt the club is in earnest discussions with Hampshire to ensure that he sees out as much of the season as possible before flying home to prepare for the new English season.

4   No matter who plays, Sutherland’s last wicket is hard to shift

It was a low-scoring game.  Northern District scrambled together 196; Sutherland subsided to nine for 133.  To this point, the highest partnership of the game had been the 56 added by Lachlan Ford and Joel Foster for Northern District’s sixth wicket.  Kurt Brockley and Jake Wilson, the regular salvagers of Sutherland’s lower order, were both back in the sheds.  And yet somehow Sutherland found a way to win.  Peter Saroukas, who started the season in Seconds, has been consistently valuable since his promotion to Firsts, scoring handy runs at a good rate.  And Tom Pinson, at number eleven, is one of those tailenders who values his wicket and can play some shots.  Saroukas blazed his way to 67; Pinson faced only 18 balls, but hit six of them to the fence, contributing 25 not out.  In 45 extraordinary minutes, the last wicket added 65, and Sutherland scraped over the line to claim the points.  It was a demoralizing defeat for Northern District: a win would have placed the club inside the top six, but it now sits in ninth place, with very little margin for error remaining in the season.

5   Ash Squire has found his groove

Sydney’s dominant position in the Second Grade competition (the gap to second-placed Gordon is a ridiculous 17 points) is due to a combination of factors, none of which is more important than the performance of its captain, Ash Squire.  Squire has been a fixture on the Sydney grade scene for several years now, and he’s always been a strong competitor, but he’s never enjoyed quite the level of success he has achieved this season.  From 12 games so far, he’s captured 46 wickets at an average just above 11.  On Saturday, he choked Gordon’s innings with a spell of 2-18 from his ten overs, setting up another comfortable Sydney win – a fairly decent economy rate for a leg-spinner.  He’s also contributed handy runs at times, as well as bringing wide experience to his leadership role.  Plenty of players have made important contributions to the success of Sydney’s season so far, but none as important as Squire’s.

TOP TEN TUESDAY

ROUND 12 REPORTS AGAINST PARRAMATTA

1st Grade:

Sydney University 8/296 (D Mortimer 85, H Kerr 42, B Trevor-Jones 41, B Martin 6/89) Defeated Parramatta 10/130 (W Affleck 29, D Malone 3/47, A May 2/5)

On Saturday, the top six won Nashball. Correlation and causation are clearly not the same thing, but neither Larkin nor Cowan were playing.

University won the toss and elected to bat first on a flat, if slightly slower than normal surface at No. 1. The tone for the whole day was set early, the Parramatta bowlers giving little away and the Uni batsmen forced to work hard for their runs. BTJ (41) ground out a platform at the top of the order and Mortimer (85) showed patience and temperament to get us to a competitive total. There were cameos from others, none more impressive than the partnership between Hayden Kerr (41no) and Devlin Malone (34) that frustrated the visitors and pushed us to a very defendable 8/296.  The man with the third highest strike rate in the competition was not needed with the bat.

The man with the third highest batting strike rate in the competition got us away to a great start with the ball, cleverly disguising a threatening delivery as a medium pace half volley. Not satisfied with gifting us one free wicket, Parramatta set about trying to run out their entire top order. The first run out was one of  the more bizarre in recent memory, when the striker appeared to misinterpret his own call of "Yes" and not leave his ground. He then was embroiled in a conversation with his Captain, who by this stage was standing next to him, about who should leave the safety of the crease. Having refused to budge, and run himself out ten minutes later, one suspects he may have another conversation with the skipper after Thursday night's selection meeting.

The bowlers shared the work around in the heat, and we were very happy to finish a little early with the six points.

2nd Grade: 

Sydney University 10/160 (J Kershaw 40, A Shaw 26, J Crowley 20, J Dempsey 2/6, C White 2/19) Defeated by Parramatta 4/161 (T Bar 50, A Talwar 34, J Holloway 1/18, L McMahon 1/27)

In a fixture pitting two sides on the precipice of the top 6 against one another, it was a day to forget for the Students with highlights largely limited to a dominant Old Nash performance.

Stand in Skipper Holloway called incorrectly in what proved to be a decisive toss and we were quickly asked to bat on what was a slightly underprepared wicket. Four early scalps meant we were always behind the game. It was only dogged efforts from Shaw, Crowley and Kershaw which gave us a glimmer of hope, 160 on the board.

The bowling was disciplined but the Parramatta openers watchfully saw off the new ball and with the sun now blazing, conditions for batting were constantly improving. Despite a gutsy effort in the trying fielding conditions, 160 proved not enough as Parramatta knocked off the runs 4 down.

The loss means the last three rounds are must wins if 2s are to stand any chance of finals cricket. 

3rd Grade:

Sydney University 6/227 (B Larkin 64, R Danne 40, T Kierath 34)  Defeated Parramatta 9/192 (H King 54,  Y Brown 43, T Kierath 3/20, K Tate 3/38)

Third grade hosted Parramatta at St. Paul’s with a very experienced side and looked to continue its push towards the minor premiership.

The covers were pulled off to reveal a hard wicket that was a little sticky on top due to the recent humid weather. Parramatta won the toss and elected to bowl.

Tom ‘Two Plates’ Kierath (34) and Ben Larkin (64) were watchful early as they negotiated the new ball conditions with caution, yet were able to keep the scoreboard moving at a steady rate. TK departed to leave Chip to bat with the middle order, playing the anchor role Chip accumulated in typical fashion (the Taree Glide was on show in all of its glory) as others batted around him. Their hard work in the first half of the innings set the platform for some lusty hitting when conditions became more favourable.

Ryan ‘Cougar Patrol’ Danne (40) put on an excellent limited overs batting display, not only by punishing the bad ball to the boundary but also with some smart running between the wickets as he tormented the Parramatta fielders. Ash ‘Beer Mat’ Cowan (23*) and Suda ‘Captain Jack’ Sivapalan (24*) closed out the innings with some rapid running between wickets and Uni finished 6/227. An innings which went completely to plan resulted in Uni taking 80 runs from the last 10 overs.

The mood in the camp at half time was that we may have been a little bit over par but as the wicket was expected to flatten out with a scorching Sydney sun beating down on it we would still have to put in a professional display with the ball. Josh Toyer’bald/devon’ was obviously confident, seen loading a full case of beer into an esky loaded with ice in full view of the dejected Parramatta fielders as they trudged up towards the changerooms.

Kieran Tate (3/38 off 10) and Ryan Danne (1/37 off 10) did the early damage with the ball as their persistent line and length was rewarded, reducing Parramatta to 2/37 off their first 14 overs.

Parramatta then struggled to build partnerships as Kierath (3-20 off 10 with 4 maidens) was relentless with his control and did not give Parra an inch. The seamers were able to rotate from the other end as wickets consistently fell.

Josh Toyer (2-48 off 10) and Tate came back with strong second spells to close the game out as the required rate slipped further and further from Parra’s reach. Sustained pressure from the bowling group never gave Parramatta a sniff of the total as they ended their 50 overs 9/192. It was also an admirable fielding effort given the heat.

A proficient display from the Uni boys whose attention now turns to Randwick Petersham as we strive to extend our winning streak to ten in a row.

4th Grade:

Sydney University 10/157 (H Kermond 34,  V Umbers 32) Defeated by Parramatta 7/158 (R Holcroft 3/26)

Trekking out to parramatta, the 4th grade boys were keen to get a win under their belt for a clean run into finals. The Nash treams were changed up with country expectedly beating the younger and less experienced city. Losing the toss, we were sent into bat on a soft wicket. Some good batting up the top from Brayden Dilley and Vince Umbers, each 30 and some great lower order batting from Angus Cusack with a quick 40, brought the team total to 157.

Some great bowling by Ryan Holcroft, picking up 3 wickets, had Parramatta reeling at 3 for 10, however good batting allowed them to take out the game in the 39th over.  A disappointing loss however with three rounds to go we are still well and truly in finals contention with a massive round against Randwick-Petersham coming this weekend. 

5th Grade:

Sydney University 10/150 (N Powys 56, D Wicks 21, R Padhye 3/38) Tied with Parramatta 10/150 (P Calvert 25, F Chowdhury 20, M Miles 3/35, C Slater 2/22)

After the disappointment of last week, 5s arrived more than ready to make amends, and what ensued was an absolute cracker. 

Losing the toss and asked to bat the students struggled early slumping to 2/12 after losing opener Gillespie for 5 and Day run out for 4.  A few mini partnerships were evident throughout our dig with Danny Wicks and Sameer Murthy top scoring with 21 and 18 respectively throughout the middle order before Nick Powys entered.  Nick showed enormous control, patience and intelligence working the ball around and manipulating the field. Nick combined well with Natesh to put on 53 for the 8th wicket to enable us to post 150. 

Parramatta started strongly quickly progressing to 43 without loss before a great little period saw us claim 4/24 to have Parra 4/67.  Excellent control and entushiasm in the field saw us continue to take wickets at regular intervals with Murray Miles the main destroyer claiming 3/35.  Parramatta lost their 9th needing ten to win and tensions were high.  Paul Calvert was cruising before Sameer Murthy managed to force the mistake with the scores were equal.  After a numerous double checks of the scorebooks, game over scores equal. Tie. 

Metro Cup

Sydney University 8/222 (E Clout 66*, H Rogers 45, T Drace 24*, M Waugh 4/38) Defeated Randwick Petersham Gold 10/218 (D McDonough 63, N Crawford 47, D Sidney 32, A Mishra 4/38)

The Metro students have solidified their position in the top 4 with a tight victory over 5th placed Randwick-Petersham.

Winning the toss yet again the Uni boys strapped on the pads and were immediately in trouble losing a wicket on the first ball of the innings. A small consolidation was undone as 3 quick wickets fell with only 1 run scored between them. At 4/34 in the 9th over Hamish Rogers and Ethan Clout set about resurrecting the innings. Rogers targeted the straight boundary, hitting over the infield for 8 boundaries in his 45. Clout played the anchor and batted through to the 50th for his 66no. His innings combined with some late hitting from Tom Draca (24*) helped lift the total to a defendable but below par 222.

A wicket in the first over was the only positive for the students in a punishing opening session of bowling. Loose width gave the home team too many 4 balls to take advantage of and they eased their way to 1/73. Long term partnerships held against the Uni attack but good defensive bowling through the middle session held the required run rate to 6 for the last 20 overs. With wickets still in hand at 2/101 the batsmen threw caution to the wind in an effort to chase the runs in boundaries. Deceptive changes of pace and length from Ayush Mishra collected 4 more wickets but the home team was still on track to reach our total off the back of their number 4's 63.  At the end of the 48th over with just 5 runs required Clout stepped up again to claim the wicket of their set batsman and all but seal the win for the students. The last wicket fell with 3 balls to spare without another run added to the score.

Another close win under pressure will help our confidence in the lead up to finals. We now travel to play 1st placed Gordon with eyes on securing a home final and continuing our strong 2017 momentum.

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.

Sydney Uni Vets against Scots College Old Boys.

Spare a thought for the men who spent a couple of hours in the field yesterday afternoon.   Our first games for several years on the beautiful Scots Main Oval, with the harbour in the background.  But it wasn’t an afternoon for enjoying the view. 

We had only 10 men due to a late withdrawal due to sickness. Skipper lost the toss and we were asked to bowl first. One player was caught out by the early start.   So we took the field with 9.  Oppressive doesn’t even begin to describe the conditions as we walked onto the field.  With a noticeably younger opposition, there was a possibility it could go badly.  However, 2 early wickets to Smokey, both caught by the first of our 3 stand-in keepers for the day, Stevens, had us on top.  From there the opposition 3 and 4 put on a partnership.  But we changed around our spinners regularly, and fielded manfully, and keep them from getting away.  We didn’t take another wicket until about 30th over, with each of the opposition 3 and 4 out for about 75.  We held a few catches late in the innings, watched a few big hits said over the boundary rope, and did reasonably well to keep Scots to 5-217 from their 35 overs.  Wickets also to Stevens, Smee (playing his first game for the Vets) and Phil Bowman.  Special mention to Nick Bowman, Seb Smee and Alex Hunter, who ran the outfield for much of the afternoon.  Alex dived to save boundaries several times, let nothing past him, and must have lost 5kg.  And refused an offer to bowl late in the innings on the grounds of exhaustion.

In reply Smokey and Stevens opened.   Smokey hit a couple of boundaries in the first few overs then departed.  Stevens and Freeman then consolidated, with runs coming regularly despite quality bowling from one end in particular.  A 6 to Freeman last ball before the first drinks break saw us 1-55 after 12 overs and in the hunt.  Unfortunately the runs slowed for a few overs after the resumption, and then the loss of both Freeman (27) and the Stevens (19) exposed our limited batting line-up.  Umar Hiyatt and Alex Hunter each hit about a dozen, and we limped to 9-125 when the game was ended at the 34 over mark.

Milestones Monday

Ed Cowan was outstanding in New South Wales' Sheffield Shield victory over Victoria in Melbourne during the week.  His 212 was his 23rd first-class century and his second double-century.  It was his highest score for New South Wales and in the course of his innings he passed 6000 runs in Sheffield Shield matches.

During his innings of 35 against Parramatta, Greg Mail passed 500 runs for the season (he now has 506 at 50.60).  This is the 17th occasion on which Greg has scored more than 500 runs in a First Grade season.

Against Parramatta, Hayden Kerr made his first appearance in First Grade outside the Twenty20 competition.  His 42 not out was his highest First Grade score, and he took his first wicket when Ashton May caught Owen Simonsen.

Devlin Malone's 34 against Parramatta was his highest score in First Grade (more than doubling his previous best of 15) and his highest in any grade since he hit two half-centuries in Fifth Grade for Sutherland back in 2013-14. 

Kevin Jacob made his Second Grade debut for the Club.

Angus Cusack's 40 against Parramatta was his highest score for the Club.

Nicholas Powys, whose 56 was a vital innings in Fifth Grade, hit his first half-century for the Club.

Murray Miles, with 3-35 against Parramatta, returned his best bowling figures in Fifth Grade.

In Metropolitan Cup, Ayush Mishra's match-winning 4-38 against Randwick-Petersham was his career-best effort with the ball for the Club.

Ethan Clout, who scored 66 not out against Randwick-Petersham in Metropolitan Cup, hit his highest score and first half-century for the Club.

Cowan dominates in Melbourne: update

Equally untroubled by the the Dukes ball (being used in Shield matches for the first time) and the bowlers who propelled it, Ed Cowan scored an unbeaten 134 yesterday to guide New South Wales to a first innings lead over Victoria at the MCG.

Cowan came to the crease after the departure of Nick Larkin, who played confidently and comfortably until his dismissal for 11.  Daniel Hughes was dismissed in the following over, leaving NSW in trouble at 2-17.  But Cowan was immediately into his stride, driving the fourth ball he received back past the bowler, Jake Reed, for four.  He batted through the rest of the day, defending securely and playing shots all around the wicket.  Against the faster bowers he drove fluently and cut strongly; he used his feet to knock left-arm spinner Jon Holland off his length, and he successfully negotiated a spell of leg spin from Victorian captain Cameron White, whose bowling was described by one knowledgeable onlooker as "OK, but nothing earth-shattering".  He added 141 for the third wicket with Kurtis Patterson, and 92 for the fourth wicket with Moises Henriques.  A pull for two from the bowling of Evan Gulbis gave Cowan his 23rd first-class century and by stumps he had reached his highest score for New South Wales. He reached his century from 202 deliveries - altogether, he has faced 267 balls and hit 14 fours.

Update: After batting through the whole of the first session (in which he extended his partnership with Peter Nevill to 180 from 45.1 overs), Cowan drove Jon Holland for a single in the first over after lunch to reach his first double-century for NSW and the second of his first-class career.  He also passed 6000 career runs in the Sheffield Shield during the morning session.