The dates of Sydney University Cricket Club 2023/24 Green Shield Trials are:
Sunday 26th March - 9am-12pm
Sunday 30th April - 9am-12pm
Due to the overwhelming amount of responses, registrations for the Trials are now closed.
Invitations will be sent to successful applicants.
Wednesday February 01 2023, 8.00pm GMT, The Times
Strauss said dressing-room culture in men’s cricket will need to be softened to a culture that is more tolerant, understanding, and welcoming
Sir Andrew Strauss has called for an end to the dressing-room “macho banter” which he believes can sometimes “verge on bullying”.
Strauss, delivering the 21st Cowdrey “spirit of cricket” lecture in front of MCC members and invited guests at Lord’s last night, focused on the changing face of the cricket world and his belief that a shift in culture is needed.
“The spirit of cricket needs to accompany modern players, and I am speaking primarily about the men’s game now, into an area that neither the prying eyes of the media or the feverish adulation of the fans penetrates — the dressing room,” Strauss, the former England captain and ECB director of men’s cricket said.
“As we move forward together as a game with players of different genders, races, creed and beliefs coming together, so the traditional macho, hierarchical, perhaps at times verging on ‘bullying’ dressing-room banter will need to be softened to a culture that is more tolerant, understanding, welcoming and embracing of difference.
“The events over the last 18 months, whether they come from Yorkshire or elsewhere, have shown we have a lot of work to do in this area, but the Spirit of Cricket demands this. From a players’ point of view there will clearly need to be an awareness that the world is watching every move that they make in a way that was never the case previously, both on and off the pitch. With more opportunities and rewards comes more scrutiny and intrusion.
“While in the past players might have been able to swallow the odd invisible pill, these days they are likely to be in short supply. In addition, the best players, wherever they hail from, will have to weigh up their own personal aims and ambitions alongside their loyalty to their own countries and formative teams. This may lead to some hard soul-searching, but in the name of the spirit of the game, it must be done.”
Strauss was speaking 15 months after Azeem Rafiq’s first appearance in front of a Parliamentary select committee in which he made allegations about racism at Yorkshire, prompting plenty of fall-out on how to make the game more inclusive.
Strauss’s words came as the English game is braced for some damning revelations about its lack of inclusiveness in an independent report, due in a few weeks’ time, which has taken evidence from more than 4,000 people and is likely to highlight issues around misogyny, racism and class discrimination within the game.
The continuing rise of the women’s game is part of a shift in culture and expectations, Strauss contends, with the launch of the women’s Indian Premier League in March signalling another seismic shift in the cricketing landscape
“As for the women’s game, the rate of growth will just accelerate” he said. “The first IPL franchises have just been sold for an earth-shattering sum of £465 million pounds. Women’s cricket is truly standing on its own two feet and is likely to be in the top three sports for earning potential for any young girl with talent and an ambition to play sport professionally.”
Within his lecture was an acknowledgement that the game is changing more rapidly than ever and, though that will lead to some angst among traditionalists, the power within the game has now shifted from the boardrooms to the fan.
“In the past, it could be argued that certain interests, whether they lie in this room, or in the corridors of the ECB and other national governing bodies, or on the boundary edges of the county grounds, took precedence over others,” he said. “This is no longer the case. No one, not even the BCCI, controls the game anymore.
“There are too many people involved, too many variables, too much disruption and chaos for anyone to be pulling all the strings. In a sense, the game has democratised. While this is confronting and perhaps difficult to hear for some, I feel like we should be rejoicing in this fact. The game now has both more freedom and more levers available to allow it to fulfil its purpose than ever before. There is genuine choice for players, spectators and followers alike. The future direction of the sport will be decided not in the meeting halls of the ICC in Dubai but rather by the purchasing power of the increasing number of those who choose to follow the game.”
At least two of our former players were honoured in the latest Australia Day Honours List:
Professor Matthew Colless AO.
Professor Colless played for SUCC 1979-1983. He was honoured for his services to scientific research, astronomy, astrophysics and professional societies
Mr Graham Edward Reed OAM played for SUCC 1954-1957. Blue for cricket 1954. 1st Grade cap no402. 588 runs in 1st Grade. Also played for Nth District and Mosman. 1st Grade umpire. 1st class umpire. He was honoured for his services to cricket.
In addition:
Peter Richard Kierath OAM, father of former SUCC player and current board member Tom Kierath, was honoured for service to the community of Narromine.
Marshall Rosen OAM of Gordon and NSW was honoured for services to cricket.
Arthur Watson OAM a long serving umpire in Sydney was honoured for services to cricket.
James Rodgers
It was the first week of February 1972, the thirteenth round of the 1971-72 season, when Sydney University welcomed Bankstown for a one-day match at University Oval. Both sides were sitting in the middle of the First Grade table, each with five wins, each needing to win their last three games to have any chance of reaching the finals.
Both captains – Ian Fisher and Dion Bourne – were enjoying successful seasons with the bat: they were running joint second (behind Gordon spinner Dick Guy) in the First Grade best-and-fairest competition. Trailing just behind them were Doug Walters, Dave Colley, Ian Davis, Dave Renneberg and Jeff Thomson, all of whom had played Test cricket, or soon would.
But it rained.
Ian Fisher: It was extremely wet, and we had uncovered wickets…
Peter James: This was pre-covered wicket days.
Bruce Collins: The wicket was fairly fruity. But the footholds were good and firm, so the bowlers weren’t handicapped.
Play began late. The teams were lucky to get on at all: that day, four other First Grade matches were washed out altogether. But umpires Bitel and Davies decided that the ground was dry enough for the teams to squeeze in about four hours play. It was a declaration game, with no limit on overs except that 15 (eight-ball) overs were to be bowled in the last hour.
University batted first. And Bankstown had something that most mid-table Grade teams didn’t have – a truly formidable opening attack. Neither Jeff Thomson nor Len Pascoe had yet played for New South Wales, but they were easily the fastest bowlers in the State. They weren’t the most reliable cricketers in Sydney: they were known to turn up late if the surf was good. But this was a lousy beach day, and they were ready to take the new ball when the game began.
Peter James: They were surely scary on a green wicket that was fast, especially given no helmets in those days. At that stage of his career, Thommo was express but typically swung the ball in. For a bumper starting outside off, the ball kept swinging in towards your head. So you certainly had to keep your eye on the ball, and not rock backwards, because the ball would follow you, so that typically the batsman found himself overbalancing backwards. That season, I played with Thommo for City vs Country on SCG No 2, which then was the fastest track in Sydney (and almost same size as SCG). One bumper cleared the batsman and keeper and bounced just once more before hitting the fence. In the first hours of that match, I took a catch off Thommo at first slip, undoubtedly travelling faster than any other catch I took, taken shoulder high wide from a cut/slash. It swung me around 360 degrees, and somehow stayed in my right hand. Pascoe was a bit less predictable, and did move it both ways, so in a sense, more difficult to face.
Andrew Falk: This was my first First Grade game – Jeff Thomson and Lennie Pascoe on a wet track… before the game started while we were waiting for the pitch to dry out, Thommo was about level with the stumps at the southern end of the ground and slinging catches to his teammates up on the old No 2 ground. This was before his shoulder injury, of course. Fairly intimidating none the less!
University batted first, and Thomson and Pascoe wasted no time making an impact on the game. Inside the first couple of overs, they sent back Greg Wilson, Dennis Hill and Ian Fisher, all without scoring.
Ted LeCouteur: It’s amazing, I’ve played hundreds of games of cricket over the years, but of all of them, I remember this one most clearly. Both those guys are imprinted on my brain – Thomson from the southern end, Pascoe from the northern end. I soon realised that you couldn’t bat normally because the wicket was too green and bouncy, the bowlers were too fast, the ball was moving too much. There was a lot of swish and slash in my innings! But I wasn’t likely to be bowled because the ball was bouncing way over the stumps. Quite a few of my fours went between the keeper and point…
Ian Fisher: Full credit to Ted, he thrashed the bowling.
Bruce Collins: I distinctly remember that, when I went out to bat, I’d never seen slips fieldsmen standing so far back. They were half way to the pavilion. This was the day I thought that I might have to start wearing a thigh pad.
Bankstown’s attack consisted of extreme pace and finger spin. Barry Thebridge bowled right-arm off-spin, and Tony Radanovic was an orthodox left-armer. Radanovic, born in Germany, was one of two Bankstown players of Yugoslav descent. Len Durtanovich had changed his surname to Pascoe; Zivko Radanovic found that Australians struggled with his first name, so he became Tony. LeCouteur and Collins weathered the storm from Pascoe and Thomson, then picked off runs against the two spinners.
Bruce Collins: Ted played an imperious innings, trying to drive Thomson and Pascoe, and when he edged it there was no way anyone was going to catch it. At one point Thomson bowled a no ball to me, and then made an angry gesture in the direction of the umpire. Ted came down to me at the end of the over and said, “Bruiser, I think this bloke’s going to try to hurt you. “
In just over an hour, they added 53 for the fourth wicket until Collins was caught from Radanovic’s bowling. LeCouteur carried on to reach 60, made in 123 minutes.
Ted LeCouteur: Captain Morris was our scorer, and when I got out, he ran down from the grandstand to shake my hand.
Only LeCouteur and Collins reached double figures in University’s innings, though Andrew Falk was unbeaten on nine when Ian Fisher declared.
Andrew Falk: I faced a few balls from each of Pascoe and Thomson. When Thommo was bowling, Lennie was fielding at silly mid-off, very close, and telling me where on my head the next ball was going to hit! Then, when Lennie was bowling, the roles were reversed but the description of my imminent demise was very similar!!
The declaration came after University had batted for just over two and half hours. Bankstown had 80 minutes to score 121.
Ted LeCouteur: I didn’t think we had enough time to win. It was just going to be a bit of fun for the bowlers…
Bankstown’s batting was not as powerful as its attack, relying heavily on opener Dion Bourne. Bourne, an accountant, became the highest ever run-scorer for Bankstown in First Grade, and had four nephews, name of Waugh, who followed him into First Grade at the club. He faced up to Peter James, and made it safely through the first over.
But University also had a highly effective pair of opening bowlers in Peter James and Geoff Pike. Pike, in his first season in First Grade, was a left-armer who could swing the ball late. And, on a responsive pitch, James was as threatening as any bowler in Sydney, producing outswingers and biting off-cutters at a lively pace.
Peter James: On damp soft pitches, one has to keep it up, but of course not too far or the ball would be lofted. If a bit short, the ball just digs in and balloons, so batsman steps back and can bang it. So the length is critical, and probably the good length is a smaller area than normal.
James and Pike kept hitting that small area with relentless accuracy, and wickets began to tumble. John Dunn was the first to go, edging Pike into James’ safe hands at slip. Then James dismissed Bourne, who was Bankstown’s top-scorer with 8, and struck twice more in his next over. Pike removed the vastly experienced Bob Madden (playing in his 28th and last season of First Grade), caught by keeper Mick Hewett. Just as in the University innings, three batsmen had fallen in quick succession without scoring. Suddenly, batting out time didn’t look like a very easy proposition.
Ted LeCouteur: I fielded at first slip, so I had a great view, and the ball swung a lot. Pikey had the ability to bowl outswingers, which is unusual for a left hander, and I remember watching and thinking ‘this guy is such a good bowler’. PJ, as usual, was very accurate and bowled beautifully. Our keeper, Mick Hewett, was pretty busy because the batsmen played and missed a lot.
James trapped the veteran Mick Stephenson in front of his stumps, and had Thomson caught behind; Pike removed Thebridge and Radanovic. After only eleven overs, Bankstown had crashed to 9 for 29. Only Pascoe and Bankstown’s keeper, Ian Gorman, remained. What happened next was every bit as illogical as the rest of the game. Pascoe lunged forward to Pike, and lobbed a gentle catch towards short mid-off, where University’s best fieldsman was stationed.
Andrew Falk: The best fielder I ever played with, and he dropped a sitter.
Peter James: The simplest imaginable catch to silly midoff, who dropped it. Amazing. One of the safest pair of hands in our team, and down it went.
Even then, University might have won: with two overs remaining, Pike drew another false shot from Pascoe.
Ian Fisher: Lenny was caught by Mick Hewett off Geoff Pike, but he was given not out.
And that was it: stumps were drawn with Bankstown safe at nine for 32. Peter James had taken 5-13, Geoff Pike 4-12. When the Sydney Morning Herald commended the opening bowlers for “fiery pace” and “hostile and accurate” bowling, it was referring to James and Pike, not Thomson and Pascoe. Writing in the Sun-Herald, journalist Phil Wilkins reported that he found the performances of Peter James and Jeff Thomson “interesting”. James, he decided, “would be an acquisition to the State side”, while Thomson “could develop into a State representative without great surprise.” Half of his predictions were accurate: within twelve months, Thomson was opening the bowling for Australia on the MCG.
Max Bonnell
Dr John Bryan Campbell died in Sydney on 30 December 2022 at the age of 90.
Dr Campbell completed his Leaving Certificate at Scots College in 1950, with results earned him a place to study Medicine at Sydney University on a Commonwealth Scholarship. He appeared for the club as an all-rounder in the 1950s, playing in Seconds, Thirds and Fourths. His most successful season was 1955-56 when, in only five games in Third Grade, he took 23 wickets at an average of 7.52. Following graduation, he became a highly respected paediatrician. Two of his sons, Scott and Jock, played for the club in the 1980s, after which Jock became the strength and conditioning trainer for the Australian men’s Test team.
The club extends its condolences to Dr Campbell’s family.
Graeme Goodsir, who played for the club in the 1950s, has died in the United States at the age of 87. Graeme attended Trinity Grammar School, and was one of three members of that school’s 1951 1st XI to go on to join SUCC (alongside Graham Reed and Neil Bonnell). In 1952, he was captain of both cricket and debating at Trinity, and he was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to study Economics at Sydney University. The club’s records for this period are hopelessly incomplete, but Graeme made several useful contributions as a medium pacer in Third and Fourth Grades in 1953-54 and 1954-55.
In 1956, he joined the Sydney office of Dalgety & Co, commencing a career in the meat industry that would last for more than sixty years. In 1958 he was assigned to the firm’s London office. Five years later, he joined the Australian Meat Board as a Market Development Officer for export trade. He was closely involved in the expansion of Australian exports to Asia and the Middle East – and, in 1970, he opened trade between Australia and the USSR. In 1972, he was transferred to the United States, taking responsibility for what was then the Australian industry’s largest market. He remained in North America for the rest of his life, enjoying a varied career that included a stint as General Manager of Canada’s largest food company and work as an analyst and industry journalist. He was in high demand as an international trade negotiator, facilitating Canada’s first major pork trade with Russia. He is the only Australian to be elected to the US Meat Industry Hall of Fame.
The club extends its sympathies to Mr Goodsir’s family.
Our boys are once again in the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Thunder Conference Final!
We’ll be taking on Blacktown Mounties next Sunday for a spot in the Grand Final!
Here are the details:
Opponent: Blacktown Mounties
Date: Sunday, January 15
Venue: University Oval No. 1
Time: 2:30pm
We hope to see you at Uni Oval No. 1 next Sunday to support the boys!
