All points are equal, but some are more equal than others
In cricket, there’s no point complaining about rain: it happens, and there’s nothing to do about it. Saturday’s rain was strong, intermittent and localised – the kind that causes, not bad luck exactly, but an unequal distribution of opportunity in a cricket competition. In First Grade, only two results were possible. At Allan Border, Mosman collapsed from 64 without loss to 130 all out, after which Sydney University’s sprint for a bonus point almost ended in disaster. Damien Mortimer batted beautifully for 61, but wickets fell around him and if Ben Joy’s late swipe had been safely held, the Whales would have snatched an upset win. In the event, Charlie Cassell smashed a ball from Luke Shelton out of the ground, and the Students staggered away with seven points. Sutherland was in a spot of early trouble at Blacktown, losing its first three wickets with only two runs on the board, but dominated the rest of the game. Jarryd Biviano (65) and James Arnold (77 not out) restored equilibrium with a partnership of 91, and some furious late hitting by Andrew Ritchie lifted the Sharks to 8 for 246. Blacktown reached 3 for 122 in reply, before Tushaar Garg (4-21) cut short the contest.
Elsewhere, though, there were reminders that competition points are like runs: it isn’t how you get them, it’s how many. So North Sydney, who reached 177 without loss at Pratten Park, walked away with as many points (one) as Campbelltown-Camden, routed for 99 at Old Kings. Randwick-Petersham, who raced to 2 for 157, received the same point that Northern District did when their game was washed out. It’s said that this kind of thing evens out in the long run. It doesn’t, but if you can believe it, it hurts a little less.
Ben Joy has devised a new kind of hat trick
Under the conventional definition, a hat trick occurs when a bowler takes three wickets with successive balls in the same match. But there’s a secondary definition in the dictionary: “when someone is successful at achieving something three times”. Sydney University’s opening bowler, Ben Joy, has completed a remarkable but somewhat confusing hat trick – a hat trick of missed hat tricks. Against Gordon in Round Two, he removed Matthew Wright lbw, then bowled Ryan Meppem first ball, only for Jackson Saggers to survive the next ball. Against Easts he bowled Harry Byrnes Howe and trapped Baxter Holt lbw first ball, but Tim Armstrong successfully negotiated the hat trick delivery. Then in Round Four, he removed Ashley Doolan and Dean Crawford with successive balls, but not Hayden Brown. He does have a Premier Cricket hat trick to his name, in Second Grade against Easts back in 2012-13, to go with one he took back in the days when he was allowed to terrorise Metro Cup batsmen. For the time being, though, the message to batsmen is: if you come in immediately after Joy has taken a wicket, you’re in trouble. But if you come in after he’s just taken two wickets, you’re probably OK.
Aaron Bird has devised a new kind of hat trick
Still on hat tricks, and Bankstown’s Aaron Bird has come up with one that’s even more unusual than Ben Joy’s. Bird, a highly experienced fast-medium bowler who has represented NSW, these days saves himself for Sundays and the Harry Solomons Little Bash. Last Sunday, he collected the first hat-trick of his Premier Cricket career, in the T20 game against Hawkesbury. Which doesn’t sound very unusual, except that not one of the batsmen he dismissed was out first ball. With the last ball of his second over, Bird removed Patrick Moore, who was caught for 20. Ben Taylor bowled the next over and when Bird took the ball for the last over of the innings, Abdul Kherkhah was on strike, having faced three deliveries from Taylor. Kherkhah skied a catch to Liam Marshall, and the batsmen changed ends, leaving Mohammad Shinwari to face his fourth delivery – which he missed. Hawkesbury managed only 85, Bankstown romped to a comfortable win, and we promise to stop talking about hat tricks for a while.
Jack James may have been unlucky
Spare a thought for UTS North Sydney’s Jack James, who batted beautifully for 98 at Pratten Park, only to lose the chance of his second First Grade century when rain ended play. James and Tim Jagot put together an unbroken opening stand of 177 from 37 overs, and James got off to a very bright start, twice square driving Wests seamer Michael Tudehope for 4. He’s particularly strong through the off side on the back foot, but played strokes all round the wicket: he flicked Tudehope to the fence at fine leg, pulled powerfully when leg-spinner Tom Brooks dropped short and swept effectively. James was on 96 when Josh Clarke delivered the last ball of the 37th over of the innings; he clattered it forward of point, only for the ball to be intercepted just before the boundary. At which point the umpires took the players from the field, not to return. The Bears will feel aggrieved that nothing came of their dominant position: James may well be wishing that the game had gone on for just one more over.
There’s a bit in the deck at Graham
For as long as there has been Grade cricket, there have been Grade captains who have tried to motivate their teams, after dismal batting performances, with variations on the theme of “It’s runs on the board that counts” or “Scoreboard pressure!” or “Let’s make them work for it” or “We got ‘em, they have to get ‘em”. Usually these speeches are followed by crushing, seven-wicket thrashings, but once in a while things turn out differently. It isn’t clear what Manly Fourth Grade captain Adam Gummer told his side after it had crashed to 51 all out against Gordon but, whatever it was, it worked. Manly had batted for less than 27 overs, crumbling to Oscar Turner (3-4) and Oliver Clarke (3-11), but Gordon did little better. James Waddington started the collapse, grabbing a wicket with his first delivery in Grade cricket. The second wicket pair added 16 runs, but then three wickets fell before the next run was scored. Matthew Brown, in his first match for Gordon, played positively for 22, but wickets continued to fall around him. When the sixth wicket fell at 34, Manly was well in the game, and after Andrew Boulton grabbed two quick wickets, Gordon’s last pair still needed seven runs for the win. In the end, Gordon fell over the line, but Manly’s young side learned a few important lessons about never giving up. As for Gordon, they lost nine wickets in 14 overs, five of their batsmen scored ducks, and they walked away with a bonus point. It’s a weird game.