Mosman is having a moment
Approaching the halfway point in the season, it’s time to acknowledge that Mosman is travelling exceptionally well. The Whales are unbeaten in First Grade, sitting in second place behind Northern District; have reached the conference semi-finals in the Little Bash; and have won six from six in Seconds. If you really wanted to quibble, you might point out that four of Mosman’s five wins have been against teams in the bottom half of the competition table, but that overlooks the possibility that those sides may be in the bottom half of the competition precisely because they have played Mosman. The key to the team’s success has been its firepower with the bat; Peter Forrest has been in rich form, as have Lachlan Hearne and Anglo-Australian wicket-keeper Jordan Cox. But against North Sydney on Saturday, Hearne went lbw first ball, Forrest wasn’t playing, and Cox made only four. Even so, the Whales made light work of a target of 241, with Harry Dalton hitting 76 and Matt (The Chef) Moran launching three sixes in his unbeaten innings of 63. Again, if you were looking to find fault, you could argue that Mosman’s seam-based attack is best suited to the white-ball game; but Dean Crawford, Jake Turner, Elijah Eales and Moran have been so consistent and efficient that Saturday’s game was the first time this season that Mosman has needed to chase more than 200. Interestingly, Mosman has chased in every game so far, and hasn’t lost more than five wickets on any occasion, so its quotient is a ridiculous 2.6177. Mosman hasn’t reached the First Grade finals for eight seasons – that drought may be about to break.
Ethan Jamieson is developing nicely, if not quite how we expected
We’ve been watching Ethan Jamieson for five years now, since he was a Green Shield player for Sydney University, and it’s no surprise that he’s now emerging as a very handy First Grader. What is slightly surprising is how he’s doing it. He’s always looked the part as a neat, well-organised, wristy left-handed batsman, but nothing in his past few seasons (with St George and now University of NSW) gave anyone reason to think that his bowling would become a serious weapon. Nonetheless, his leg-breaks have become an essential part of the Bees’ attack, and he had an exceptional weekend, snaring 3-30 against Manly and 3-9 against Sydney – which he backed up with the bat, hitting 56 and 67. His bowling may still be a work in progress (he seems to vary genuine wrist-spun leg-breaks with off-breaks from the front of the hand), but he’s accurate and thoughtful, and beat Manly’s Elliott Herd with a classic leg-spinner that clipped the top of off stump. On Sunday, he went to the crease with the Bees in trouble at 2-11, and turned the chase into a stroll with an authoritative 67 from 48. He reached his fifty by lofting Kain Anderson over long-on for six, then blasted the next delivery straight down the ground for six more. Somewhere in the last month, Jamieson has changed from young and promising into a key member of the Bees’ side.
We have some finalists
The surprising thing about the last preliminary round of the Harry Solomons Little Bash is how unsurprising it was. On the whole, higher-placed teams beat lower-placed teams, and results turned out more or less as you’d have expected. Perhaps Northern District, unbeaten in First Grade, might have been favoured to beat Sydney University at home, especially after containing the Students to 8-136. The Rangers reached 2-55, with Scott Rodgie in ominous touch, before Devlin Malone turned the game on its head with a brilliant four-over spell of 3-9. Liam Robertson picked up important wickets, Kieran Tate bowled a nerveless final over, and the three-run victory kept University at the top of the Thunder conference. Blacktown, meanwhile, accounted for Hawkesbury and so leap-frogged Northern District to claim a place in the top four. In the Sixers Conference, Lachlan Hearne’s 80 helped Mosman to a big win over Manly, which opened the door for University of NSW. The Bees strangled Sydney’s batsmen with spin, then chased confidently – they’ll now take a place in the conference semi-finals, on 9 January.
She may not be running for Warringah, but Gladys gets around
Possibly hoping to be co-opted by the Prime Minister into some ill-advised, short-lived venture, sides all over Sydney competed furiously to win the Gladys Berejiklian Sudden and Total Collapse of the Week award. Hawkesbury’s Thirds were 4-121 chasing Sydney University’s 243, but then lost six for 15, experienced seamer Lewis McMahon causing most of the damage with 6-16. In the Little Bash, Easts attempted the rare Split Gladys, losing 3-0 at the top of its innings and 4-1 at the end, but spoiled things by scoring a few runs in the middle. But the classic Gladys is an unforeseen collapse from a position of absolute strength, and no-one did that better than Easts’ Thirds. Chasing Parramatta’s 194, Easts cruised to 2 for 162, with Jonah Trope cracking 86. With only 32 runs needed, plenty of time and wickets in hand… enter Gladys. Parramatta captain, Michael Ho, tried seven other bowlers before taking the ball himself, and his leg-breaks triggered a remarkable collapse in which eight wickets tumbled for 25 runs. Parramatta somehow won by seven runs, Ho walked off with 8-40, and Easts walked away with this week’s Gladys.
Sometimes, it’s not just about the cricket
A few weeks ago, Archer Gray’s only problem was working out how to succeed as a sixteen year-old leg-spinner in Second Grade. He was handling that pretty well, as it turns out: having been lifted straight from last year’s Green Shield (when he was named in the competition’s Team of the Year) into Wests’ Seconds, he started off with an impressive spell of 3-25 against North Sydney. Players at Wests insist that he’s an excellent bowler, and an even better person. But now he’s facing a batch of new problems, having been diagnosed with a brain tumour. He’s already begun radiation therapy, and his family faces a tough time and steep bills. The Western Suburbs club has launched an appeal to help with his medical costs, and the GoFundMe page is here. This time of year, there are plenty of good causes to support, but please consider this one. Already, Wests President Mike Swan reports that the support received has been fantastic, but every bit helps.