Northern District dropped a game
It’s very rare for a First Grade side to make it through a season unbeaten, and it’s not going to happen this year, after Northern District was upset by Fairfield-Liverpool at Rosedale on Saturday. Fairfield’s win was set up by a second century for the season from Jaydyn Symmyns (sorry, Simmons), who opened the innings and batted through to the final over until he was run out by Ross Pawson’s direct hit. Fairfield started slowly after losing two early wickets and it wasn’t until the 17th over that Simmons began to accelerate, clipping Scott Rodgie for a leg side six. He cleared the boundary again later in his innings, picking up a short ball from Pawson and cracking it over midwicket. But, although Luke Ohrynowsky got after Toby Gray, Northern District managed to hold the total to 4 for 244. That looked an achievable target, especially once Scott Rodgie, David Lowery and Daniel Anderson had carried the Rangers to 3 for 187. But miserly bowling by Jarrad Burke left the Rangers needing 56 from the last six overs, and although there were plenty of wickets in hand, the asking rate was too steep. Harmon Sandhu was rewarded for his accuracy with some cheap wickets as the batsmen became increasingly reckless, and a final-ball run out gave Fairfield a memorable win by 14 runs.
If both Robsons score hundreds, Easts are in trouble
Weird stat of the week: Easts never win when Angus Robson and Sam Robson hit centuries in the same innings. Now, you may argue that the sample size is on the small side (it’s happened twice) but, come on, numbers don’t lie. Back in 2019-20, Angus hit 134 and Sam 113 against Northern District, and the game was drawn when the second day was washed out. And last weekend, Angus hit 128 and Sam 103 against Randwick-Petersham, a game that Easts lost by 31 runs.
The Robsons joined forces after both of Easts’ openers had been dismissed first ball, and they proceeded to add 194 in 36.2 overs. Sam’s dismissal, bowled by Jason Ralston, left Easts still needing 100 runs in 12.3 overs, but Ralston and Riley Ayre bowled some tidy overs before Daya Singh and Adam Semple closed out the innings with some well-controlled death overs. In the end, the difference between the sides was the 25 not out from RP’s Basit Ali, who faced only five balls from Will Simpson and Sam Skelly but hit four of them for six, with a series of surprisingly casual bottom-handed swats over cow corner.
Easts play Manly this weekend. It’s just a thought, but Manly might consider bowling absolute dross to the Robsons for as long as possible. It’s practically foolproof.
Daniel Rixon’s second career is going nicely, thank you
You may remember Daniel Rixon as Sutherland’s long-serving First Grade wicket-keeper: his career behind the stumps for the Sharks extended to 274 matches (a club record), in which he completed 359 catches and 82 stumpings. His batting, while useful, was never exceptional – his highest score in the top grade was 98, and his average was a touch above 20. After taking up an appointment as club coach, he stepped down to Second Grade, where he reinvented himself as a batsman who bowls medium pace. It seems to be working: he now has 72 wickets to his name, his batting average in Seconds stands at 49.41, and he’s hammered hundreds in his last two innings. At Chatswood Oval in Round 9, he plundered 157 from only 120 balls, clearing the fence six times, hitting 18 fours, and sharing an opening stand of 180 with James Arnold. Last Saturday, Sutherland found itself chasing 216 to beat St George, and Rixon and Arnold knocked off the runs without losing a wicket and with almost six overs to spare. Arnold made his second 79 in succession, while Rixon was relatively sedate, soaking up 142 balls for his 126 not out. So far this season, Rixon averages 90 with the bat in Seconds, and 18 with the ball, and his form is the main reason why the Sharks are sitting in third place.
The Conference finalists have been decided
As the Big Bash (finally) draws to a close, so the Harry Solomons Little Bash approaches its climax. The Conference finals are being played today: Sydney University meets Parramatta, while University of NSW takes on Randwick-Petersham. Sydney University fielded a strange-looking team in its semi-final against Blacktown: injuries and Covid reduced the Students to an attack of three spinners, one regular opening bowler and the (these days) occasional medium-pace of Liam Robertson. In fact, after Ryan McElduff made the early breakthroughs, it was Robertson who did most damage, claiming 3-26. That included the wicket of Matt Day to a ludicrous catch in the deep by Nick Larkin, who sprinted in past the ball before throwing himself into reverse and clinging on to the ball with one hand while flying backwards. Devlin Malone was tight, Caelan Maladay bowled it out efficiently, and University was left chasing only 116, a target that Larkin, Robertson and Charlie Dummer ran down in only 64 balls. Robertson, who cracked an unbeaten 37 from 19, was playing the 58th finals match of his career, which is outrageous.
The match of the round, though, was at Mosman, where the home side’s 8 for 154 owed most to Matthew Calder, who cracked five 6s in his 56. Brandon McLean replied with 52 from 31, and when Jake Turner took the ball for the last over, the Bees needed seven to win with four wickets standing. The first delivery was angled across Krishna Padmanabhan, who swung and missed. The second was skied to deep cover, and Liam O’Farrell took the catch. That gave the strike to McLean, who sliced the ball high into the air, Jordan Cox clutching the ball as he ran towards third man. So Suthangan Thanabalasingam had strike with seven needed from three and Turner on a hat-trick – which he completed when Cox held a regulation edge behind the stumps. Declan White then scrambled a single, which left Hayden McLean to face the last delivery with six runs needed. Turner bowled a length ball on off stump, but it fell perfectly into the arc of Mclean’s swing, and disappeared over the midwicket fence. It was the kind of finish T20 games are expected to deliver, but so rarely do.
Gladys was spotted in Malcolm Turnbull territory
There was plenty of high-quality collapsing in Premier Cricket last weekend: special mention must go to Sydney, who lost 3-0 at the start of its innings against Penrith in First Grade. But this week’s Gladys Berejiklian Sudden and Unexpected Collapse of the Week Award goes jointly to Eastern Suburbs and Randwick-Petersham in Second Grade. Batting first, Easts reached 4 for 102 before losing Max Glen, who spanked 71 from only 63 balls. And then they fell in a heap, losing 6 for 23. Dave Dubey, whose Second Grade bowling average had been 54, wrapped up the innings in a spell of 3-1. In reply, RPs were cruising at 46 without loss, before losing four wickets for six runs, mostly to Ned Patterson. Coming into the game, Patterson had taken three Second Grade wickets in 8 games this season, at an average of 98. He grabbed five for 13. Dubey revived the innings, so that with three wickets standing Randwick Petersham needed 11 to win. But then Sam Wood struck twice, and the last three wickets added only five runs. So Easts took the points, but truly, when it comes to this week’s Gladys, we just can’t separate these two sides.