RPs held their nerve in the Little Bash
So, the Harry Solomons Little Bash still remains the biggest competition Sydney University has never won, after the Students were outplayed in the fifth – fifth! – T20 grand final they’ve reached but lost. University looked a good bet at the half-way mark, after Randwick-Petersham tumbled from 3 for 90 to be all out for 114. Although Hayden Kerr struck a vital early blow by removing Jason Sangha, Cam Hawkins – a former University Green Shield player – was good value for his 52 from 41 deliveries. But just when Randwick-Petersham looked likely to push on to a serious total, Hawkins feathered a catch to Tim Cummins, and the innings fell in a heap. Five wickets fell for five runs inside a couple of overs, as Ryan McElduff (4-13) cut through the middle order. Devlin Malone finished things off with 3-13 and the Students approached the chase with plenty of confidence. But RPs had taken a good look at the pitch, and worked out that it offered the bowlers a bit of sideways movement and some uneven bounce. They realised that the way to succeed was to abandon their usual T20 methods (short ball/yorker/change-up) and bowl a two-day line and length instead. What followed was a superbly disciplined effort with the ball, led by the ageless Adam Semple (3-11) and Australian T20 representative Darren Sams (2-8). Nothing was given away: RP’s bowlers didn’t concede a single wide or no-ball. Hayden Kerr gave his side some hope with a determined innings, launching two massive sixes down the ground. But when he holed out for 37, the cause was lost. Randwick-Petersham claimed its fourth T20 championship, and coach Mick Haire collected his third in five years (two of them with Sydney). The game, incidentally, was very well supported by followers of both clubs.
Dale McKay still plays
It’s been a fairly forgettable season for Hawkesbury in First Grade, with only two games won in the first 11 rounds, but they’ll take encouragement from Saturday’s win over local rivals Penrith. The Panthers batted first and posted a pretty competitive 7 for 269, then removed both the Hawks’ openers with 71 runs on the board. At which point, Dale McKay took over. He’d missed a couple of games due to the birth of his daughter, but he was quickly into his stride, brutalising the spin of Adam Burton and Adam Bayliss, and driving sweetly against the seamers. He found a willing partner in Connor Mizzi, and together they added 142 in 21 overs. McKay reached his hundred from only 83 balls, and though Ryan Fletcher removed him soon afterwards, Hawkesbury got home with almost two overs to spare. McKay is a relative rarity in modern Grade cricket, a one-club player for 13 years, and his innings took him within a couple of boundaries of 7000 First Grade runs.
Brent Atherton likes batting at North Sydney
A disciplined bowling effort from North Sydney left the Bears with a modest target to chase against University of NSW on Saturday, which meant that Brent Atherton started off a little less like a runaway train than usual. Atherton, who began his Grade career with St George around ten seasons back, also turned out for Hawkesbury and Penrith before joining North Sydney last season. This year, he’s shown all the benefits of having North Sydney as his home ground: he’s just short of 500 runs for the season, with an average above fifty and a very healthy strike rate. He needed to get his head down on Saturday, because the Bears slumped to 2 for 17 when Chris Tremain had Justin Avendano caught behind from an airy drive. The left-hander loves to cut and pull, and he knows exactly where the short boundaries are. His fourth-wicket stand of 107 with Jack James pretty much settled the outcome, at which point the only question was whether Atherton could reach his first top-grade hundred. On 84, though, he tried to scramble a quick single to mid on and failed to beat an underarm throw from Brandon McLean. He actually hung round for a moment or two to question the decision, but it stood, so that first ton will have to wait.
Both the Ryans won
Manly took the points from Parramatta on Saturday, falling over the line when Jake Carden, needing one to tie, whacked the last ball of the day just over the hands of Ben Abbott at short cover. But Ryan Hackney and Ryan Hadley were both winners, since after the game they were named in the squad for the Sheffield Shield match starting today in Brisbane. In each case, it’s a reward for several years of consistent performances: Hadley (who actually went wicketless on Saturday) has taken 122 First Grade wickets in his four-year career with Manly, while Hackney (who enjoyed several good seasons with Penrith) has compiled over 700 runs at an average above fifty for Parramatta this season.
Remember, Gladys used to be Gordon’s local member
It’s tempting to give the Gladys Berejiklian Sudden and Unexpected Collapse of the Week Award to Randwick-Petersham, who lost five for five (and 7 for 24) in the Little Bash grand final. But they won, and we didn’t, and so that would feel like sour grapes. You can’t ever keep Sutherland’s Thirds out of this: they collapsed yet again, losing 4 for 8 in the middle order after reaching two for 40 against Blacktown. But they won too, after Blacktown matched their collapse by losing 7 for 27 following an opening stand of 32.
So instead, the winner this week is Gordon (whose home ground is, of course, in Ms Berejiklian’s old electorate). The Stags’ bowlers performed well to limit Sydney to 204 at Drummoyne, but their chase was a debacle. Wearing what looked like one of Rafael Nadal’s discarded headbands, Left-armer Alex Glendenning got the ball to bend around, and he had Michael Fletcher caught behind with his second delivery. Dylan Hunter, caught on the crease, edged his third ball to Beau McClintock and Gordon was 2 for 0. When Glendenning dipped a ball in to Jamie Bekis’ front pad, Gordon was 4 for 9 and he had 3-2; that became 4-2 in the ninth over when he trapped Taj Brar in front. By then, Gordon was 5 for 13, and there was no way back.