Sydney University’s season makes no sense at all
Sydney University’s season is all over the place. The First Grade side recently scored 91, 119, 7 for 72 and 78 in successive innings. The top order seems to have suffered a collective loss of form. It has the kind of quotient that’s usually helpful to separate eleventh place from twelfth. And yet the Students reached the final of the T20 competition, won a semi-final place in the Limited Overs competition, and perch at the top of the First Grade ladder. This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but there are a few possible explanations. The first is the team’s ability to find vital contributions from unlikely places. In the match against North Sydney, on a bowler-friendly pitch, 40 wickets fell while only 324 runs were scored: but Max Hope, playing his first two-day game in Firsts in several years, top-scored with 52, besides holding five catches. On Sunday, when St George looked like building an imposing target in the Limited Overs quarter-final, the bowler who helped the Students regain control was Hugo Ikeda, playing in only his first season in Firsts, but already showing a remarkable knack for taking wickets at important moments. Perhaps a more obvious reason for University’s success is leg spinner Devlin Malone: bowling as well as ever, he passed 50 wickets for the season on the weekend: proving that if it seams, it spins, he routed North Sydney with 4-9 and 3-14. On top of that, Nick Larkin has returned from BBL duties, and against St George on Sunday, he put on a masterclass. After watching Trent Copeland reduce University to 3-6, he blasted 108 from 95 balls, a batsman totally in command of his own game and whatever St George could throw at him. His presence will make a huge different to University at the business end of the season.
13 into six doesn’t go
With four rounds remaining before the finals, it’s time to consider who’s still in the running. As a general rule of thumb, a side needs about 54 points – nine wins – to be reasonably certain of a finals place. The table was shaken up by some unexpected results last weekend – Bankstown, Sydney University and Randwick-Petersham scooped outrights, while there were top-of-the table draws involving Northern District, University of NSW, Sydney and St George. Manly lost a chance to extend its lead after setting Parramatta something of a soft target. All that resulted in a bunch of sides sitting just above 40 – Sydney University on 48, Manly on 44.4, St George and University of NSW on 41. Three wins will get those sides into the finals, two might be enough, and one probably won’t (one more win could be all Sydney University needs, but we wouldn’t recommend that as a strategy). Then it gets complicated. Sydney is 13th with 29 points. Four wins could get the Tigers to the finals. But they have to play Manly and Sydney University, so that won’t be easy. Four wins could also do the trick for Fairfield (31), reigning premiers Mosman (32), UTS North Sydney (32) and Parramatta (32). Mosman faces Northern District this round, in a rematch of last year’s grand final, and a loss could effectively end the Whales’ season. Just outside the four are Randwick-Petersham (36) and Penrith (34), who are arguably the form teams in the competition, and it would be a bold move to bet against them continuing their momentum, especially as both sides play lower-placed opposition in Round 12. And of course, there’s rain about, and washouts and outrights can still make things very messy.
Parramatta took out the Green Shield
Parramatta, the most consistent side throughout this season’s Green Shield competition, took out the title by defeating Hawkesbury at Merrylands. The foundation for the win was a second-wicket partnership of 144 between Rajeev Navaratnam and Nitesh Samuel, who put their side firmly in control after Hawkesbury invited Parramatta to bat. Navaratnam fell for 91, and Samuel followed his match-winning 93 not out in the semi-final with a polished 82. Hawkesbury’s bowlers stuck to their task well, but to reach the target of 232, the Hawks needed to post their highest total of the season. Parramatta captain Nilaathan Kulendran put his side on top with two quick wickets, after which Hawkesbury was always slightly behind the game, although they fought hard and the outcome wasn’t decided until the 48th over. If Green Shield shows us what Premier Cricket will look like in the near future, it’s significant that more than half of the players in the final came from western Sydney’s rapidly growing south Asian population.
Sutherland and Easts produced the week’s craziest game
In Round 10, Sutherland’s Second Grade side had collapsed for only 46 against Manly, so it probably wasn’t the greatest shock when, the following week, they slumped to 6-28 against Easts. Chris Thompsett did most of the early damage for the Dolphins, and after Hayden Lindsay and Kieran Weatherall restored some dignity with a partnership of 79, he struck again as Sutherland lost the next three wickets for a single run. That brought together Ronak Bedi (Second Grade batting average: 5.6) and Flynn Parker (Second Grade average: 5.9), and not even their team-mates expected the innings to last much longer. But Bedi (66 not out) cracked 11 boundaries, Parker (26) defended carefully, and the pair added 97 for the last wicket, setting a new club record for Second Grade. Both players recorded the best scores of their Premier Cricket careers (passing scores they’d made in Fifths), and the result was a decent total of 204. That looked like a winning score on the second day, when Easts slumped to 9 for 139, still needing 66 to win, but by now you’ll have guessed how this ends. Samuel Greenland (44 not out) and Sam Heuston (28 not out) calmly put together a last-wicket stand of 68, and Easts walked away with the points.
Thomas Bermingham was in the game
Northern District has moved up to second place on the Fifth Grade ladder after hammering University of NSW outright, largely through the efforts of Thomas Bermingham, who was on the field for every ball of the match. Opening the innings, the Trinity Grammar student hit five 6s in his unbeaten 132, as well as which he held five catches behind the stumps and completed three run-outs as the Bees were routed for 107 and 63. He’ll remember the match more fondly than University of NSW’s Jack Roach, who was out without scoring in both innings – caught by Bermingham both times.