Life moves pretty fast sometimes
It doesn’t seem so very long ago that Sydney University was stuck at the foot of the First Grade ladder, struggling to win a game and unable to bowl out their opponents. In the first three rounds of the competition, the Students took only 13 wickets while leaking 842 runs. Darcy Mooney’s bowling figures were so gruesome that, in some States, you needed to be over 18 to view them online. Now, though, University sits in equal sixth place, out of the top six only on quotient, and its last two wins have come through defending small targets. Mooney, with 5-28, was mainly responsible for shooting out Randwick-Petersham for just 134, as the Students defended a sub-par total of 192 at Coogee. Mooney bowls from a fair height, and hits the seam on an awkward length around the off stump. He made a key breakthrough early on Sunday when Ben Monetdoro closed the bat face and lobbed a leading edge into the gully, and he found a perfect line to draw an outside edge from Anthony Sams. Kieran Tate squeezed the ball through Riley Ayre’s front-foot prod, and there was no way back from 4 for 17, Mooney cleaning up the tail after lunch. University’s modest score owed most to Jack Hill, batting time, and some lower order defiance from Cameron Frendo, who also chipped in with two wickets. University has perhaps the hardest run home of any team in finals contention, but at least it has momentum on its side.
We don’t do predictions. But…
As there are already enough ways to look foolish, we don’t attempt predictions here at Five Things. However, as a general rule of thumb we always think that teams need about 60 points to be sure of reaching the First Grade finals. The way this year’s table looks, the magic number could be as high as 59 or as low as 54. St George (58) beating Parramatta (59) means that the race for first place is still live, and players from both clubs should cancel any holiday plans they had for late March. Fairfield is third on 52, but if it lost to Sydney University next round, would need to beat UTS North Sydney to secure a finals place. Similarly, if Randwick-Petersham loses to St George in Round 15, it will need a big win over Gordon. Wests (49) can kill off Northern District’s (43) hopes next week, although a win for the Rangers could leave the Magpies needing a big win over Hawkesbury (42) – who can stay in the hunt by beating Campbelltown next week. Even ninth-placed Penrith (42) has a chance of reaching the finals if other results fall its way. And, as we always say, this is the time of year when rain and outrights throw everything into chaos.
Riley Kingsell looks interesting
Bowling first at Bankstown Oval, Northern District had the better of the early exchanges: Kake Cincotta had the dangerous Ryan Felsch caught at slip from a loose drive, and left-arm dart-thrower Jonty Webb had Daniel Solway caught behind from a slower delivery. Four wickets fell for 90 runs – but NSW Under-19 opener Riley Kingsell was still there. Kingsell played cautiously early on; leaving anything he didn’t need to play, and scoring only ten runs from his first 35 balls. But then he accelerated, playing some powerful strokes through the off side and bringing up his fifty (from 69 balls) with a sweetly timed drive over long on from Toby Gray. He pulled Jon Fullagar to the midwicket fence, then drove and hooked two more boundaries in the over. He brought up his hundred from 138 balls, plonking Gray over midwicket for another 6. Altogether, his 149 occupied 195 deliveries, and set up Bankstown’s winning total. Kingsell looks calm, well-organised and powerful: it will be interesting to watch his progress.
Brock Fitton is on a roll
Last season, Mosman’s opening batsman Brock Fitton averaged 11 in First Grade. This year, he’s getting the hang of it. His 92 against Penrith back in Round 10 was notable for containing twice as many 6s (four) as 4s, and then he broke through with a maiden First Grade hundred – 164 against St George in Round 13. And, sure, these were second-innings runs, but they were second innings runs against a strong attack pressing for an outright, so not to be sniffed at. Anyway, no sooner had Fitton broken through with his first hundred than he added another, as Mosman chased 338 to beat Campbelltown. Fitton set us the chase with an excellent 121: he has certainly learned how to make the most of the short boundaries at Allan Border Oval, which he cleared six times. He drives cleanly, and whacks anything short through the on side. His second successive hundred helped Mosman to squeak home with the last pair at the crease, a rare bright moment for the Whales, who dragged themselves out of last place on the ladder.
Weird game of the week was at Don Dawson
Fairfield-Liverpool’s Third Grade opener, Raghavan Selvaratnam, made a pretty good start to the game against Penrith. He whacked four boundaries, racing to 20 from 20 balls. Then he got out, and about an hour later, the game was over. Fairfield lost eight wickets for 13 runs to Riley Brandl (four for 6) and the vastly experienced Pete Gregersen (four for 8). It then took Penrith only a ball more than ten overs to knock off the runs, without losing a wicket. Wides were the second highest scorer in each innings. And, which could well be a record, even though Fairfield sent down only 10.1 overs, they managed to use seven bowlers to do it. Plus, for added weirdness, even after that result, Fairfield remains two places above Penrith on the competition ladder.