The Students stayed in the picture
The race for finals places has reached an intriguing stage, with only two points separating four teams in the battle for the sixth spot. Sydney University kept in touch with a tight win that leap-frogged the Students over their opponents, Campbelltown-Camden, on the table. University is in a rebuilding stage, but this win was secured by its old hands. Damien Mortimer played a sensational innings of 80, full of crisp drives and clean pulls, going past 7000 First Grade runs in the process. Tim Cummins was as efficient as ever behind the stumps, and in front of them scored another vital half-century, while Kieran Tate regularly picked up crucial wickets by attacking the stumps. But perhaps the best and strangest performance of the match came from Campbelltown’s Jake Scott, who began by bowling tidy but unspectacular leg-breaks before lengthening his run and bowling with unsettling pace and bounce. He ended up with 6-28, and didn’t really deserve to be on the losing side.
Anthony Sams has a record
It took him 16 years to do it, but last weekend Randwick-Petersham’s Anthony Sams created a piece of history when (by catching Gordon’s Joey Gillard during the Limited Overs semi-final) he collected his 543rd First Grade victim behind the stumps. That made him the most successful wicket-keeper in the history of the competition, passing the record set by St George’s immaculate Ernie Laidler. If 16 years sounds like a long time to wait for a record, spare a thought for Laidler, whose career for St George spanned the 30 years from 1928-29 to 1957-58. Laidler, who had the benefit of keeping wicket to Bill O’Reilly and Ray Lindwall, was considered good enough to play for New South Wales, but was chosen only twice – in a wartime fixture against Australian Services, and in a one-day match against Fiji, seventeen years later. Perhaps his batting held him back: although he scored a First Grade century, his lengthy career produced only 2859 runs at an average just below 13. No-one could say that of Sams, who has recently passed 9000 First Grade runs. His reward for all that has been a single Futures League match, which feels a touch insufficient.
Parramatta and Randwick-Petersham are in a final
It’s Anthony Sams Week here on Five Things, because it’s impossible to ignore his 78 from 80 balls in the Limited Overs semi-final against Gordon. Four overs into the game, Randwick-Petersham was two for 13 and Gordon probably felt they had a decent chance – but that was snuffed out by a third wicket stand of 151 between Sams and Austin Waugh. Waugh produced his best innings of the season, accelerating towards the end to reach 139 from 147 balls. He brought up his century by launching Jack Shelley over wide mid-on for one of his five 6s. Gordon chased hard, but after Tym Crawford fell to Riley Ayre in the thirteenth over, the innings subsided. Luke Callanan wrapped things up with a hat-trick. There was a closer contest at Old Kings, where Parramatta scraped home against St George. Once again, Parramatta’s seam attack controlled the game: Michael Sullivan found Blake Nikitaras’ outside edge with the fifth ball of the game, drew Ed Pollock into a skied slog-sweep and won an lbw decision against Nick Stapleton. At that stage St George was 3 for 13. Matt Rodgers battled hard for 65, and after 36 overs, St George had reached 4 for 120, with the prospect of posting a decent target. But Ryan Gupta’s direct hit from midwicket ran out Rodgers as he attempted a second run, and Kyle Thornley removed Tom Vane-Tempest and Adam Singleton with his next two deliveries. Chasing 132, Parramatta looked comfortable at 2 for 72, but Peter Francis and Connor O’Riordan bowled so well that when the ninth wicket fell, 17 runs were still required. Ryan Gupta swished unsuccessfully at Luke Bartier, then nurdled a ball behind square for two; Isaac Earl missed a cut at Stapleton, then chipped past midwicket for two; and, critically, five leg-side wides brought the target within reach. Gupta survived a huge appeal for lbw, and then in the 48th over, Earl clipped the winning run through the on side. It may not be the last time these two sides see each other in a final this season.
NDs had a big win in Green Shield
There was less joy for Parramatta in the Green Shield final, which was one-way traffic from the moment when Northern District won the toss and chose to bat. Lachlan Bartlett and Zach Haddin dominated from the outset, sharing an opening stand of 150 in 28.1 overs. The first over of the match was a 12-baller, featuring five wides, a no-ball and Bartlett’s slogged 4 from the free hit. Altogether, Parramatta sent down 21 wides and 7 no-balls – far too much generosity for a final. Bartlett and Haddin have been the basis for ND’s success in the tournament, and although Bartlett fell for 84, Haddin was still there at the end of the 50 overs, unbeaten on 112 from 137 balls. Parramatta chased gamely, but never looked in the hunt, and Bartlett added three wickets to his impressive innings.
Brynmor Mendel hits it a fair way
You are, let’s say, Sydney’s Second Grade team. You’re playing Manly, you bowl first, and the pitch is a lively green. Three balls into the innings, Ellis Sherriff has Lachlan Coyte caught behind. Then Sherriff catches Matt Brewster’s slash at James Caparelli, and traps Jordan Daly in front of his stumps. It’s 3 for 18. The new batsman has a name – Brynmor Mendel – that sounds like a minor character in Lord of the Rings. He’s a chunky left-hander who hasn’t scored a fifty in his last nine matches. Are you worried? You are not. You’re on top. You’re still on top, actually, when Mendel has faced six balls and has only a single to show for it. At which point, the game takes an irrational turn. Mendel picks up a ball from Sherriff that’s outside off stump and not all that short, and pumps it over midwicket for 6. In Sherriff’s next over, Mendel cuts a 4, misses with a wild swish, and clips a leg-stump half-volley for 6 with little more than a flick of his wrists. And it doesn’t stop. Oscar Kirk drops just a fraction short, and disappears over square leg for 6 more; in his next over, he’s cut, slogged and sort-of-driven for 4, 4 and 6. Mendel now has 54 from 32 balls. And now you’re worried. You’re so worried that you don’t really notice that Mendel’s method is to stay deep in the crease and favour the back foot, so maybe bowling a very full length might be an idea? But he’s hitting them so well it probably wouldn’t make a difference. In the 79th over of the innings, he swipes Carter Margetson into the leg side for two massive 6s – the 20th and 21st of his innings – only to sky the next ball to Kirk. He walks off with 231 from 177, and more sixes than anyone has ever hit in a grade innings. When Manly declares a few overs later, you stagger off the field, trying to understand what just happened and slightly grateful that Mendel didn’t break a few more records.