Sydney Uni Cricket/ers were heavily in the action over the weekend as the Sydney Grade Cricket competition continued in Round 7 action, whilst across the country our players were involved in Shield Cricket in regional Queensland and National U19 Championships in Adelaide, not to mention one gaining valuable T20 experience with the Thunder in New Zealand.
In the McDonald's Grade Cricket Competition, SUCC took on Wests in a crucial round.
In first grade, the bowlers got the job done to roll the opposition for 149, Cowell and Kershaw claiming three each, with Kierath and Joy picking up two each. Greg Mail lead the side to a commanding position at 0-75 at the end of play, finishing on 52no.
Second Grade returned to form with the bat to declare at 9-291 with runs coming from Hobson (73), Jum Larkin (52), Maddocks (36) and Ben Larkin (32). Wests were 0-44 in reply at the close of play.
Third Grade toiled hard to bowl Wests out for 169 on a placid St Paul's wicket before the evening dew caused havoc to see Uni 4-54 in reply. Lewis McMahon was the chief destroyer claiming 4-32 for Uni.
Plucky all-rounder Jono Craig-Dobson hit an entertaining 69 runs to lead fourth grade to a strong 8-267, well supported by youngster Hugh Kermond (43), Alex Mihalyka (40no) and Ed Arnott (39).
Fifth grade toiled hard in the field after losing a number of players to higher grades at the last minute. Wests scored 314 runs with Green Shield player Cullen Hathurusinghe claiming an outstanding 4-32 given the context.
Results are still to come in for Metro Cup on Sunday.
In Queensland, NSW took on Qld at Mackay's Harrup Park with over 4,000 in attendance for the the regional match. On a slow day, Qld finished the day on 4-215 with our own Will Somerville claiming two first-day wickets (2-63 form 25 overs). Former SUCCers were in the action early with Sean Abbott claiming Scott Henry for four in the opening spell. Play continues today and can be followed here.
In Adelaide, Jonte Pattison is leading his ACT/NSW Country side into the quarter final against Qld after finishing the preliminary rounds as the only undefeated side. Jonte has personally claimed three wickets and scored 166 runs at 55.33 including a majestic 110no off 92 balls in the round 4 clash against Qld. Full results can be found here.
Across the ditch, Tim Ley was pushing his claims for a spot on the Sydney Thunder roster as they played in pre-tournament practice matches in Canterbury. Ley claimed 2-38 (4) against the powerful Canterbury Kings side in a high-scoring affair, being the only Thunder bowler to claim multiple wickets. Ley then claimed 2-27 against a Canterbury Invitational XI to again be the pick of the bowlers. News stories from Thunder site here.