The 2016-17 NSW Premier Cricket season is still three weekends away, but Sydney Uni cricketers have been amongst the action in tour matches over the weekend.
Our squad landed in Sri Lanka and are preparing to launch an assault on the Red Bull World Campus Games tournament over the next few days.
Whilst the squad of mostly EAP/TAP student athletes are about to compete in Sri Lanka, our 1st Grade squad were tackling the best that Australia's University Clubs could throw at us in a vital pre-season opportunity.
The squad led by Nick Larkin contested the Australian Uni's Limited Overs Challenge against hosts University of Queensland, Melbourne University and Adelaide University in 50-over matches at UQ in Brisbane over the weekend.
Starting with a win over Adelaide Uni on Friday, followed by a narrow loss in the penultimate over against Melbourne Uni on Saturday and a comprehensive victory over favourites Uni of Queensland on Sunday.
The tournament was a crucial chance for the freshers at the Club to stake their claims for Round 1 berths with the likes of Devlin Malone, Tom Rogers and Damien Mortimer all standing out over the tournament.
Malone and his unpickable wrong'un was a standout with the ball claiming 4 wickets against Adelaide Uni and a magical 4 wickets against Uni of Queensland, including a hat-trick.
Mortimer also demonstrated his class with scores of 29, 88 not out and 35 runs across the weekend.
Rogers was also a heavy contributor with both bat and ball, claiming 3 wickets against Uni of Qld and hitting 35 runs against Melbourne Uni.
Familiar faces, Liam Robertson and Dave Miller were also among the runs for Sydney Uni. Robertson hitting a top-score of 40 not out against Adelaide Uni, together with 25 runs against Uni of Queensland. Miller hitting 27 runs and 28 not out across the weekend.
Unfortunately, the close loss to Melbourne Uni saw our southern counterparts wrestle the title from us in 2016 after Sydney Uni claimed the inaugural title in 2015.
Scores:
Sydney Uni vs Adelaide Uni (Friday)
SU 176 (Robertson 40no, Mortimer 29, Miller 27, Crowley 22) def AU 158 (Malone 4 wickets, Ley 2 wickets)
Sydney Uni vs Melbourne Uni (Saturday)
SU 7-186 from 40 overs (Mortimer 88no, Rogers 35) def by MU 6-187 from 39 overs
Sydney Uni vs Uni of Queensland (Sunday)
SU 6-136 (Mortimer 35, Miller 28no, Robertson 25) def UQ 134 (Malone 4 wickets incl. hattrick, Rogers 3 wickets)