MATCH REPORTS - ROUND 2 VS GORDON CRICKET CLUB
Sydney Uni vs Gordon Day 1 is in the books and all I can say is wow!
Wow, the Sydney weather absolutely turned it on for the boys as not a single cloud was seen all day! Shout-out to Colin and Vicki for keeping the hydration stations full and available so the players, umpires and spectators could regularly fuel up!
Wow, it was a bad day to be a cricket ball. The ‘students' 1sts and 2nds teams absolutely painted their sticks with cherries.
Wow, it was extraordinary watching Nick Larkin show his class on the way to 83 off 126 deliveries. The man was made to hit the ball out of the centre!
Wow, Ryan Danne well and truly is the man! After a hard-hitting 92 not-out in Round 1, Danne was a certainty to go the distance in Round 2, and that he did notching three figures (118) which included 14 boundaries and 2 maximums!
Wow, how good were those lunchtime chicken burgers! #ElegancyCatering
MATCH REPORT - 1ST GRADE VS GORDON CRICKET CLUB AT UNIVERSITY OVAL (DAY 1)
SUCC 286
Nick Larkin 83
Ryan McElduff 57
After a tough away trip to Drummoyne in Round 1, the Students were eager to return to University Oval for Day 1 of a Round 2 clash against Gordon. 1s were lifted by the return of Nick Larkin who, from all accounts, has been in blistering form inside the NSW Blues bubble and skipper Liam Robertson showed little hesitation in batting first after the coin fell the way of the home side.
It was opposition skipper Tym Crawford (1/42) who drew first blood however, dismissing Nivethan Radhakrishnan (0) in the first over of the day. This brought Ryan McElduff (57) to the crease to join Larkin (83) as the pair combined to put on 137 for the 2nd wicket. Gordon fought hard and struck twice in quick succession to remove the set batsmen and threatened to attack the Students middle order with the score on 3/159. Damien Mortimer (39) and Liam Robertson (46) steered the Students back into a dominant position with a 53-run partnership and at 3/212 the home side was eyeing off a score well over 300. Credit must go to the Gordon bowlers, in particular Dylan Hunter (4/85), who toiled hard to prevent the Students from pushing home their advantage, dismissed for 286 in the 87th over. With 8 overs left in the day, the Students were unable to make an early breakthrough, Gordon navigating safely to stumps at 0/13.
MATCH REPORT - 2ND GRADE VS GORDON CRICKET CLUB AT ST PAUL’S OVAL (DAY 1)
SUCC 358
Ryan Danne 118
Oli Zannino 64
Light smoke haze and a Round 1 victory lingered in the air upon arrival at St Paul’s Oval for the 2’s side who were keen to continue their campaign with the same vigour and tenacity as they had begun it seven days earlier.
The return of Nick Walker in his newly appointed position as 2nd Grade manager (home games or beaches nearby ONLY) was a key inclusion for the Country Nash side who ran out dominant 3-1 victor’s against an uninspiring City outfit.
Henry Clark took over the reigns of the 2nd Grade side following Max Hope’s hamstring injury in Round 1 and had great delight winning the toss, announcing the Students would bat on what looked a true Paul’s wicket.
The return of Charlie Dummer saw the first two overs go for 21 as he and opening partner Tom Fullerton swiftly gathered momentum to reach a near half century stand within the opening 10 overs, before disaster to Charlie’s future spawn took a literal blow. A flush hit to the box saw the stocky left-hander retire hurt and head to RPA for further adjudication.
New batsman Charles Litchfield and Fullers grinded hard for their keep and were imperious on anything short. Fullers eventually fell for 27, leaving the Students 1-98. Round 1 churnsman Ryan Danne joined Litchy at the crease before lunch to see him reach his 50, his first in 2nd Grade since 2017/18.
The newly sourced and heavily spruiked chicken burgers (which Oli Zannino returned with for the Gordon boys some five minutes after the resumption of play and subsequently frisbied across the dirt to the man at fine leg $1) obviously had the secret ingredient for the fielding unit, running both Litchfield (52) and Bennett Walsh (0) out with the score on 128.
Ben Mitchell was undone by a quality leg cutter and suddenly the Students were 4 (effectively 5 with Dummer in the emergency room) for 152 before the day was even halfway done.
Luckily for the blue and gold’s, that man Zannino and Rowdy formed a crucial partnership with the innings in the balance. The pair of them were positive to the off-spinner, who bowled with excellent control all day, and put anything wide off the seamers to the rope.
Matador Danne batted with outstanding maturity and showed coolness under pressure of years beyond his age, notching up his fourth tonne for the Students.
The partnership between Danno and Oli was ended at 151, Rowdy running past one for 118, the Students now 5-303 with about 12 overs remaining in the day.
Dummer returned with the assistance of Litchfield as his runner, a few question marks about the choice of said runner considering Mr. Worldwide had indeed already been run out earlier in the day, however it counted for little as Dummer holed out to a smart catch on the fence for 27 off 26 deliveries. A certain feeling amongst the group of ‘what could have been’ had he not suffered the cruel blow within the first hour of play.
The Sportsbet fans had Zannino at $9 to reach three figures before the end of the day, “probably unders but worth a dabble”, however Oli was caught for 64, a maiden 2’s 50 for the Students (another few $$) in a very complete display.
Some lusty lower order hitting from skipper Clark and Jack Lawson boosted the Students score above 350, the side eventually bowled out in the 95th over for 358.
A jovial fines session followed by some very, very jovial brews at The Tox capped off a great start to the long weekend for the Students, however a patient and disciplined bowling display will be forefront of mind in the coming week to capture the six points against a strong batting line-up.
Max Hope