SUCC are currently finalising some of the details for this year's Christmas party, but we would like to announce the date so that you can save it into your busy calendars at this time of the year.
Our Club Xmas Party will be held on Saturday 20th December following play in the "Rivalry Round" against UNSW.
We look forward to a fun and festive evening.
More information will follow in the next week.
Please be aware that training for Tuesday 25th Nov has been moved to the SCG Indoor Nets from 6pm to 8pm.
SUCC has created a team for the Movember team linked with the SCA's fundraising campaign for Movember 2014 and we need members to go up against each other to grow the most full and interesting moustache possible.
Aside from raising critical funds, the highest individual fund raiser within the Sydney Cricket Association campaign will win two tickets to the Doug Walters Club function on Day 4 of the SCG Test against India, and the Club that raises the most money will receive 30 tickets to the ODI between Australia and England on 18th January 2015.
Should SUCC raise the most money, the top ten money raisers in the team will receive 2 x free tickets to the ODI match in January.
If you are concerned about your ability to grow a mo', there are still many ways in which to be involved. Mo' Sisters are more than welcome to join, and if you don't want to join the team itself, please donate to either one of the individual's participating or to the team itself.
To join or donate, please visit http://au.movember.com/ and go to "Get Involved".
If you want to join, sign up and select "join a team" (SUCC1864).
If you want to donate, please click donate and search for "SUCC1864".
We look forward to seeing some of the photos and styles that our lads can create by 30th November.
Any questions on how to be involved in Movember, please contact the Club.
So, what an amazing month for Sydney University Cricket Club!
It has been a hectic and successful month both on- and off-the-field with on-field success for our Grade, Poidevin-Gray and Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup sides, as well as amazing events off the field such as our long-awaited Sesquicentenary Dinner and following Intervarsity match on the SCG.
SESQUICENTENARY DINNER - 18TH OCTOBER 2014 @ THE SCG
After much hype and build up, the evening finally arrived and the scene was set at the SCG for players and supporters, former and current, to come together to celebrate our 150th Anniversary.
Attendees were able to mingle over canapes and drinks on the hallowed turf of the S.C.G., discovering lost friendships and enjoying the magnificent setting before convening in the new dining room in the M.A. Noble and Bradman Stands for a magnificent 3-course dinner.
Master of Ceremonies, Chris Elder set the early pace with some light-hearted humour. Tim Croft welcomed guests to Country before some passionate words from SUCC's Chairman, James Rodgers, and the University of Sydney Chancellor, Ms Belinda Hutchinson AM.
Former SCG Trust Chairman, Rodney Cavalier AO spoke eloquently on the history of our wonderful Club whilst launching a book entitled "Golden Blues. Sydney University Cricket: 150 years of the club and its players" written by James Rodgers and Max Bonnell.
Stuart MacGill expertly displayed the passion it takes to be a part of the Sydney University Cricket Club whilst Ed Cowan posed the question of where will the Club and cricket in general be in 50 years time.
The night was hijacked by some waiters posing as opera singers, or was that opera singers posing as waiters, which provided some light-hearted entertainment during dinner.
The evening finished with a chance to mingle, share stories, and forge friendships that will last until the 200th Anniversary.
Thanks must go to our Dinner sponsors and suppliers - AMCOR, Kemp Strang, Surjits Indian Restaurant, Calton & United Breweries, and Tyrrell's Wines, as well as the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust and SCG Events.
Photos of the event are available here. We thank Dave Stanton for his photography efforts on the night.
For anyone interested, the books are on sale from the Club for $30 (plus postage). Please contact Dale Bryant at dale@sydneyuniversitycricket.com.au to order your copy.
GRADE & POIDEVIN-GRAY RESULTS:
After a disappointing Round 1, wins against Eastern Suburbs in Round Two to our 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Grade sides, including some outstanding individual performances by Nick Larkin (157no), Will Somerville (5-54), Jim Ryan (5-54) and Alex Mihalyka (5-33) certainly set us back on course to attempt to defend the Club Championship in 2014/15.
Round Three against Bankstown has also seen excellent batting performances across the entire Club with 1st Grade being 7 - 302 (with a Scott Henry century - 105), 2nd Grade scoring 208 with Bankstown 3 - 31 at the end of play, 3rd Grade at 8 - 265, 4th Grade hitting 291 and with 1 wicket already in the bag, and 5th Grade belting 300 runs (with Jarrod Waterlow plunding 131 of them). Play continues this Saturday.
Our Poidevin-Gray side also got off to a winning start, defeating Mosman last Sunday, scoring 233 and restricting Mosman to 162 runs.
For full scorecards, please click Results in the SCA dropdown on the Menu Bar.
KINGSGROVE SPORTS T20 CUP:
SUCC's T20 side has remained undefeated through the round stage of the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup over the last few weeks, and went into last night's semi-final against Fairfield-Liverpool as top-ranked finisher and full of confidence.
The semi-final was a strange T20 affair with SUCC restricting Fairfield-Liverpool to just 83 runs from their 20 overs, and cruising midway through our innings before tightening up and finishing our 20 overs at 6 - 83 and needing a "super over" to claim the win. Sean Abbott claiming the key wicket of Ben Rohrer and restricting Fairfield-Liverpool to just 6 runs before Scott Henry and Nick Larkin peeled off 9 runs in 3 balls for the win.
The win sees our team head to the S.C.G. on Sunday 2nd November to take on either Bankstown or Penrith in the Sydney Thunder Conference Final at 2:30pm with the winner taking on the Sydney Sixers Conference champion at 6:30pm for bragging rights.
A full day of T20 action starts at the SCG from 11am (the Sixers Conference final), with Gate A open to the general public, food and drink available, and The Members' Bar open from 12:30pm. There will be no parking for spectators available in the Members Car Park, however we still have some pre-paid parking vouchers available for Wilson Car Park at Fox Studios for $15 (usually $25 for a full day).
Come join the Uni Army in the stands and help the lads claim the first piece of silverware for the season, and our first ever T20 title, in our 150th season.
INTERVARSITY AT THE SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND:
For many of our young players, it was their first opportunity (but hopefully not last) to play on the famed SCG turf when SUCC took on UNSWCC in an intervarsity match on Monday 27th October.
The ground was kindly provided to SUCC to help celebrate our sesquicentenary, but unfortunately the result did not follow the script with SUCC falling just short in our run-chase with only a couple of overs remaining.
Again, thanks to the SCG Trust for making the ground available, and to UNSWCC for agreeing to the match at quite short notice.
REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS:
Congratulations finally must go to Nick Larkin and Will Somerville, who are in line to make their NSW debuts, joining Scott Henry, Ryan Carters in the Blues squad to take on Victoria, and adding Sean Abbott's commitments with the Australian squad, SUCC is showing why we've been the dominant force over the last 5 years.
This is possibly the first time since 1913 that SUCC has been represented by four players in the one Shield side.
Good luck to Nick, Will, Ryan and Scott!
1ST GRADE:
SCOTT HENRY
NICK LARKIN
ADAM THEOBALD
GREG MAIL (C)
LIAM ROBERTSON
DAVID MILLER
TIM LEY
JONTE PATTISON
ED ARNOTT +
NIGEL COWELL
WILL SOMERVILLE
2ND GRADE:
WILL HAY
JACK HILL
BEN TREVOR-JONES
DARIUS VISSER
MAX HOPE
JAMES CROWLEY +
JOE KERSHAW
DUGALD HOLLOWAY
TOM KIERATH (c)
LEWIS MCMAHON
BEN JOY
3RD GRADE:
RYAN DANNE
JACK HOLLOWAY
JAMES LARKIN
HENRY CLARK
BRENDAN PRYKE
ALEX SHAW +
ASH COWAN (c)
JIM RYAN
UDI GAUR
BRODIE FROST
RYAN KURTZ
Our dominant T20 team, led by the in-form Nick Larkin, completed the round robin portion of the Kingsgrove T20 Cup undefeated over the weekend with victories at home over Hawkesbury and Campbelltown-Camden.
Nick Larkin and Scott Henry took to the pitch in the opening match against Hawkesbury looking to dominate and quickly took the score to 97 before the skipper was out for 48 from 37 balls. Henry top-scored with 63 from 55 balls and controlled the innings beautifully.
With some wickets falling quickly at the end of the innings, a possible 150+ score ended at 7 - 144 from our 20 overs.
Some shrewd captaincy, together with some tight bowling and fielding, meant that Hawksbury were never really in touching distance, eventually rolled for 119 runs inside the last over.
Campbelltown-Camden batting first in the final match of the day posted the highest total against SUCC in the competition so far, finishing with 7 - 140 from their 20 overs. Will Somerville the standout with the ball claiming 4 wickets from his 4 overs.
The result was never in doubt however, as Larkin (36) and Henry (39) again got off to an outstanding start, adding 77 for the first wicket before both fell quickly. In a situation where 2 wickets could change the momentum very quickly, some young heads displayed experience beyond their years, with Liam Robertson (33no) and Jonte Pattinson (31no) guiding the team to victory in the 18th over with no further loss.
Claiming 4 comfortable victories has seen SUCC finish atop the Sydney Thunder conference of the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup and will take on Fairfield-Liverpool in the conference semi-final on Wednesday 29th October at 6:30pm at Blacktown International Sports Park.
The winner of this match moving through to the conference final on Sunday 2nd November at 2:30pm at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with the winners of each conference (Thunder and Sixers) playing that evening at 6:30pm for the right to hoist the inaugural Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup.
Get along to BISP next Wednesday to follow our boys journey through to the SCG!
Speaking of the Sydney Cricket Ground, as part of our Sesquicentenary celebrations, the SCG Trust has kindly provided the ground for an intervarsity match against the UNSWCC on Monday 27th October starting at 10am. This is a unique opportunity to play this type of match on the hallowed surface of the SCG and we recommend you take the day of from study/work (or at least a long lunch break) to cheer on our IV team.
Please find attached here a promo flyer for both the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup Semi and the SUCC v UNSWCC Intervarsity match.
I remember reading a line from the French philosopher Albert Camus when I was studying something or other many years ago:
‘In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was…an invincible summer.’
We’re in a golden era for the Club so each season now feels like an invincible summer. But to appreciate and savour these times, we need to know about some of the times when it’s felt like the depth of winter.
Just two thoughts for this week:
Firstly, after it felt like winter during the bleak first round this season, the success over the past two weekends has been inspirational. Four Grade wins from five (and a valiant revival in 3rd Grade that almost turned the tables); four emphatic victories in the 1st Grade T20 (What caught my eye on Sunday at Uni no1 was our stunning fielding and mature ‘game awareness’ on the field, especially from some of the youngest. Outstanding!). I’ll let the match reports mention individual performances.
Secondly, Saturday night at the SCG….our Sesqui centenary celebration. This was the Club at its best. We’ve been through some summers that felt like the depth of winters but on Saturday links were made to our treasured past through our triumphant present, looking to our even brighter future. With all due respect to everyone and everything else that happened, the emotional highlight of the night was the Club song being belted out for the very first time at the SCG where it all began (read the History!).
Thank yous are quite inadequate for the tireless work done by Dale and Geoff Pike in preparation and on the night. But they deserve all our undying gratitude and all the accolades.
Dale and Geoff, you ensured that this was a triumph.
James Rodgers.
