Welcome to Milestone Monday, where each week we will post any relevant milestones reached over the weekend's play.
Our opening milestone goes to explosive all-rounder and multiple SCA Team of the Year member, Tim Ley, who has reached 1,000 First Grade runs for SUCC with his cameo innings of 21 runs against North Sydney at Tunks Park on Saturday.
Congratulations on this achievement Tim and may there be many more runs to come!
Sydney University Cricket Club's Students brilliant start to the season continued today as they claimed a heart-stopping victory over Bankstown DCC's Bulldogs in the opening match of the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup at Bankstown Oval.
With a side brimming with all-round talent, it was the youngsters that stood up to be counted. Batting first, the Students lost skipper Nick Larkin (2) and explosive all-rounder Tim Ley (3) to be floundering at 2-8. Up stepped Liam Robertson (49) and Jonte Pattison (42no) who put on a crucial 71 run partnership, before Ben Trevor-Jones contributed a better than run-a-ball 26 runs to post 3-131.
Larkin proceeded to expertly juggle his strong bowling attack to keep the experienced Bulldogs batting line-up guessing. Led by Ley who went for only 4.25 runs an over, Ben Joy and man-of-the-match Robertson who both claimed two crucial wickets, the Students maintained enough pressure and took wickets at regular intervals.
Holding their nerve through the hectic final few overs, the Students kept Bankstown to 7-129 runs and an important 2-run win over their Thunder conference finals opponent from last season.
The next rounds of the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup will take place at Sydney University on Sunday 11th October from 10am with Parramatta and Fairfield-Liverpool joining us at SUCCs T20 Community Day. We invite all our family, friends, supporters and local community to come down for a wonderful day out at the picturesque No. 1 Oval. See the promotional material here.
Age shall not weary them
Almost a decade ago, Greg Matthews returned a sledge from Hawkesbury spinner Anthony Kershler with "You're just an angry old man" (it's possible that not all of the adjectives have been included). Kershler now admits to being 47, and has spent the last three seasons playing Third Grade, so it's unlikely that the premiers, Manly, were very concerned when he turned up at Owen Earle Oval - especially as peak fitness is rather a distant memory for the left-armer. But Kershler, who gave NSW solid service in the mid-1990s, is still a cunning one-day bowler. Manly looked comfortable at 2-92 chasing 241, but Kershler removed Adam Crosthwaite and Ahillen Beadle in quick succession and a couple of hours later was walking from the field with 5-18 from 10 overs. Manly's title defence - which never looked easy after the loss of several valuable players - looks even tougher after the 49-run defeat.
Kershler wasn't the only veteran who excelled on the weekend. Blacktown's Tony Clark, who began his First Grade career with Sutherland in the 1980s, skittled his old club with 3-8 from 7 overs, yet still ended up on the losing side.
St George still puts out handy teams
Penrith must have enjoyed the opening overs of their game at Hurstville. The hosts were 2-7, with former Tasmanian opener and occasional barista Steve Cazzulino back in the shed. But St George is still the kind of club that fields a middle order with Moises Henriques, Kurtis Patterson and Trent Copeland. Henriques whacked 102 from as many deliveries, Patterson weighed in with 43 and Copeland finished the innings with a rapid half-century. A tough start was turned into a comfortable victory- with former University spinner Darius Visser chiming in with three wickets.
Joshua Clarke has remembered how to get past twenty
Eastern Suburbs ran up the highly respectable total of 7-244 at Raby, with the ageless Ian Moran contributing 63. Campbelltown lost a wicket early in its chase. Easts couldn't have thought that their major threat would come from Ghosts' captain Joshua Clarke. To be kind about it, Clarke's form last season was dismal. He reached twenty more often than not, but recorded only one fifty. On Saturday, though, he played a perfectly paced innings, steered his side through a middle order collapse, and was unbeaten on 140 when Campbelltown reached its target in the final over. Last season it took Clarke eight innings to score his first 140 runs. He won't be underestimated again this season.
Ed Cowan has plenty left to offer
Plenty of cricket writers expected Ed Cowan to announce his retirement when he announced that he was leaving Tasmania late last season. Instead, he signed a new contract with the Blues and expressed an ongoing enthusiasm for white ball cricket as well as the longer game. And why not, when his first offering of the Grade season was an unbeaten 58 from 53 balls, in which he by-passed the damp outfield by hitting three sixes. It would be silly to read too much into an early-season knock against a willing but plain attack on a sluggish pitch, but Cowan's class was a highlight of the day. And Nick Larkin, also under contract with the Blues, also began his season in impressive form.
First Grade can be cruel
Jack Preddey is a good cricketer. He has a sold background as an Illawarra junior, and has worked his way through the grades at Randwick-Petersham over the last two years. He had a great off-season in England, scoring runs and taking wickets in Essex club cricket. So he had earned his grading in Firsts at the start of this season. But First Grade can be a cruel game, especially when you're a young spinner. In a tight match, Preddey's three overs went for 39, and he was run out first ball. Randy-Petes went down by 13 runs. Preddey's time will come, and when it does he'll enjoy his success all the more for knowing how harsh the game can be.
With the opening round of the grade competition out of the way, our attention now turns to the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup competition, with the opening round against Bankstown at Bankstown Oval from 10:00am tomorrow (Sunday 27th Sept).
Nick Larkin will lead his men again, after a stunning run in the 2014/15 edition came just one win short of total domination.
The side for Round One is:
The team was undefeated throughout the Thunder Conference round matches before winning through to the finals weekend in a golden over victory over Fairfield-Liverpool last season. With the finals weekend coinciding with state commitments, this saw more than 6 changes to the team that played the bulk of the competition, eventually falling to St George in the Grand Final.
SUCC silver sponsor, Kingsgrove Sports, is the naming rights partner for the T20 competition and have increased the prize money on offer to the winning teams, the champion claiming a $10,000 prize cheque.
With spots up for grabs in the Sydney Thunder squad, our lads will be desperate to put on a show for the selectors throughout the four-round competition.
Get down to Bankstown Oval from 10:00am tomorrow to support your Sydney Uni T20 team.
An unfortunate washout for third grade at Camperdown Oval was the only thing between SUCC and a clean sweep against North Sydney today in the opening round of the McDonald's Grade Competition for 2015/16.
A captains' knock of 72 runs from Nick Larkin and a brisk 58no from Ed Cowan set up a competitive total of 4-216 from a reduced 37 overs. The bowlers then put the screws on the North Sydney top order with light being called at 4-171 with four overs left to score 45 runs. Ben Joy, Jonte Pattison and Nigel Cowell claimed one wicket each. Sydney Uni claiming the win on Duckworth-Lewis.
A sensational batting display by Mark Faraday (92) ably supported by Ben Larkin (75), Max Hope (30no) and Steve Hobson (22no) put a dominant 2-244 from 45 overs on the board. Light was called with North Sydney on 9-167 from 40.2 overs and another easy Duckworth Lewis victory. Skipper Tom Kierath claimed 4-28 whilst Joe Kershaw eased back into bowling with 3-25.
A solid team performance by AJ Grant's fourth grade side saw them post a daunting total of 6-323 from their allotted 50 overs. Jack Holloway compiled a classy 74 runs whilst Grant and youngster Ryan Danne contributed 51 runs towards the total. Kieran Tate lead the attack claiming 3-62 from his 9 overs to have North Sydney all out for 216 runs.
With an unusual opportunity to play on Uni No. 1 Oval, fifth grade hit the ground running after a late start. With a number of debutants donning the baggy blue & gold cap for the first time, Michael Counsell (2-19) and youngster, Jack Gibson (4-9) demonstrated the depth of the club. Liam Whitaker chimed in with 2-5 to see North Sydney all out for 42 runs. Skipper Mike Harris (13no) and big-hitting Jarrod Waterlow (24no) saw the team home 2 wickets down and with a bonus point in the bag. Don't forget that the saved Livestream video is available through the website (click the Round One Livestream link).
Unfortunately our talented third grade side, and our young Metro Cup team were forced to abandon their matches.
Despite this, SUCC made a brilliant start to the Club Championship claiming just shy of 100 points towards the ultimate prize. We will be looking to continue that performance against reigning Club Champions, Manly away in round two.
Keep an eye out early in the week for our new Performances of the Round segment.
Well, well, well…
As I look outside on this Friday afternoon, it’s 10 degrees, windy and raining. But it’s also late September, and that can mean only one thing, the season is upon us.
A splendid evening last night was the Season Launch held at the Grandstand. Those that could not attend were suffering from the usual afflictions, ranging from representative duties, laziness, general ignorance at the fact that the club put on free beer and food, and of course last but not least, miscellaneous.
As in previous seasons, it was largely run to script. Key takeaways:
As it is ‘In the sheds’ I thought it best to talk about the hallowed turf of University No 1 oval and the luxuriously appointed changerooms that grace the oval. Having lurked around the grade cricket scene for 13 odd years, I have seen the best (probably the SCG, Blacktown International Sports Park among others) and the worst (take your pick, there are so many horrendous ones, Punchbowl and Sutherland spring to mind, Pauls isn’t exactly winning too many awards either) that change rooms have to offer across Sydney.
I would put Uni No1 right up at the top, simply for the wealth of space and activities that are on offer. The following being a (non-exhaustive) list of some of the things that make our sheds great:
o the stitch up shower,
o the seemingly unlimited hot water despite all of the showers being on,
o shower beers,
o shower seats, and for the adventurous
o shower handball
And there you have it, another off season down and many things to look forward to off the field as well as on it. Finally, this is supposed to be an anonymous entry, but I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that a few might decipher who your scribe is. Oh well, can’t win em all…
Cheers,
With great anticipation, our players and supporters welcomed in the new season with our Season Launch held at the Grandstand and eagerly awaited the announcement of the selected teams for the first round against North Sydney.
The selected teams can be found on the website here.
Our 1st Grade team will venture to Tunks Park with 4th Grade at Bon Andrews, whilst SUCC will host 2nd Grade at St Paul's Oval, 3rd Grade at Camperdown Oval and 5th Grade on Uni No. 1 Oval
We wish all our teams and players the best of luck in the opening round, and may it be the first step in reclaiming the Club Championship at season's end.
