Sydney Uni's Top Ten as at 2nd November:
BATTING:
BOWLING:
Sydney Uni have been crowned as the Thunder conference champions of the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup at the SCG on Sunday before rain prevented play getting underway in the grand final.
Click here for a full wrap up of the day.
One turning point that article doesn't point out was Ben Joy's match defining over claiming 3-3 including the danger man, Dan Hughes. Northern Districts could not come back from this devastating over as Uni cruised to victory.
With the grand final rescheduled for Coogee Oval on Sunday 29th November, we hope that all our supporters put that date in their diary and come join us in supporting our boys to the title.
It was a big week for Scott Henry, who made his first appearance for Queensland in first-class cricket, and became the 17th batsman to score a century on debut for that State. His 141 (against a Victorian attack including Test bowlers James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, John Hastings and Glenn Maxwell) was Henry’s second century in first-class cricket, and he passed 1500 runs in first-class cricket during the innings. If you like your milestones really obscure, he’s only the second left-handed batsman to score a century in his first appearance for Queensland after moving from New South Wales – the first was Allan Border.
On the theme of left-handed openers, Ed Cowan passed 1000 runs for NSW in first-class cricket during his first innings in the Sheffield Shield match against South Australia in Adelaide.
Ryan Carters hit his fifth first-class century, and first double-century, when he turned out for the Cricket Australia XI against the New Zealanders at Blacktown. His epic opening partnership of 503 with Aaron Finch was only the third above 400 in the history of Australian first-class cricket. In the 114th over of the innings, the partnership reached 457 – beating the previous Australian record of 456, by Edgar Mayne and Bill Ponsford for Victoria against Queensland back in 1923-24. Carters and Finch became only the fourth pair of openers to build a partnership of more than 500: you can see a list of the highest first-class opening stands here. During his innings of 209, Ryan also passed 2000 runs in first-class cricket.
All three Larkin brothers scored half-centuries in the round against Sutherland – Nick with 50 in Firsts, Ben with 61 in Seconds and Jum with 59 in Seconds. Is this a milestone? We’re not sure, but it’s unusual.
Will Somerville has passed both 100 wickets for the Club in all grades and 100 wickets for the Club in First Grade.
Ben Joy has passed 50 wickets in First Grade.
Jack Hill passed 1000 runs in Third Grade during his unbeaten 68 against Sutherland.
Kieran Tate’s 5-16 against Sutherland was his best analysis (and second five-wicket haul) in Third Grade.
Round Four of the SCA's McDonalds Premier Grade Cricket competition saw mixed results for Sydney Uni over the weekend against Sutherland.
First Grade were unable to make the rapid breakthrough's they were chasing in order to chase an outright with the game conceded at tea with Sutherland at 7 - 235. Will Somerville looked dangerous with 3-78, whilst Greg Mail and Tim Ley claimed 2 each.
Second Grade suffered a shock outright defeat, their first loss of any kind since December 2013. After conceding a 93-run deficit on first innings, Sydney Uni were looking to bat for the day, and with a 133-run partnership between Ben Larkin (61) and Dave Miller (81) the Students looked comfortable. A stunning day for Sutherland leg-spinner Devlin Malone to claim all 10 Uni wickets, saw Uni out for 268 and a 175-run lead. Sutherland scored at over 5-runs an over to chase down the outright win in 35.1 overs.
Third Grade continued their good form with both Jack Maddocks and Kieran Tate in tremendous form with both bat and ball respectively. Maddocks starred in the first innings last week with 71 runs and followed up with 38no in the second innings, whilst Tate was devastating with the ball to claim 5-16 and 2-19. Thirds fell just short of the outright with Sutherland 7-79 at the close of play.
Fourth Grade put up one almighty chase in their match with a classy ton to Suda Sivapalan (114) getting the side to within 20 runs of their required total, eventually being bowled out for 262 runs.
Fifth grade had a tough round at Camperdown Oval, beaten by an innings and 22 runs. The standout performance was Alex Mihalyka with 4-52 and top-scoring with 20 runs in the second innings.
Metro Cup also had a tough round falling for 85 runs and unable to restrict Hawkesbury who scored 109 runs.
Round Five commences this weekend against Northern Districts with 1s at Mark Taylor Oval, 2s at Uni No. 1 Oval, 3s at Asquith Oval, 4s at St Paul's Oval, 5s at Storey Park and Metro Cup at St Andrew's Oval.
With Sydney Uni comfortably claiming the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup - Thunder conference title with an impressive display against Northern Districts this morning at the SCG, we are desperately putting out a call for all Uni Army members (old and new) to join us at the SCG tonight from 6.30pm for the grand final.
With old foes Manly and Randwick-Petersham currently contesting the Sixers conference final, our supporters will be up against a vocal opponent tonight either way.
Wear your blue and gold proud, revive some of the old chants and help our lads to victory tonight and let's hear the Sydney Uni victory song sounding out across the SCG.
Match starts at 6.30pm with a bar tab open for anyone wearing their Sydney Uni blue and gold.
Match news and updates to follow tonight.
Three Sydney University cricketers with three very different stories to tell opened the batting in three different first-class matches this week – and each one scored a century.
Scott Henry now plays for the University of Queensland, but he was a Sydney University batsman from 2009-10 until last season. He moved north to Queensland in search of further opportunities after he was delisted by the NSW Blues at the end of 2014-15. The Queensland selectors made no promises, suggested that he might get a chance if he scored some runs, and left him out of the Matador Cup team. He started slowly, with scores of 15 and 24 in the opening rounds of the Premier competition, but then hit his stride with 82 against Ipswich-Logan, 101 not out against Valley and 52 against Western Suburbs. That earned him a call-up for the opening Sheffield Shield match of the season, against Victoria. This posed significant challenges – apart from having to deal with the unfamiliar pink ball, Henry was confronted by an attack built around Test bowlers James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, John Hastings and Glenn Maxwell. Queensland’s two Test aspirants, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja, both went cheaply. But Henry played superbly, defying the Victorian attack almost throughout the first day. He faced 249 deliveries, hit 13 fours and a six, and by the time he was caught by Maxwell from Pattinson’s bowling, he had scored 141 – just one run short of his highest first-class score. It’s an exceptional start to his career for his new State, and we’ll continue to think of him as an SUCC cricketer for a while yet.
Ryan Carters has had a frustrating start to the representative season – despite his outstanding form for NSW last season, Carters has received few opportunities with the Blues so far this season because of the presence of the team’s international stars. Instead of sulking or complaining, he’s made the most of what chances he has received. Last week, the Australian selectors chose him to play in the Prime Minister’s XI against the touring New Zealanders in Canberra. He responded by top-scoring with 74 from only 71 deliveries, blending powerful strokes and clever improvisation. He was then chosen to play another match against the tourists, for a Cricket Australia XI at Blacktown. Carters opened the batting with Victoria’s Aaron Finch, and the pair took control of the game, batting throughout the whole of the first day and taking 376 runs from 91 overs. Carters was unbeaten at stumps on 156, having faced 276 deliveries and hit 16 boundaries. On the second morning, he and Finch pushed on, and when Carters pushed Kane Williamson through the covers for a single, the partnership reached 400 – only the third time in the history of Australian first-class cricket that an opening stand has reached that mark. Not long afterwards, another Carters single from Williamson (this time to deep mid-off) took the stand to 432, which made it the tenth-highest opening partnership ever recorded in first-class cricket. Then records just kept falling – on 457, Carters and Finch passed the record for the highest opening stand in Australian first-class cricket and when Finch blasted Ross Taylor (the tenth bowler tried) down the ground for 6, it became the fourth-highest opening partnership in first-class cricket. A few moments later, Carters and Finch were only the fourth pair of openers ever to share a stand of 500. After last season’s near-miss, Carters brought up his first double-century when he cut Martin Guptill for 3. He had 209 to his name when he was eventually dismissed, with the score on 503. He’ll be back in NSW colours soon enough.
Was there ever any doubt that the revitalised Ed Cowan would score a hundred in his return to the NSW Sheffield Shield side? In the space of a few months, Cowan has gone from being a man expected to retire to the man most likely to win a Test recall. His early-season form in the Matador Cup was outstanding, and in the Shield game in Adelaide he seemed right at home at the top of the Blues’ order alongside David Warner and Steve Smith. In the first innings, he moved so confidently to 31 that his dismissal – caught at slip from Joe Mennie’s bowling – came as a surprise. In the second innings, he played exceptionally well to set the platform for the New South Wales innings, remaining unbeaten on 82 at stumps and helping Steve Smith to bat the home team out of the match. On the third afternoon of the game, as NSW accelerated, he cut his first ball of the day to the fence and then moved rapidly into the 90s. He reached his hundred with his eleventh boundary, pulling Adam Zampa through mid-wicket from the 174th delivery he faced. He was unbeaten on 107 when Steve Smith declared.
Congratulations to all three players on their excellent performances.
We are the army…the Uni army…
Let me take you on a journey back to the 2010/11 season.
Will Hay was the captain of first grade and weighed 80kgs. Our first grade team had Scott Henry batting at 5 and Nick Larkin at 7. Chrissy Withers was opening the bowling in second grade. Ken Huckle was opening the batting in third grade. Paul Bertelle was in his inaugural year captaining fifth grade and Adam Theobald had hair (…just kidding…but Paul really was fifth grade captain).
More specifically let’s talk about 27 February 2011; the unofficial birth date of the Uni army. Whilst prior to this date it was not uncommon for a congregation of Uni supporters to turn up on a Sunday to watch PGs and First grade play one-dayers (often in paddling pools celebrating Hasi Balasuriya getting hit for horns), this date sits as an undoubted milestone in the clubs history.
It was the first grade one day grand final at Manly. A hostile reception greeted the students on the field, but an even more hostile crowd greeted the Uni army off the field (see image one below). At this stage the Uni army was only made up of a couple of humble accountants and some impressionable youths, whereas Manly had half the North Shore making up their Manly Mess.
The Uni Army is born - 27th Feb 2011 - 1st Grade Limited Overs Final - Manly Oval
It was a dreary Sunday and as a result of an uncharacteristic Saturday night circuit the army were all late to the game – and accordingly purchased a case each (see image two below) to help start the festivities.
Some familiar faces discussing the virtues of the Responsible Service of Alcohol
The game was a relatively dull affair (except for Scott Henry obstructing the field, the partnership cup, Josh Toyer’s 2 metre vertical leap catch and the cliff-hanger finish); accordingly the fans had to keep themselves entertained. Predictably, it wasn’t long before the Manly faithful started targeting one of their former players who saw the light and jumped to the blue and gold pastures of Sydney Uni.
As a chorus of boos started echoing each time Mark Faraday fielded the ball at backward point the army started to plot their first song (save for the standard SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTER chants). The next time Mark Faraday fielded the ball the army rose as one to bellow out “We’ve got Mark Faraday, We’ve got Mark Faraday, We’ve got Mark Faraday, We’ve got Mark Faraday etc”. And with this simple song the army was born.
The singing that continued after this is not suitable for this forum but a long story short saw the slender Will Hay lift the one-day trophy and the army (Harry Potter and all) win the off-field battle. The army continued to lead the students to the Nags and assist the celebrations with numerous more songs (e.g. “Super Buzz”).
What proceeded from this day were two more premierships in the 2010/11 year which the army celebrated in size – despite not actually playing in any of the teams.
Since this date the numbers in the army have swelled and the organisation has been passed to more reliable hands with most of the inaugural members of the army moving to the quieter ends of the ground.
The army have become a massive part of Uni home games on a Sunday and the atmosphere that they can create makes Uni No 1 a graveyard for opposition teams. I can’t encourage everyone enough to get down to the games and join the army. You will no doubt see the old wise stalwarts of the club mixed in with the young up and coming students sitting side by side supporting our team… not to mention Uni army life member Colin Robertson floating around – never too far from the action! Make sure you get down on Sunday at the SCG to be a part of the action!
The current troops discuss battle plans at Uni No. 1 Oval