Milestones Monday

Before the Futures League existed, there was an earlier, similar, competition known as the Cricket Australia Cup.  In that competition, back in 2008-09, Usman Khawaja scored double-centuries in two consecutive innings.  Last week’s Futures League match was noteworthy mostly for the fact that Nick Larkin scored his second successive double-century in the competition, matching Khawaja’s effort – but the striking thing about it was that Ed Cowan, who scored 157 himself, played in all four of the matches in which Khawaja and Larkin hit their double-centuries.

Nick Larkin’s 212 against Victoria was his highest score, and fifth century, in the Futures League.  In Futures League matches this season, Nick has 521 runs at 104.20. 

Ed Cowan’s appearance against Victoria was only his second Futures League match, although between 2002-03 and 2008-09 he played a few matches for New South Wales in the earlier versions of the competition, known as the Australian Cricket Board Cup and later the Cricket Australia Cup.  His 157, scored in an opening stand of 337 with Nick Larkin, was his first Futures League century.

Greg Mail extended several of his own records on the weekend, including the most centuries in a First Grade career (his match-winning 107 not out against Blacktown was his 44th); the most First Grade centuries for Sydney University (31); the most runs in a First Grade career (15,145) and the most First Grade runs for Sydney University (10,150). 

Tom Kierath hit his first Third Grade century in the match against Blacktown, and in the process passed 5000 runs for the club.  He has become the 22nd player to score 5000 runs for the Club, and none of those players has taken as many wickets as he has (currently 465).  Three other players (Greg Mail, Ian Moran and Ash Cowan) have scored more than 5000 runs for the Club and taken over 100 wickets; Mail has 221 wickets, while Moran took 337.

Nicky Craze’s 58 against Blacktown was his fifth half-century in Second Grade, but his first for Sydney University in that grade.

Kevin Jacob, with 76 in Third Grade against Blacktown, hit his highest score for the Club.

Nick Fitzgerald, with 72 against Blacktown in Fourth Grade, hit his highest score for the Club.

Ryan Kurtz’s match-winning 47 not out in Fourths against Blacktown was his highest score for the Club.

ROUND 11 DAY 1 REPORT AGAINST BLACKTOWN

1st Grade:

Blacktown 10/356 (A Lilley 77, J Fawcett 60, D Crawford 48, D Holloway 3/44, T Ley 3/72)

Trips west to play Blacktown have been memorable over the years. Flat, hard pitches and brutal conditions seem to draw out the strange and humorous. Greg Matthews once turned up with a live chicken, purchased at a roadside stall on the way out.  Ed Cowan has been lost and late, too far from Anzac Parade, more times than I can remember and SBS News once arrived for a ‘heatwave in the west’ story and found a willing interview participant, Hector Paskal.  When Saturday morning presented a well grassed pitch and a temperature ten degrees cooler than ‘normal,’ skipper Nick Larkin chose to field first.

The game itself had an odd rhythm to it, it felt like we were playing in a highlights package. We were unable to get enough balls in the right area early on, and the Blacktown batsmen responded with an attacking mindset. Thankfully they made enough mistakes too, wickets fell steadily enough to keep thoughts of bowling them out around tea in our minds. It wasn’t to be, a counter attacking hand from their no 7 taking the score toward 350 and the time toward (a late) stumps.

Tim Ley (22-3-3-72) was consistent and the pick of the bowlers, Tim Rogers (20-5-2-81) threatened to crack them open during a hostile old ball spell, Joy (15-3-2-53) did his best Moran impression (bowled well without luck) and Dugald (8.3-0-3-44) returned late to swing the second new ball to good effect. Our catching was at best scratchy and we will need to be close to our best next week to bring the points home.

2nd Grade: 

Blacktown 89 (G McCartin 23, J Craig-Dobson 4/33, L Neil-Smith 2/7) Sydney University 3/87 (B Trevor-Jones 34, N Craze 19)

The 2’s boys arrived on a hot and sweaty day after dropping the ball in the past two games, this was the game we needed to stand up. Will Hay stepped up in Dave Miller’s absence as captain. A fast and aggressive game of Nash saw the Old team go on to win with the extra man, a great physical start to the day to get the team ready for a big game ahead. The wicket looking hard with a fair bit of live grass on the top, being a good toss to lose the boys from Blacktown sent the Uni boys out to field.

Young Lawrence Neil-Smith to start us off with the ball from the grandstand end, sending them down at a serious pace. When the first wicket was taken by Lawrence there was a small collapse and Jono Craig-Dibbley-Dobson stole the show taking two quick wickets and even knocking a stump out of the ground! Great pace from the man known as School zone.

The ball seaming around in the first hour, Blacktown found themselves at 4-37 at drinks.

With Big Dugald being promoted up to 1st Grade, it brought up Lewis McMahon after finding some form with the ball over the last month or so. Lewis teamed up with Jack Holloway to keep us well in the game taking us past lunch into the next drinks break with some strong overs while the boys from Blacktown weren’t getting too far with the bat, the Uni boys staying well on top. After Dobson took his 4th wicket for the game bringing, ex-international test cricketer Corey Collymore at the age of 39. Collymore was eventually dismissed by Whitaker to bowl Blacktown out for 90.

Hay and James Larkin were to start us off with the bat. We lost Hay early in the innings, bringing in the keeper-bat Trevor-Jones who batted through the rest of the afternoon with young Nicky Craze after Larkin was dismissed for 17. The students to finish the day at 2-87. Going in to next weekend in a strong position hopeful for the outright win!

3rd Grade:

Blacktown 10/142 (G Ganeshkumar 37, A Titterton 35, H Clark 3/23, R Kurtz 2/25, J Kershaw 2/30) Sydney University 1/40 (K Jacobs 21, T Kierath 15, B Kannan 1/13).

3s boys arrived at Whalen looking to make it 7 wins in a row.  Tom Kierath was overjoyed with the soft green deck that confronted the students and his mood didn’t improve after a subpar Nash performance from the olds to lose in a very dubious 3 all draw (Ash Cowan used all his cheating ability to ensure the game ended in a draw).  Thankfully however Ash won the toss and asked the hosts to have a bat. With the opening pair of Kershaw and Toyer the students were ready to rip through the Blacktown top order.  Kershaw grabbed the edge in his second over and Toyer’s first three overs were maidens, as Blacktown crawled along to 1/3 in the 6th over.  Despite the bowler friendly conditions the hosts top order left well and managed to get through the first ten overs with the loss of just 1 wicket. However Clark Henry was able to get his first ball on the stumps and the Blacktown batsman, totally confused by what had transpired, forgot to hit the ball as it crashed into his toe in front of middle.   Clark grabbed the 3rd a few overs later with a sharp catch to Shaw at first slip, and Ash Cowan joined in getting the batsman to hit one straight to mid-on for a good catch to Nick Arnold.  Blacktown were now reeling at 4/21.

A few decent partnerships through the middle order and some lack luster fielding from the students saw Blacktown push towards the 100. Ryan Danne was the pick of the bowlers throughout the middle session regularly beating the bat, getting through his 8 overs and going for just 9 runs.  After the Tea break Joe Kershaw wound back the clock and decided to bounce the Blacktown Batsman out, however despite several close chances was unable to do so. Clark was brought back into the attack with immediate results, grabbing the top edge from a pull stroke caught at fine leg, much to Kershaw’s disgust. Ryan Kurtz, Danne and Kierath combined to clean up the tail ultimately dismissing Blacktown for 142. 

With 18 overs to bat on a still seaming wicket the boys were in for a tough time.  Losing Danne early had the students against the wall at 1/6 however Kevin Jacob(s) joined Kierath and the two of them batted with excellent control and maturity ensuring the scoreboard slowly ticked over ending the days play at 1/40.  Overall a good performance from the 3s boys and hopefully can rock up next week and get the job done.   

4th Grade:

Blacktown 10/236 (A Gater 57, Y Sharma 33)

The 4s boys arrived to Paul’s with a bit of a roll on from the previous two wins and were tasked with the challenge of a momentum gathering Blacktown outfit. Some changes and unavailability had led to a slightly different team sheet but a strong Uni team was assembled yet again.  The wicket looked a belter and all that remained was for the captain to cheat in Nash and win the toss.  Successful in 1 of the 2 requirements, the nuffies grabbed the points in Nash but the dents were subjected to field.  The early signs were good for the uni side with Peek continuing to show his impressive form and the physiotherapist’s best mate, Kieran Tate, coming back from injury buoyed the attack.  Blacktown were required to dig in and apply themselves for the first 20 overs which they negotiated well.  The good batting strip became more and more evident as we approached tea and the sun baked any life from the surface.  Blacktown 2/110ish at tea were well set.  Little be known to the Blacktown side was that the Uni boys were soon to employ a milo Cricket special with the rotation policy applied to have Tommy Galvin bowling (depiste being selected as a batsman and keeper in adjacent fixtures for the weekend).  Tommy in tandem with the quicks set about wrestling SUCC Back into a position that would be considered ahead of the ledger.  Some lusty blows from the tail pulled the match toward parity with the final wicket being taken in the 79th and the score settled at 236. 

Good toil from the team and strong rewards to Peeky and Galvs both grabbing 4 on a batting friendly day.  Disciplined Batting next week should hope to return a well-earned 6 points to the students.

5th Grade:

Sydney University 10/196 (S Murthy 46, C Lorenzato 44, B Frost 33, M Harris 32, H Rauf 4/37)

After getting the win last round, 5s were keen to continue their momentum. Thankfully, we arrived at Whalen and the 150m boundaries had been roped in a good 20/30 metres, however they seemed to have balanced the smaller boundaries with a raging green seamer.  After being sent in to bat, we struggled early getting to 4/53, however Christian Lorenzato batted with control and maturity for a solid 44 before being dismissed.  Brodie Frost and Skipper Mike Harris (32*) joined each other and proceeded to add 50 before Brodie departed for an aggressive 33.  Mikey was joined by Sameer who posted his highest score for the club with a powerful 46 helping the students to post 196 off 64 overs.

With time for 13 overs in the days play, the students set about making early inroads and Brodie Frost didn’t disappoint bowling with great pace and aggression dismissing the Blacktown opening bat for just 4 to finish the day with figures of 1/6 off 7.  Brodie was well supported by Natesh Yoganand who claimed the other opener in his spell of 1/6 off 4.  Blacktown ended the day at 2/22 with the students requiring a further 8 wickets for victory.   

Metro Cup

Sydney University 8dec 315 (H Farrow 108, M Miles 49) Mosman 3/12 (R Miles 2/6)

Arriving to sunny Balmoral the students had eyes on a big score and were not disappointed when the toss was won and the pads put on. However, a two paced wicket was the undoing of most of the top order as they were out caught playing across the line. Debutant Hugh Farrow steadied the ship with Tim Fitzgerald and Ethan Clout before going on to post his first century for the club. Murray Miles was on track for his second 50 in a row but ran himself out on 49 in an attempt to sneak Farrow to his milestone.

Declaring at 9/314 the bowlers set their sights on early breakthroughs in the final 9 overs of play. The two Miles brothers combined to take 3 wickets with Russell claiming two scalps in his first over. The early introduction of spin tested the second night watchman's footwork, however, no more wickets fell and the day ended with Mosman on 3/12.

PGs

Eastern Suburbs 10/137 (W Lawrance 44, J Remond 33, L Neil-Smith 3/18, J Craig-Dobson 3/22) Defeated by Sydney University 9/138 (R Danne 44, K Jacob 26, W Simpson 3/39, J Pattison 2/23). 

PG's had a nail biter win against Eastern Suburbs to finish 5th on the table securing a spot into the finals. The students had their first chase of the campaign after they bowled the low placed opposition out for 137 after 42 overs. The leaders of the attack were young gun Lawrence Neil-Smith (3-18) and Jono Craig-Dobson (3-22) both very economical of their 10 overs. Combing with spearhead Dugald Holloway (2-19) and Ryan Danne (1-23) saw uni blasting through easts containing them to a below par score on what seemed like another good no.1 deck. PG's bully Hayden Kerr blasted a quick fire 15 in the first overs before being dismissed followed by Kevin Jacob (26) and Ryan Danne (44) having the side 1 for 70 seeming to be cruising to the target. However ex-student Jonte Pattison and St Paul's college boy Jack Remond had other plans both taking a handful of wickets and a clinical run out saw the Dents 7 down with 14 runs remaining. another 2 wickets fell leaving Kieran Tate and Liam Whitikar to score the final 7 runs.

But the class of Tate and solid defence of Liam helped see Uni pass the total in the 43rd over. A good win leaving the students with a 5 game winning streak heading into the finals learning many lessons along the way. The boys now face Parramatta at Old Kings Oval in the qualifying final on February 19th. 

Milestones Monday

In the Metropolitan Cup match against Mosman, Hugh Farrow scored 108 in his first appearance for the Club.  Hugh has become only the 13th player to score a century on his Sydney University debut.

The Poidevin-Gray team's unnecessarily close win over Eastern Suburbs on Sunday carried the side into the finals of the competition for the first time since 2010-11 (when University, under Nick Larkin, won the competition).  The qualifying final will be played against Parramatta on 19 February.

Jono Craig-Dobson's 4-33 against Blacktown was his best bowling analysis in Second Grade.

Lawrence Neil-Smith improved on two career-best performances in as many days on the weekend: his 2-7 against Blacktown (from 12 overs) was his best effort in Second Grade, and his 3-18 against Eastern Suburbs was his best return in Poidevin-Gray.

During his dogged 32 not out in Fifth Grade, Mike Harris reached 1000 runs for the Club.

And finally, on milestone-watch: Tom Kierath is not out on 15 overnight in Third Grade, which gives him 4996 runs for the Club.  Just saying.  No pressure.

You might not remember... the unusual career of Alan Jakes

As a student - and later a teacher - of history, Alan Jakes understands that most things that happen have happened before, or will happen again.  Sydney University Cricket Club’s record books are full of records that are ripe to be broken.  Very few of them, no matter how impressive, will survive for very long.

But this one will. 

Never again, in these days of flat, covered pitches and massive bats, will a bowler play for nearly ten years, take nearly 300 wickets, and pay just eleven runs for each of them.

Between 1964 and 1973, Alan Jakes played only five full seasons for Sydney University, but he gathered 295 wickets at the ridiculously low average of 11.22.  Actually, he took a few more wickets than that – record-keeping being a fairly haphazard affair in the 1960s, he played several game in Thirds in which he enjoyed some success, but for which his bowling figures haven’t survived. 

And he did it after starting his career, after graduation, as a batsman in Fourth Grade.  “I did my History Honours degree as a night student”, he recalls.  “I was very busy, but I played a bit of church cricket on the weekend.  When I graduated, I decided to give it a go at University.  I started as a batsman who occasionally bowled, then I became an all-rounder, and then I got to Firsts as a bowler.”

Jakes’ career with the Club followed a peculiar trajectory.  He was graded as a batsman in Fourths in 1964-65, and in nine games there he batted consistently but bowled only 23 overs.  But when he was promoted, his captain in Thirds spotted his potential with the ball, and by the start of his second season, he was taking the new ball in Third Grade.  In 1965-66, he won the trophy for the Club’s leading wicket-taker – which he would win on three more occasions – and became a key member of the Second Grade side.  He was tireless, relentlessly accurate and utterly reliable.  “Give him the ball”, John Everett wrote in the annual report, “with instructions to bowl 15 overs, and no captain need worry any more”.  Perhaps his best effort was against Manly, when he followed an unbeaten 42 with 3-10; his 4-37 clinched a victory over Sydney.

These efforts won Jakes a place in the Intervarsity team that visited Melbourne, where he encountered Melbourne University’s Paul Sheahan, who had just won his place in the Victorian Sheffield Shield team.  “We found him rather difficult to dismiss”, Jakes remembers – accurately enough, as Sheahan was undefeated on 175 when Melbourne University declared at six for 406.  A tired Sydney team collapsed meekly and followed on.  An innings defeat seemed inevitable after a second collapse, and two hours play were left in the game when Jakes, batting at nine, joined all-rounder Bill Armstrong.  Armstrong counter-attacked, while Jakes blocked diligently.  After Armstrong was removed for a defiant 85, Jakes and leg-spinner Peter Cross survived the last few overs.  His 19 not out salvaged a draw from the wreckage of the game, and remained the batting performance of which he was most proud during his time at the Club.

Another good performance against Sydney in Seconds (6-57) earned Jakes his First Grade debut, against North Sydney, in December 1966.  He took only one wicket, but it was a good one, Test batsman Barry Shepherd, caught by Graham Dawson.  The following week, Jakes dismissed Gordon’s first three batsmen, including State opener Marshall Rosen, on his way to 3-48.  Clearly, Jakes had the ability to dismiss high-quality batsmen.  It looked as though a promising First Grade career had begun.  But the next match, against Northern District, was Jakes’ last in the top grade.  He had decided to travel overseas, and he played no more cricket for over a year.

“When I came back from overseas”, he says, “I had a lot of demands on my time.  “I wasn’t so serious about playing in the higher grades.  But the Club asked me to come back and play lower down, as captain of Fourth Grade.”  Whoever thought of this, it was an inspired idea.  Fourth Grade played 13 matches in 1969-70, in which Jakes bowled 236 overs (50 of them maidens) to take 76 wickets at an average of 9.77 – a club record which still stands, and is unlikely ever to be broken.  His own account of his success was that “the captain’s sustained impersonations of new ball exponent, medium pace hack and sub-medium off-spinner exposed the gullibility of 76 batsmen.”  More seriously, he reflects that “I had the ability to bowl off-breaks at medium pace, and on any pitch they turned a bit.”  On some of the pitches Fourth Grade played on – which could be primitive and were usually open to the elements – the ball turned much more than a bit and this, combined with his accuracy, made Jakes a deadly proposition.  Seven times, he took five wickets in an innings, with 7-20 against Manly his best performance.  Despite it all, Fourth Grade missed the semi-finals – its batting was so horribly fallible that Jakes, with 227 runs, was the season’s highest scorer. 

Jakes was almost as effective in 1970-71, and in 1971-72, when stepped down as captain to play Fourths under Austin Punch, he was irresistible.  Over the course of the season, he conceded fewer than two runs each eight-ball over, and took a wicket, on average, every 28 deliveries.  His 65 wickets in Fourths cost him only 6.98 runs each – figures that may well have been even better had he not been recalled (successfully) to fill a gap in Seconds.  When North Sydney was bundled out for only 77, Jakes took seven of the wickets for only six runs, setting up an outright victory.  His efforts carried University into the semi-final, where it was caught on a drying pitch and was forced to follow on against Petersham, but a belligerent second innings allowed University to declare and set Petersham a target of 114.  On a pitch that was now blameless, Petersham crashed to eight for 48, but was able to hold on and preserve its win on the first innings.  Jakes’ contribution, in his last match in Fourths, was 4-39 and 4-8.

There were three more matches, in Thirds, in 1972-73: in the last, he took 5-26.  But “I got married in 1972”, Jakes says, “and after that my time was spent elsewhere.  And my knees were starting to sag.”  Jakes had embarked upon a lengthy career as a history teacher in the New South Wales state system, taking posts as the History Master at Epping Boys High, Cronulla High School and then Port Hacking High School.  “I found that the best balance of the intellectual work, and interacting with young people”, he reflects.  “I lectured for a while in the University of NSW Diploma of Education course, teaching history theory, but I found I was happier in schools.”  He served as a popular, highly-regarded and teacher until his retirement.

Grade cricket has changed in all sorts of ways since Jakes played, but here’s one statistic to consider: last year, the leading bowler in Fourth Grade took 30 wickets at an average of 15.  Jakes, one suspects, would have regarded 30 wickets at 15 as five slightly disappointing matches.  Don’t expect to see another player like him any time soon.

PLAYER OF ROUND 10

Voting has been completed for the Sydney Uni Cricket Player of the Round following Round 9 of the McDonald's NSW Premier Cricket competition.

The Surjits Player of the Round goes to Ryan Carters for his career high 167 in First Grades victory over Sutherland. 

The Nags Head Performance of the Round, goes to Nick Larkin for his 129 also in First Grades victory.

Ryan's flawless 167 came off 229 balls and set the tone for the dominant victory.  Ryan and Nick shared a 222 run partnership and really took the game away from Sutherland.  It is Ryan's first Surjit Player of the round and his second century this season after his 113 in round 6 against Gordon. 

Nick posted his fourth century in First Grade this season, and joined an elite group of Sydney University players to have scored 7000 runs for the club (Greg Mail, Adam Theobald, Ian Moran and Ed Cowan).  Only one player in the clubs history has scored more than 4 centuries in a single first grade season (Jim Bogle, 1918-19) and with five rounds to go Nick may challenge this record.  

There were a handful of other outstanding performances this round that require a mention;

Ben Joy was exceptionally close to claiming the Nags Performance of the Round with his first five wicket haul in First Grade, claiming 5/53 off his 15 overs. 

Lewis McMahon continued his good form taking 4/26 off 9.3 in Third Grade's victory. 

Josh Toyer was impressive in his comeback game, scoring 49 and taking 2/23 in Fifth Grade's win.  

Andrew Edward Towzell, 1969-2017

Andrew Edward Towzell died from cancer on 8 January 2017, aged 47.

Andrew played briefly for the Club after leaving St Ignatius’ College Riverview in 1987. He was from Wagga and most of his cricket was played there. He did, however, represent the Riverview 1st XI for two seasons (winning a GPS Premiership in 1987), the Combined GPS 1st XI, and the NSW Schools’ side as a fluent middle order batsman.

Andrew appeared for the Club in 1988-89, playing once in Fourth Grade and several times in Fifth Grade.  Altogether he scored 386 runs at an average of 42.88, with a highest score of 74.  He would have played higher grades during the season but for his return to Wagga over the vacation, but he appeared in both the semi-final and final in Fifth Grade that season.  Both matches were washed out after a handful of overs had been bowled, so that Sydney University (as the minor premiers) won the premiership.  Remarkably, University also won the Fourth Grade competition that season in identical fashion.

Andrew’s older brother, Phillip, also played for SUCC as a batsman/wicket keeper from 1985 to 1990.  Andrew subsequently enjoyed a successful career in commercial real estate. 

The Club's deepest sympathy is extended to Andrew's parents, his brother, and especially to his wife and two children.

Five Things We Learned from Round Ten

1   This season, it will be harder than usual to make the finals

Warning: contains basic arithmetic.

With five rounds remaining, two-thirds of the teams in the First Grade competition are reaching for their fixture lists and calculators and trying to figure out what needs to be done to win their way into finals cricket in March.  Whatever answer they reach, one thing is clear – this season, it will be harder than usual to play finals cricket. 

To explain: most seasons, a team can expect to reach the top six if it wins slightly more than half its matches.  So, for example, last season, the team that came sixth scored 49 points and in 2014-15, the sixth-placed side had 48 points – winning, in each case, eight of its 15 games.  That won’t be any good this season.  Already, after ten rounds, sixth-placed Northern District has 38 points from six wins.  In its last five matches, it plays the teams that are currently coming 19th and 20th, and only one side (Gordon) placed above it.  So, leaving aside outrights, washouts, ties, bonus points, inexplicable form collapses and other disruptors, it’s reasonable to expect that Northern District will end up with at least 56 points, and probably more.  Parramatta, in fifth place, with 40 points, plays only one team (Sydney University) in the top six, so if its form holds, it would expect to end up on at least 58 points. 

What all this seems to indicate is that, in order to be certain of a place in the finals, a team is going to need about ten wins or 60 points.  The odd thing is that this tends to suggest that the competition is lop-sided, with the top half winning a lot and the bottom half losing consistently.  But, in fact, 13th-placed Hawkesbury (on 30 points) could still get to 60 by winning its last five games.  There are a lot of teams with a lot to play for.  And it’s possible that quotients might become important, because only a single first-innings win separates the six teams from fifth-placed Parramatta to tenth-placed Manly. 

Of course, we could be absolutely wrong about this – after all, the period after Christmas is notorious for outrights, washouts, ties, bonus points, inexplicable form collapses and other disruptors. 

2   Another obscure record is under threat

Batting records seem to be broken most weeks in this competition (on Saturday, for example, Sydney’s Joe Denly hit the highest score recorded by an English professional in the Grade competition) – here’s one you may not have considered.  After Round 10, Sydney University’s First Grade side has lost only 55 wickets while scoring 2888 runs – an average of 52.51 runs per wicket.  We can’t identify any First Grade side that has finished a season with a higher collective batting average than that – in 2014-15, Bankstown lost only 75 wickets in 15 matches, at an average of 46.93, which seems to be the highest on record.  University certainly has the potential to exceed that mark if its batsmen continue to show anything like their present form.  Captain Nick Larkin has led the way with his remarkably consistent batting – in all matches this season, he now has 855 runs, and during his century against Sutherland on Saturday, he passed 7000 runs in all grades in his career for University.  Larkin shared a second-wicket partnership of 222 with the excellent Ryan Carters, who was unbeaten on 167.  There isn’t a better top three in Premier Cricket at the moment than Larkin, Ed Cowan and Carters – in their last two matches, these three have scored 433 runs between them while conceding only two wickets.  The only drawback to their dominance has been that University’s middle order – Greg Mail, Ashton May and Liam Robertson – have had scarcely any time in the middle since November.  

3   This has been a breakthrough season for Danul Dassanayake

The easy thing to do would be to write about Mason Crane again.  And why not?  With 7-93 and another half-century, he was dominant in Gordon’s victory over Mosman.  But we mentioned his all-round improvement last week, so we could hardly learn it again, unless we called this bit, “We were right about Mason Crane”, which would be immodest.  Slightly more interesting was the showing of another young, slow-bowling all-rounder, Mosman’s Danul Dassanayake.  This has been something of a breakthrough season for Dassanayake, who first played First Grade in Mosman in 2012-13, when he was still a student at Trinity Grammar School (and represented NSW Schoolboys).  Dassanayake had obvious talent as a neat batsman and an off-spinner with plenty of drift who could turn the ball on most surfaces.  But Mosman was never quite sure how to make best use of him, and had another handy off-spinner in Jason Kreijza.  Dassanayake spent most of last season in Seconds, making no discernible progress.  This season, though, he’s found his niche, opening the batting and backing up the main bowlers with some useful overs.  He hit an attractive maiden century against Sydney University, and against a Gordon attack led by Charlie Stobo, he followed up with a lively double of 34 from 32 balls and 56 from 49 balls, playing with new-found confidence and freedom – as well as taking three wickets.  In all matches this season, he’s scored 675 runs, and he’s now firmly established in the top grade.

4   Brenton Loudon kept Penrith in the race

Mid-way through Sunday afternoon, Penrith’s hopes of staying in touch with the top six hung by a very slender thread.  After Matt Halse had declared at nine for 284, Matthew Harival (with 67) and Luke Ohrynowsky (62) had steered Fairfield-Liverpool to five for 252, a position from which few teams lose, especially at Howell Oval.  Penrith began the year with Pat Cummins and Josh Lalor sharing the new ball, but on Sunday they were on representative duty and instead, the bowling was opened by Brenton Loudon.  Loudon, who learned the game playing for the Deniliquin RSL in the Riverina, is in his third season with Penrith, but previously has made only a modest impact.  He started this season in Thirds, where he collected four wickets in three matches; promoted to Seconds, he did better, taking seven wickets over two innings against Randwick-Petersham.  Technically, Loudon made his First Grade debut as a second-day replacement player in Round Seven, but he didn’t actually make it onto the field in that game.  He had never bowled a ball in First Grade before the weekend, and had never taken a wicket in Firsts until Sunday afternoon, when he trapped Ohrynowsky in front.  Two balls later, he also hit Gurinder Sandhu’s pads, and soon afterwards he accounted for Raveesh Srivastava.  Fairfield-Liverpool lost four wickets for only eight runs, but remained in the game – Jeremy Cashman and Liam Hatcher hit off 19 of the 25 runs needed for victory.  But Loudon had the last word, having Cashman caught by Tom Kohler-Cadmore to clinch an improbable victory.  It was a vital spell, not only for the match, but for Penrith’s season – the Panthers have held onto eighth spot, only one point outside the top six.

5   There’s no match you can’t lose if you try hard enough

George Black, Eastern Suburbs’ Fifth Grade captain, has probably spent the last few days wondering exactly how his team managed to lose to Blacktown on the weekend.  After Blacktown batted first, two of its top three batsmen ran themselves out, after which Black and opening bowler Liam Course each grabbed a couple of wickets, so that the home side slumped to six for 48.  Blacktown’s Hassan Rauf ground out a patient 33 to lift his side’s total to a very gettable 128 – a target that seemed even less intimidating once Easts reached six for 114.  At which point, the last four wickets disappeared for only four runs, and Blacktown walked away with the points.  But that wasn’t the truly self-destructive aspect of the Dolphins' cricket, because in a match in which the two sides were separated by ten runs and managed to score only 246 runs between them, Easts’ bowlers gifted Blacktown no fewer than 30 wides.  If this had been a race at Randwick, there would have been a stewards’ inquiry.  And, while they were at it, the stewards would have a close look at Black’s own form with the bat: his scores this season have been 2, 5, 9, 22, 115, 6 and 6.