A fascinating article on the air disaster that claimed the life of SUCC player Geoffrey Street in 1940.
Selectors have tonight announced the teams for our final practice match of the pre-season campaign against UNSW on Saturday.
1st Grade
@ David Phillips (South)
Nicky Craze
Hayden Kerr
Damien Mortimer
Ed Cowan
Tim Cummins (c) +
Ryan McElduff
Max Hope
Dugald Holloway
Devlin Malone
Billy Barge
Kieran Tate
Dom O’Shannessy
2nd Grade
@ Alan Davidson Oval
Ben Trevor-Jones (c) +
Nick Walker
Varun George
Ryan Danne
Charles Litchfield
Alex Shaw
Jack Holloway
James Robertson
Jack Lawson
Nihir Ghandi
Aidan Peek
Josh Toyer
3rd Grade
@ David Phillips North
Brayden Dilley
Jack Hill
Michael Robinson
Tom Fullerton
Ash Cowan (c)
Hayden Storey +
Henry Clark
Jazz Rinka
Tom Hill
Brodie Frost
Murray Watts
4th Grade
@ St Paul’s Oval
Hugh Kermond +
Zohirul Islam
Liam Hughes
Rakin Rahman
Vince Umbers
Liam Coelho
Sanjiv Khalko (c)
Ashwin Kirubanandan
Murray Miles
Sanjay Anandarajah
Nick Powys
Max Shanahan
5th Grade
@ St Andrew’s Oval
Ryan Blayney
SJ De Silva
Mo Ghumman
Greg Cade (c)
Max Veltro
Luca Dimeglio
Lewis Ansell
Tom Crawford
Shihub Rahman
Campbell Jackson
Saeed Azhar
Pierce Foley +
Jack Maclaine
Players will be keen to impress their captains and the selectors as they try to earn a spot in Round 1 teams against Manly-Warringah on Saturday 22nd.
Welcome to the Club...
Firstly, a bright welcome to all of the new faces to the Club for 2018-19. We are pleased you have decided to join the Sydney Uni Cricket family and we look forward to plenty of success, laughter and memories this season.
We welcome on board two new coaching staff commencing later this week.
Dave Alleyne joins as Senior Assistant & High Performance Skills Coach. Dave is a former 1st Class professional in England with 22 matches for Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Nottinghamshire as a wicket-keeper batsman, scoring 849 runs at 29.27, with a highest score of 109*, taking 57 catches and 5 stumpings. Dave has since spent his time traversing the globe building a strong coaching portfolio in both England and Australia. He will be a valuable addition to the Club.
Tim Carter is quickly building a name for himself in the coaching ranks and joins Sydney Uni as an Assistant Coach with a focus on lower grades and PGs. Tim is currently Head Coach of the Samoan cricket team. He has also joined the coaching ranks for our sisters at Universities Women's Cricket Club this season.
In the playing ranks, Varun George has joined Sydney Uni's Elite Athlete Program from Mosman where he played 8 First Grade matches in 2017-18. Also joining the Club's EAP is Charlie Cassell, a tall quick who represented WA at the U19 National Championships last season, taking 5 wickets across the tournament. Welcome not only to these two, but to all new players for the 2018-19 season, we hope it is an enjoyable experience.
Farewell...
Inevitably, we are unable to retain all players from season to season, and unfortunately, this season Jonathon Craig-Dobson and Liam Whitaker have decided to ply their bowling trades with St George and Wests respectively. Both were wonderful contributors to the Club on and off the field, and we wish them luck (except for any matches against SUCC) in 2018-19 and beyond.
Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays!
Yeah perhaps we're scrambling for things you may have missed with the cricket a few weeks away yet, but then again, birthdays for some of the Club faithful are always pretty important to recognise.
Our Director of Cricket, Cam Borgas, celebrated his 35th birthday on Saturday with his family and friends on hand. We hope Cam enjoyed his first birthday at the Club and hope there are a few more to come.
Sydney Uni CC 'Living Legend' and former SUSF High Performance Manager, Matt Phelps, celebrated his 46th birthday on Saturday also. Matt is now the General Manager - Commercial, Competitions & Operations at Cricket ACT, and his son Tom has been named in the Sydney Uni Green Shield squad for 2018-19 after impressive trials in July & August.
Fan favourite, Alasdair Grant, celebrated a milestone when he ticked the strike over on his 30th birthday on Sunday. AJ has decided to step back from his role as Fourth Grade captain this season to focus on his aspirations of enjoying more 3rd Grade success this season.
You haven't missed it yet, but we thought it also important to remind everyone that the other fan favourite, Ash Cowan, continues an enjoyable start to his innings with his 35th birthday on Wednesday.
We wish them all a happy birthday!!!
Larkin finding form at the right time
You may have missed it... it was out at Joe McAleer Oval in Blacktown... but Sydney Uni's run-scoring machine is ticking into gear just at the right time as he looks to secure a berth in the NSW squad for the JLT Cup opener on the 18th against WA at the WACA. Nicko hit a composed 69 runs from 67 balls in the middle order in the 3rd NSW Blues internal trial match last week. Check out what he had to say about it here.
Nick is currently in Brisbane with the Blues squad for some pre-season practice matches against the Qld Bulls and National Performance Squad, the first match tomorrow against the Bulls.
We're all right behind you Nick, and whilst it will be a large hole to fill, we hope to see little of you on the field for Sydney Uni in 2018-19 as you cement a place in the Blues line-up for the season.
Did we miss it???
We see a fair bit, but we don't see everything... if you think we've missed something that should be included in our ICYMI Monday blogs, please send it through to comms@sydneyuniversitycricket.com.au
Do you love cricket?
Are you an Old Boy and want to enjoy being back around the Club? Be a part of something special with a wonderful group of talented cricketers.
Are you a Sport Management student looking to build your experience? Plenty of growth opportunities - our last Coordinator is now working full-time as an SUSF High Performance Coordinator.
Are you a college resident wanting to interact with other students and graduates? Great social atmosphere and a great bunch of people.
If so, we have two roles open to support our 2018-19 campaign:
- Operations Coordinator
- Part-time (approx 24 hrs/wk)
- 33 week contract (17 Sept 2018 - 5 May 2019)
- Focus on cricket admin, match coordination, marketing/comms, sponsors and events
- Salary range $17,840 - 18,680
- Click here for the Position Description
- Match Coordinator
- Honorary role (approx 5 hrs per Saturday)
- Approx 30 match days
- Honorarium to help cover expenses
- Click here for the Position Description
If you are interested in either of these roles, please contact our General Manager at dale@sydneyuniversitycricket.com.au
PLAYER REGISTRATION:
With just over three weeks to go until the start of the 2018-19 season, we are now into the player registration window.
We invite all players to complete the registration process via our 'Join' page on the Club's website.
All new players must also provide photo ID. You can either scan and email to info@sydneyuniversitycricket.com.au or take a photo and text to 0401448810 (please include your name).
All registrations & payments are due by Thursday 20th September.
Any players with outstanding fees will receive a payment reminder following Round 1, and any players still with outstanding fees at the completion of Round 2 (Sat 6th Oct) will be ineligible for selection in Round 3.
If you require a payment plan, please contact Dale to discuss.
UNAVAILABILITY NOTICE:
One of the greatest challenges in our selection process is gaining an accurate picture of availability for each round. With this in mind, we have decided to incorporate technology to help us track those who are unavailable for each weekend.
We ask that all players download an app called "Team App" from their relevant App Store.
Click here for a user guide on the setup and use of Team App.
It will be assumed that you are available for all matches unless you have logged otherwise in the Team App. We ask that all players log only their unavailabilities. Please enter any dates that you are unavailable from 8th September to 31st March as soon as you become aware of them.
This will allow the selection panel to complete the selection process more efficiently and for team announcements to be made on Thursday post-training. Please help your captains out by making sure you keep this updated.
POIDEVIN-GRAY SHIELD TRIALS:
The Club will be holding PG Shield trials on Thursday evening on 6th Sept from 8 - 9pm at the Indoor Nets. We invite any U21 player interested in playing PGs to attend this session. We will announce a PGs Squad on Monday 24th Sept following completion of the practice matches and Round 1 of the season. The first PGs match is scheduled for Sunday 7th October with the full PGs draw due to be released shortly.
PRACTICE MATCHES:
On Saturday 8th Sept:
- 1st Grade will play a Limited Overs match against Campbelltown-Camden at Raby 2
- 4th Grade vs 5th Grade in a T20 match at St Paul's Oval from 9.30am - 12.30pm
- 2nd Grade vs 3rd Grade in a T20 match at St Paul's Oval from 12.30pm - 4.00pm
On Saturday 15th Sept:
- 1st - 4th Grade will play practice matches against UNSW. Venues for each grade to be confirmed.
- 5th Grade and Metro Cup will have an indoor net session from 10.30am - 12pm.
If you are unavailable for either weekend, please log your unavailable dates into the Team App (you will be assumed to be available otherwise).
In case you missed it Monday...
COACHING STAFF MAKE IMMEDIATE IMPACT
The 2018-19 season has seen a shake up in our coaching staff and they have launched into the pre-season with a vigor.
Director of Cricket, Cam Borgas, has made an immediate impact bringing a new perspective and high performance approach to sessions. His enthusiasm has rubbed off on the players with sessions becoming highly competitive with a match intensity driving the standards forward.
Grant Lambert has returned as Specialist Coach for 2018-19 and has expanded to cover both the bats and bowlers. Grant made a tremendous impact on the Club last season and has been outstanding in the pre-season so far with his one-on-one sessions.
Cam Borgas and Grant Lambert upskill SUCC 1st Grade Squad Members Ryan Danne and Kieran Tate
NSW Blues and Premier Cricket legend, Grant Lambert, imparting his knowledge on EAP Squad Member, Kieran Tate
Cam Borgas works on Ryan Danne’s pull shot
SPECIAL GUEST COACH
The 1st Grade Squad was also lucky enough last week to spend some time with the current Sri Lankan cricket coach, Chandika Hathurusingha. Chandi was a special guest on Tuesday evening and gave the 1st Grade Squad a glimpse of the top-level.
Fresh off a 2-0 Test Series win over South Africa, Chandi provided plenty of great insights for our players on current trends at the top level as well as some of the common charactersistics he has noticed in all great players.
Chandi was previously the assistant coach (and acting coach for a short period of time) at NSW, overseeing the early development of a terrific era of talent that featured a young Smith, Warner, Khawaja, Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins. he was coach of Sydney Thunder for 2013-14, where DOC Cam Borgas was playing at the time. He then enjoyed a successful 3-year stint as Head Coach of Bangladesh before moving back to coach his native Sri Lanka.
Chandi's son, Cullen, is a promising left hand bat and medium pace bowler, and is currently a member of the Sydney University Elite Athlete Program for 2018-19
PRE-SEASON TOUR 2018-19
The Sydney Uni 1st Grade squad ventured to **sunny** Brisbane over the weekend to contest the annual University Challenge. In its 3rd year, Sydney Uni were scheduled to take on Melbourne Uni, University of Queensland and Adelaide Uni in a mix of Limited Overs and T20 matches across three days.
The opening 50-over match saw Sydney Uni take on old foes/friends Melbourne Uni. Sydney Uni took to the crease for the first time in 2018-19 and were off to a solid start with Nicky Craze and Ben Trevor-Jones pairing for a 106-run 2nd wicket partnership after losing Hayden Kerr for an early duck. Craze topped scored with 63 runs whilst Trevor-Jones compiled 43. A lack of resistance in the middle and lower order saw the side rolled for 189 runs in the 43rd over. Melbourne Uni were never really in the hunt and aside for some lusty lower order hitting, Sydney Uni controlled the innings well with Malone picking up 3 wickets. Melbourne Uni were bundled out for 177 runs and a 12-run victory for Sydney Uni.
Sydney Uni took on home favourites UQ in a 50-over clash on Saturday with former 1st class cricketers Scott Henry and Michael Philipson in early form. Scooter retired on 53 runs with Philipson hitting 46 before Ben Davis (60) and Nick Sale (30) pushed the total to 283 runs. Despite plenty of starts, Craze (28), Mortimer (18), Robertson (28), Trevor-Jones (18) and Kershaw (21), Sydney Uni couldn't capitalise on any momentum it built until too late with a last wicket partnership of 75 runs between top-scorer Ryan Danne (48) and Devlin Malone (43no). It was too little too late as Sydney Uni were finished off for 237 runs.
A T20 match was scheduled for Sunday against Adelaide Uni but unfortunately the Queensland advertising slogan of "beautiful one day, perfect the next" certainly did not apply as all matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Despite the weather ending the tour prematurely, there were plenty of positives for the Sydney Uni squad as they continue to build towards their Round 1 match against Manly on Saturday 22nd September at University Oval.