Milestone Monday

Nick Larkin hit 68 not out against Victoria in the second innings of the Sheffield Shield match in Melbourne last Monday. This was the eleventh time he had passed fifty in first-class cricket (with three centuries). It was the second time he has passed fifty in both innings of a first-class match, and only the second time in 56 first-class innings that he remained not out.

David Miller, with 64 and 74 not out against University of NSW in Seconds, passed fifty twice in the same match for the first time in his career with the club.

Alex Shaw held eight catches over two innings in Second Grade against University of NSW, his most productive match behind the stumps for the club.

Ryan Danne, with 69 against University of NSW, passed fifty for the 18th time in his career with the club (including two centuries).

Henry Clark, with 6-28 against University of NSW, took his third five-wicket haul for the club (all of them in Thirds).

Rex Greaves contributed a matchwinning 57 not out in Fourth Grade against University of NSW. This was not only his first half-century for the club, but was also 51 more runs than he had scored in total in his ten previous matches for the club.

Zohirul Islam claimed his 50th wicket for the club during Fifth Grade’s match with University

Students' Scoreboard - Round 7: Day 1

Sydney University executed well across the grades on Saturday to take the upper hand on Day 1 of our clash against rival students, UNSW. In First Grade, captain Liam Robertson won the toss and sent the home side in to bat on a deck that promised to offer something for the bowlers early. Making a return after injury kept him sidelined in recent weeks was Joe Kershaw and he did not miss a beat. Kersh collected 4/33 from his 12 overs to lead a ruthless bowling performance from the Students who utilised the favourable conditions with experience and class to dismiss UNSW for 133. In the afternoon, Ryan McElduff and Damien Mortimer both passed 50 in an unbeaten 2nd wicket stand of 112. Securing a first innings victory before stumps, 1s will be looking to push for 10 points this week.

In the 2s, the Units won the toss and elected to bat at Fortress Number 1. Facing early trouble at 3/33, Dave Miller and Josh Josephs staged a fluent counterattack, putting on 103 for the 4th wicket in good time. However it was UNSW who would once again wrestle momentum back in their favour, bowling accurately to restrict the hosts to 9/189. Enter Brodie Frost. Brock (50), accompanied by a determined Lewis McMahon (2*), put on 52 for the final wicket, including 4 stellar maximums from the Snowman to lift the Students to 241. Whilst Brock’s half-century from 38 deliveries was perfect for an Instagram highlights reel (refer for some brutal and flamboyant striking), it would not have been possible without the resolute McMahon who met 32 deliveries with a disciplined straight bat and occupied the crease for 42 minutes to facilitate an invaluable partnership. Entering the 2nd weekend, the game hangs in the balance with UNSW 4/102, Charlie Cassel breaking through twice in the afternoon.

3rd Grade also won the toss and elected to bat. Opening bat, Matt Powys raced out of the gate in typical fashion to get the Units away to a strong start, falling for 40 with the score on 44. Oli Zannino’s half century was the other significant contribution for the Students, bowled out for 170. However, if there was a thought that we were below par, the three-pronged pace attack of Toyer, Wood and Clarke wrestled back momentum, cutting through the opposition top order in the 11 overs before stumps. UNSW will resume at 4/18.

At fortress St Paul’s, 4th Grade looked to bounce back from a disappointing Round 6 in which they suffered their first loss of the season. Skipper Michael Robinson lost the toss and UNSW elected to bat first on what is typically a fair deck for all comers. New ball pair Rex Greaves and Jazz Rinka set the tone from the get go, both claiming 3 scalps and bowling accurately to restrict the opposition despite the short boundaries. The medium pace cartel of Johns, Canagasingham and Ansell were even more disciplined, each boasting oppressive economy rates and justly rewarded with a wicket each. The skipper also chipped in with his tweakers to round off a superb bowling display that dismissed the visitors for 131 in the 72nd over. The Students will resume at 1/4 on Day 2.

5th Grade rounded out 4 from 5 toss wins and elected to bat at Alexandria Park. Zohirul Islam was the pick of the sticks, compiling 64 from 81 deliveries to reach his first half-century of the season. However, significant partnerships proved elusive and the Students were dismissed for 159 inside 50 overs. Despite a disciplined opening spell from Lachie Anderson and a wicket to captain Wilkinson, UNSW will resume on 1/93.

Hard, disciplined training will be the order of the week to chase down plenty of points on Day 2. Good luck to all teams.

Students' Scoreboard - Round 6

The Students were able to capture 3 wins from 5 highly competitive fixtures against Parramatta on Saturday. First Grade were once again led by in-form skipper Liam Robertson whose hard-hitting century (133 from only 102 deliveries) allowed Uni to post a commanding first innings score of 8/284. Despite an excellent century from Nick Bertus in reply, the bowlers got the job done in the afternoon with the match fittingly concluded by a direct hit run-out from none other than Robbo.

2nd Grade were set 253 to win with Lewis McMahon and Matt Moran working hard in the morning to be the pick of the bowlers. Despite half-centuries from Charlie Dummer and Varun George, the target proved to be just out of reach, the Students going down by 12 runs.

At fortress St Paul’s, 3rd Grade were aided by the return of skipper Henry Clark and faced an undefeated Parramatta outfit with top of the table honours up for grabs. Sent in to bat after losing the toss, Jack Hill followed up his half-century in Round 5 with a staunch 45, aided by the hard hitting of Ben Mitchell through the middle overs. With the bowling cartel in fine form, 214 proved to be plenty, Ben Mitchell again the star of the afternoon with the remarkable figures of 5/19.

4th Grade suffered their first loss of the season going down by 8 wickets whilst 5th Grade won by 5 wickets on the back of an excellent all-round performance by Max Shanahan. Metropolitan Cup were unable to back up a strong performance last week, losing to North West Sydney by 57 runs.

On Sunday, a T20 double-header blessed the home spectators at University Oval against Western Suburbs. In the morning, PG’s marched to a strong 8 wicket victory set up by an excellent opening spell from Charlie Cassell. Charlie got the young Students away to the perfect start, claiming a hat-trick in his opening spell and finishing with figures of 4/17 from his 4 overs. Set 103 to win, Uni executed a mature chase winning in the 18th over following a commanding partnership between Matt Moran and Will Masojada. In the afternoon, Western Suburbs set 1st Grade 155 to win and bowled tightly through the middle overs to restrict Uni to 9/134.

A return to 2 day cricket in Round 7 against UNSW awaits.

Round 6 Preview - Parramatta

Round 6 of the NSW Premier Cricket Competition sees the final 50-over cricket for the Students in 2019, who take on Parramatta in an important clash for all respective sides. A rejuvenated round of 4/5 wins against Western Suburbs has the Blue & Gold’s up and about to get some further points on the board and launch some momentum before the Christmas break.

The Uni boys did not face the Two Blues in the regular 2018/19 season with the exception for the 2nd Grade Grand Final where skipper James Larkin notched up a remarkable 165* as the minor premiers chased 386 with three wickets in the shed to claim the title.

--

1st Grade

The Students will commence tomorrow’s fixture with a 2/2 record in the Limited-Overs Cup for 2019/20 after their demolitions of Sydney and the Magpies.

Hayden Kerr will look to continue his blistering start to the season with the big-hitting right-hander full of confidence following the (self-reported) praise from Ian Healy at the Bradman Foundation Dinner last week and his List A debut for the New South Wales Blues this week in Tasmania.

There’s no denying Kerr holds a pivotal role in the side, his current white ball stats in 2019/20 sitting at an unbelievable 400 runs at 133.3. He will be joined by fellow NSW batsman Nick Larkin at the top of the order.

Will Masojada gets another chance to stake his claim with the prune after a strong showing at the spin friendly Pratten Park last week and will welcome big eared Kieran Tate to the First Grade bowling cartel, who becomes Sydney University First Grade player #761 this weekend. Go well, Tatey!

Ben Trevor-Jones also edges out Nick Walker for the fourth spinning option in the side.

Nick Bertus will be hoping to square the ledger against the Uni Boys after Hayden Kerr replaced him in the NSW side on Wednesday whilst big-hitting Ben Abbott poses a big threat at the top of the order for the Two Blues.

1st XI
Larkin
Kerr
Mortimer
Robertson*
Cummins +
McElduff
Trevor-Jones
Holloway
Masojada
Tate
Joy

---

2nd Grade

The 2nd Grade Students are still searching for their first victory in 2019/20, a stark contrast to when these two sides met on their last occasion.

Varun George, Dave Miller, Nick Walker and Charlie Dummer in the top 4, an imposing batting line up for the Students.

Opening bowling and circuit spearhead Lewis McMahon has been phenomenal in both aspects during the opening five rounds of the season and will no doubt be hopeful his captain and left-arm orthodox bowler Max Hope decides to leave the Harris Farm fruit sponsorship he’d been promoting in the first four rounds of the year at home again.

Alex Shaw is also an addition to the XI following his literal marathon efforts across the ditch last weekend and will lead the always-poor City Nash side – this week inclusive of the rarest of cats, Brockley Frost, who earns a call-up to the Twos following an impressive opening spell against Wests on the back of his consistent early season form.

Skipper Luke McNaught will lead his side that fell just short of premiership success last season and will look to leggie Shane Cassell to spin his side to six points, whilst Zach Johns has enjoyed a rich run of form with the bat plundering 234 runs from three ducks, including a globe.

2nd XI
Walker
Dummer
George
Miller
Moran
Hope*
Joseph
Shaw +
Frost
McMahon
Watts

---

3rd Grade

The Sydney University 3rd Grade side were back to their clinical best in Round 5 against Wests and the Round 6 fixture against Parramatta is a true battle of the heavyweights. Parra sit atop the ladder on 26 points with the Books just one point and two places adrift on 25 and 3rd respectively.

Ryan Danne and Jack Hill will be hoping to capitalise on their return to form after their respective half-centuries and Round 4’s MVP Oli Zannino is still yet to be dismissed in Blue & Gold colours after two digs in the middle order of 74* and 30* respectively.

Jack Hill hands the reigns back to Wario Clark and it’ll be interesting to see whether the batsman-turned-leg spinner’s grenades are deemed worthy of an over before tea for another week without the C next to his name..Watch this space, for numerous reasons.

Josh Toyer returns to will take the new ball and will be desperately trying to break through (James Crowley).

Jason Coleman has claimed 11 wickets at 12 with the ball whilst captain Matthew Giumelli leads the Parramatta 3rd Grade runs with 189 at 38 for the visitors.

3rd XI
Danne
Fullerton
Hill
Litchfield
Walsh
Mitchell
Zannino +
Hazard
Clark*
Wood
Toyer

---

4th Grade

The Fours continue to be the shining light for the Uni Boys and sit equally atop the Reid Cup ladder after the first five rounds.

Michael Robinson has shown some strong form as skipper and will lead the side again in Ash Cowan’s pappadum finger absence. Robinson will take a very balanced and confident XI into the clash following a near-bonus point win against the Maggies.

Impressive youngster Jackson Gwynne will make his club debut at Merrylands Oval, situated just a stone’s throw away from his current residual arrangement in Blacktown, which was preferred to Coogee..country kids, eh?

Brayden Dilley will hope his on-field form matches that of his recent Mush Column efforts and Zohirul Islam also maintains his spot in the side after his impressive TFC last week.

4th XI
Powys
Dilley
Qwayhlow
Robinson*
Grant
Wilson +
Islam
Greaves
Gwynne
Canagasingham
+1 more after we found out Friday morning that Rinka is away with Schoolies. Go well youngster.

---

5th Grade

The mighty SUCC Fives turned their form of three losses on the bounce around with a dominant nine-wicket victory in Round 5. Wickets were shared around before Brad Osman-Kayani and Hugh Farrow combined for a 128-run opening stand in their chase of 153.

Quarter-time Hennessy should feel prepared after a big week of bowling with exclusively a new ball at training fresh out of the kit, whilst Chris Thompson will play his first game for the club before return to Guernsey..also watch this space.

5th Grade
Osman Kayani
Wilkinson*
Saeed
Kirubanadan
Shanahan
Hennessy
Thompson
Fredriksson+
Crawford
Miles
Epsi

Good luck to all Students and looking forward to a schooner at The Toxteth following play.
---

Students' Scoreboard

After a competitive weekend of cricket against Western Suburbs, Sydney University provided a strong showing across all grades winning 4 out of the 5 matches. Our Metro Cup team was superb against Randwick Petersham, claiming their first win of the season.

On Sunday, our Poidevan-Gray side also claimed its first victory of the year with a nail-biting win against Northern Districts. After a strong bowling performance, the young Students were required to chase 170 with birthday boy Jack Lawson remaining composed to hit the winning runs with 1 wicket in hand.