Milestone Monday

Caelan Maladay and Jordan Gauci made their first appearances for the club in the First Grade match against Sydney.

Liam Robertson marked his 200th innings in First Grade by scoring 51 against Sydney, his 24th score above fifty (including six centuries).

Tim Cummins has passed 5500 runs in all grades in Premier Cricket (2222 for Sydney University and 3284 for Penrith).

Ryan McElduff, with 3-29 against Sydney, returned his best bowling figures in First Grade.

Ravi Wikramanayake made his debut for the club in the Second Grade match against Sydney and scored his first half century for the club (51).  It was his fifth half-century in Seconds, after four for Blacktown.

Luka Flannigan made his debut for the club in the Second Grade match against Sydney, and took his first wickets (2-54).

Henry Clark collected his 50th wicket in Second Grade when he dismissed Sydney’s former NSW player, Daniel Smith, on Saturday.

Hayden Storey made his debut in Second Grade against Sydney.

And congratulations to former Sydney University off-spinner Will Somerville, who has been named in the New Zealand Test squad to tour India.

Milestone Monday

First Grade enters the finals in second place on the competition ladder.  This will be the fifteenth time University has played in the First Grade finals, and the fourteenth time in the last 21 seasons.

Liam Robertson’s 68 against Manly was his 23rd score in First Grade above fifty (including six centuries), and his 43rd in all grades (including seven centuries).

The First Grade match against Manly was Ben Joy’s 250th appearance for the club in all grades.  Ben Bryant was his 504th wicket for the club, taking him past Tom Kierath to become the sixth highest wicket-taker for the club.

During his innings against Manly on Saturday, Charles Litchfield passed 1000 runs in Second Grade.

On Saturday, Ryan Danne passed Rob Crittenden (3664) to move up to 45th on the club’s list of run-scorers in all grades.

Hayden Storey, with 51 against Manly, hit his 11th score above fifty for the club (including three centuries).  During his innings he passed 500 runs for the season and 1500 runs for the club in all grades.  He’s the only player from any club to pass 500 runs in Thirds this season.  It’s only the tenth time a player has reached 500 runs in a Third Grade season for University.

Fourth Grade enters the finals in third place.  This will be Fourth Grade’s 19th trip to the finals.

Peter Brazel, with 6-14 against Manly in Fourths, returned his best bowling figures, and second five wicket haul, for the club.

Kevin Jacob’s 50 not out in Fifth Grade against Manly was his second half-century in Fifths, a grade in which he is still yet to be dismissed.   During his innings he passed 1000 runs for the club in all grades.

Sydney University Gold reached the qualifying finals of the Metropolitan Cup.  Unfortunately, the match with Mosman was entirely washed out, so that’s as far as their season will go. 

Milestone Monday

Hayden Kerr improved his career-best bowling figures in First Grade to 4-19 against Bankstown on Saturday.  It’s also his best return with the ball in any grade with the club.

Dugald Holloway played his 200th Premier Cricket match in all grades (42 of them for Eastern Suburbs).

Damien Mortimer bowled.  His single maiden over against Bankstown was his first spell for the club, in his 108th match.  There are no accurate records of this, but we can’t find a player (excluding wicket-keepers) who has waited so long to bowl for the club.  It’s only fair to point out that he does have seven wickets First Grade to his name, all taken for Campbelltown-Camden.  In the spirit of name-and-shame, his victims were all top-order batsmen: Michael Wood, Jason Hughes, Ash Doolan (twice), Arjun Nair, Scott Rodgie and Greg Clarence.

Charles Litchfield’s 74 against Bankstown was his seventh score above fifty in Second Grade (including one century).

David Miller’s 50 against Bankstown was his 19th score of fifty or more in Second Grade (including one century). He now has 5299 runs for the club in all grades and on Sunday he passed Andrew Shaw (5294) to become the club’s 18th highest run scorer in all grades.

In Brayden Dilley’s first 83 matches for the club, he didn’t bowl a single ball, and it didn’t seem likely to on Saturday, when he began the Fourth Grade game against Bankstown keeping wicket.  Somehow he got the ball into his hands and, sending down off breaks (apparently), he took 4-33.  Naturally, this was (insert every bowling milestone you can think of) for him.  We can’t decide whether the decision to let Dilley bowl was (a) brilliant intuitive captaincy by Ash Cowan, or (b) atrocious captaincy by Ash Cowan, for waiting 84 games to use him.  Answers by text message to Ash Cowan.

Milestone Monday

It was quite a week for Hayden Kerr.  His 86 not out against Bankstown was his 24th score of fifty or more in First Grade (including three hundreds), and his 3-9 (so far) is his career-best return with the ball in Firsts.  Obscure fact of the day: his strike rate in his innings of 86 not out was 49.42, which means this was the first time had ever scored fifty or more in Firsts with a strike rate below 50 runs per 100 balls.  During the week, he hit 171 for ACT/NSW Country against South Australia in an exhibition 2nd XI game.   It was his first century at this level, and during his innings he passed 1000 runs for ACT/NSW Country.

Damien Mortimer has passed 5000 runs in First Grade (1371 of them for Campbelltown-Camden).   He’s the 273rd player to reach that milestone (for all clubs) since Grade cricket began in 1893-94.

Ben Joy’s first wicket on Saturday, Bankstown’s Nathan McAndrew, was his 502nd for the club, taking him past Terry Murphy (501) so that he became the seventh highest wicket-taker in the club’s history.  His second wicket, Ben Taylor, drew him level with Tom Kierath on 503 as the club’s equal sixth highest wicket-taker.

When Josh Toyer dismissed Bankstown’s Matthew Dedes in Third Grade on Saturday, it was his 414th wicket for the club, taking him past Michael Culkoff (413) to become the 11th highest wicket taker in the club’s history.

Fourth Grade was washed out on Saturday.  Which isn’t at all exciting, except that it means that this season, the first day has been washed out in all of their two-day games.  That means that they will enter the finals without having played a single two-day game.  Has this ever happened before?  It has not.  File it under “This has never happened, but Covid.”

Tom Foreman took 6-22 against Bankstown in Fifth Grade, his second five-wicket haul for the club, and first in Fifth Grade.

Milestone Monday

During his innings of 44 against St George on Saturday, Damien Mortimer passed 700 runs for the season (the fourth time he has done this in five seasons with the club).  He took his tally of First Grade runs for the club to 3696, passing the NSW opening batsman Rod Davison (3684) to become the club’s 12th highest run-scorer in First Grade.

During his innings against St George on Saturday, Tim Cummins passed 500 runs for the season.  It’s the fourth time in as many seasons with the club that he has reached 500 runs.  When he caught St George’s Kurtis Patterson, he completed his 400th catch in Premier Cricket (in all grades for Sydney University and Penrith).

Nivethan Radhakrishnan took his 50th wicket in First Grade when he dismissed St George’s Matthew Hopkins on Saturday.

When Ben Joy dismissed St George’s Kurtis Patterson on Saturday, he took his 501st wicket for the club, drawing level with Terry Murphy as the club’s seventh-highest wicket taker.

Nivek Tanner’s 52 not out in Second Grade against St George was his fourth half-century for the club and his first for the club in Seconds.  It was his third fifty in Seconds overall, as he passed fifty twice for University of NSW.

During his innings against St George on Saturday, Jack Hill passed Ash Cowan (2569 runs) to become the club’s all-time leading run-scorer in Third Grade.  He now has 2603 runs in Thirds, and his 56 not out was his 18th score of fifty or more in that grade (including four centuries).

Andrew Wilkinson, with 4-16 against St George, returned his best bowling figures in Third Grade.  Having waited ten seasons to get to Thirds, he now has 14 wickets in that grade at an average of 8.64. 

Dash Ratnam dismissed six batsmen behind the stumps in Thirds on Saturday, five caught and one stumped.

The match against St George on Saturday was Josh Toyer’s 50th game in Third Grade.

Matthew Powys, with 54 not out in Fourth Grade, hit his 13th score above fifty for the club (including two centuries).

Peter Brazel, with 5-26 against St George on Saturday, took his second five-wicket haul for the club and his first in Fourth Grade.

Morris Fredriksson, with 58 against St George in Fifth Grade, hit his first half-century for the club.

Tom Foreman, with 4-19 against St George, recorded his best bowling figures in Fifth Grade.

Milestone Monday

Liam Robertson appeared in his 56th finals match for the club when he led First Grade in the Limited Overs qualifying final against St George.  This sets a new record for the club: Liam previously shared the record of 55 with Tom Kierath.

The First Grade match against Randwick-Petersham was Charlie Dummer’s 100th Premier Cricket game (across three clubs).

During the First Grade match against Randwick-Petersham, Nivethan Radhakrishnan passed 2500 runs in Premier Cricket (for four clubs and in all grades). The qualifying final against St George was his 50th First Grade match, and he reached 1000 runs in First Grade.

Ryan McElduff passed 1500 runs in First Grade during the match against St George on Sunday.

The First Grade match against Randwick-Petersham was Devlin Malone’s 100th First Grade appearance (including 14 for Sutherland).  His 8 not out took his First Grade batting average for the club above 10 for the first time since 2017 (where it remained for just 24 hours).

After 12 rounds of the competition, Ben Joy remains the highest wicket-taker in First Grade, with 34, five ahead of Penrith’s Ryan Fletcher.

Sanjay Anandarajah, with 3-22 against Randwick-Petersham, recorded career-best bowling figures in Second Grade.

After 12 rounds of the competition, Henry Clark remains the highest wicket-taker in Second Grade, with 36, eight ahead of the closest two bowlers.

Josh Toyer’s second wicket against Randwick-Petersham on Saturday was his 100th wicket in Third Grade.  He remains (with 221) the club’s highest ever wicket-taker in Seconds, and he has now taken 415 wickets in all grades, passing Michael Culkoff (413) to become the 11th highest wicket taker in the club’s history.

Cullen Hathurusinghe made his Third Grade debut in the match against Randwick-Petersham, and claimed his first wicket in Thirds.

Nivek Tanner has now scored 2222 runs in Premier Cricket.  Which is not significant in any way, but how often do you see it?

Prakhar Sharma enjoyed the Fifth Grade match against Randwick-Petersham, following his highest score for the club (21 not out) with his first five-wicket haul (5-14).

Tom Foreman, with 3-7 against Randwick-Petersham, collected his first wickets in Fifth Grade.

In the Fifth Grade match against Randwick-Petersham, Zohirul Islam made his 100th appearance for the club.

Lachlan Anderson, with 4-14 against Penrith in Metropolitan Cup, recorded his best bowling figures for the club.

Willis Gunasekera took 5-40, his first five-wicket haul for the club, in Metropolitan Cup’s extraordinary 2-run victory over Mosman.

Milestone Monday

Ben Joy took his 500th wicket for the club on Saturday, when he dismissed Randwick-Petersham’s Daya Singh in First Grade.  He has taken 207 in First Grade, 207 in Seconds, 22 in Thirds, 19 in Fourths, 7 in Fifths and 38 in Metropolitan Cup.  He becomes the eighth bowler to take 500 wickets for the club since the introduction of Grade cricket in 1893, the others being James Rodgers (869), Mick O’Sullivan (807), Chris McCrae (549), Tim Ley (545), Michael Farrow (528), Tom Kierath (503) and Terry Murphy (501).  In the years before Grade cricket, Tom Garrett (622), Monty Faithfull (619) and Joseph Coates (501) also passed 500 wickets.

Liam Robertson took his 200th wicket in all grades for the club when he dismissed Randwick-Petersham’s Matthew Everett on Saturday.  Liam has 133 wickets in Firsts, 41 in Seconds, 25 in Poidevin Gray and one in Green Shield.  This season, Liam has passed both 7500 runs for the club and 200 wickets; he is only the third player to pass both milestones for the club, after Greg Mail and Ian Moran.

Tim Cummins held his 150th catch for the club on Saturday when he dismissed Randwick-Petersham’s Anthony Sams.

Tom Fullerton’s 75 against Randwick-Petersham was his second half-century, and highest score, in Second Grade.

Dave Miller’s 54 against Randwick-Petersham was the 18th time he has reached 50 in Seconds (including one century).  During this innings he passed 2500 runs in Seconds.  He also passed Nick Ridley (5229 runs) to become the club’s 22nd highest run-scorer.

Milestone Monday

Saturday’s clean sweep against Campbelltown-Camden was the first time under the current points-scoring system that every grade from First to Fifths won its game with maximum points (an outright in Firsts, and a bonus point in each other grade).  The two Metropolitan Cup sides completed a successful weekend with wins in their Sunday games.

Nick Larkin’s 61 not out from 47 balls for the Melbourne Stars against the Melbourne Renegades was the third half-century of his Big Bash career.  He added the fourth (70 from 44) in his next innings, against the Perth Scorchers on Saturday.

It took Ben Joy only four deliveries to take his first wicket on Saturday, dismissing Campbelltown-Camden’s Adam Whatley to a sharp catch by Tim Cummins.  It was Joy’s 200th wicket in First Grade, and he became the 12th bowler to reach that milestone for the club.  He is only the second bowler (after Tom Kierath) to take 200 wickets for the club in each of First Grade and Second Grade.  His first innings return of 5-34 was only the second five-wicket haul of his First Grade career.  His first wicket in Campbelltown’s second innings was his 32nd of the season, which makes this the most successful of his First Grade career (his previous best was 31 in 2016-17).

Dugald Holloway took his 250th wicket in Premier Cricket (47 for Eastern Suburbs) when he dismissed Campbelltown-Camden’s Luke Courtney in First Grade on Saturday.

Devlin Malone chose a day on which 20 wickets fell to hit his highest First Grade score, 47, against Campbelltown-Camden.  His first six scoring strokes were fours.  It was his highest score since he hit two fifties for Sutherland in Fifth Grade back in 2013-14.

Nivethan Radhakrishnan, in taking 4-24 in Campbelltown-Camden’s second innings, returned his best bowling figures in First Grade.

Tim Cummins completed eight dismissals (seven caught, one stumped) in the First Grade match against Campbelltown-Camden – the most he has ever achieved in a single match.

During his second innings against Campbelltown-Camden, Charlie Dummer passed 500 runs in First Grade this season.

Dave Miller took 5-24 against Campbelltown-Camden in Second Grade, his best bowling figures for the club and his first five-wicket haul.  He was playing his 256th match for the club.  We can’t prove that this is a record, but we’re confident that no other player has played for so long for the club before reaching this milestone.

Dash Ratnam made his Second Grade debut for the club (having played 10 games in Seconds for Mosman).  He held five catches in Campbelltown-Camden’s innings, the first time he has done this for the club.  His first catch was his 150th in all grades of Premier Cricket (120 for Mosman and 20 for Gordon).

Hayden Storey reached his 50 against Campbelltown-Camden in Third Grade from only 21 deliveries.  He brought up his hundred by hitting his 67th ball for 4, having hit 12 fours and 6 sixes.  His eventual score of 175 (104 balls, 13 sixes, 17 fours) was his highest score for the club, his third century in all grades, and his second century in Thirds.

Jack Hill has taken his career tally to 5239 runs, passing Nick Ridley (5229) to become the club’s 21st highest run scorer.

Rex Greaves, with 6-25 against Campbelltown-Camden, returned his best bowling figures for the club.  It was his second five-wicket haul for the club, and his first in Third Grade.

Ned Barnet, with 5-16 against Campbelltown-Camden, collected his best bowling figures for the club.  It was his third five-wicket haul for the club, but his first in Fourth Grade.

Maxim Shanahan, with 4-25 against Campbelltown-Camden, returned his best bowling figures in Fifth Grade.

Kevin Jacob played his first Fifth Grade game for the club on Saturday, scoring his fifth half century for the club (65 not out).

Saarangan Arvind claimed 6-29 in the Metropolitan Cup game against Hawkesbury, his best figures, and first five-wicket haul, for the club.

In the Metropolitan Cup win over North West Sydney, Jack Hennessy hit his second half-century for the club (66 not out), while Luca Croft made his debut for the club, and took his first wicket.

In Green Shield’s impressive win over Fairfield-Liverpool, Alexander Sylow (79) recorded his first half-century for the club and Willoughby Watson (68) hit his second fifty for the club.

Milestone Monday

Liam Robertson made his 300th appearance for the club in all grades in the First Grade match against Blacktown.  Liam has played 205 First Grade games, 48 in Seconds, 5 in Thirds, two in Fifths, one in Metropolitan Cup, 25 in Poidevin-Gray and 14 in Green Shield.  Records on appearances are incomplete and inaccurate, but Liam joins a very small group of players with 300 club appearances, including James Rodgers (1972-2013), Mick O’Sullivan (1968-1995), Alan Crompton (1961-1983), Ash Cowan (2002-2020) and Tom Kierath (1999-2019).

During his innings of 42 not out against Blacktown on Saturday, Tim Cummins passed 2000 runs for the club, all of them in First Grade.

Charlie Dummer, with 56 against Blacktown in First Grade, hit his third consecutive half-century.  During his innings he passed 500 runs for the season (483 in Firsts, 27 in Seconds) and 500 runs in First Grade for the club.  He also passed 3000 runs in Premier Cricket in all grades (for University, Bankstown and Campbelltown).

Damien Mortimer’s 63 against Blacktown was his 27th innings above fifty for the club (seven of them centuries).

Sanjay Anandarajah made his Second Grade debut in the match against Blacktown, collecting his first wicket in only his second over.

Charlie Litchfield, with 90 against Blacktown, posted his sixth score above fifty in Second Grade (one of them a century).  It was his fourth dismissal in the 90s for the club (two in Seconds and two in Thirds).

During the Second Grade match against Blacktown, Max Hope passed 2500 runs for the club in all grades.

The Second Grade match against Blacktown was Henry Clark’s 150th match for the club in all grades.

During Blacktown’s innings in Third Grade on Saturday, Josh Toyer collected his 413rd wicket for the club.  He therefore joins Michael Culkoff as the equal 11th highest wicket-taker in the club’s history.

The Third Grade match against Blacktown was Jack Hill’s 200th match for the club in all grades.

In the Third Grade match against Blacktown, Nivek Tanner compiled his third half-century for the club (55) and claimed his best bowling figures for the club (3-35).

During his innings of 54 against Blacktown in Thirds, Bennett Walsh passed 500 runs for the club and 1500 runs in Premier Cricket (including 1036 for North Sydney).

Andrew Wilkinson’s 4-31 against Blacktown was his best return with the ball in Third Grade.

Brayden Dilley’s 86 against Blacktown was his seventh and highest half-century for the club.   During his innings he passed 1000 runs in Fourths.

Having begun the day equal with AJ Grant, Ash Cowan became the sole holder of the club’s record for the highest career aggregate in Fourth Grade, extending his tally to 2020 runs.  He is now the club’s highest run-scorer in both Thirds (2569 runs) and Fourths.  He also remembered that he used to bowl and, in his first spell of the season, collected 5-61, which was his best return with the ball in Fourth Grade and his sixth five-wicket haul for the club (the other five coming in Third Grade).

James Veitch’s 55 against Blacktown in Fifth Grade was his second half-century, and highest score, for the club.

Ritvik Dinesh, with 68 against Blacktown in Metropolitan Cup, hit his second half-century for the club.

MILESTONE MONDAY

During his innings of 42 against Penrith on Saturday, Liam Robertson passed 7500 runs for the club in all grades.  He’s only the fifth player to reach that milestone, after Greg Mail, Ian Moran, Adam Theobald and Nick Larkin.

When Dugald Holloway dismissed Penrith’s Tyron Liddiard on Saturday, he claimed his 200th wicket for the club in all grades.

 Charlie Dummer, with 52 against Penrith on Saturday, recorded his fourth half-century in First Grade.

 Ryan McElduff’s 66 not out against Penrith was his tenth half-century in First Grade.

When Rex Greaves dismissed Penrith’s Trent Weir in Second Grade on Saturday, he claimed his 50th wicket for the club in all grades.  He also posted his highest score in Seconds (25 not out).

In taking 4-21 against Penrith on Saturday, Sanjay Anandarajah recorded his best bowling figures in Third Grade and equalled his best return for the club.

Josh Toyer’s 49 against Penrith on Saturday was his highest score in Third Grade.

Adam Sidhu made his Third Grade debut in the match against Penrith on Saturday.

Ash Cowan’s innings of 29 against Penrith on Saturday took his career tally of runs in Fourth Grade to 2003.  This equals the club record set by AJ Grant.  Ash now holds (or shares) the club record as leading run-scorer in two grades – Thirds and Fourths.  He also becomes the first player in the club’s long history to pass 2000 runs for the club in more than one grade.

Andrew Wilkinson’s 6-11 against Penrith on Saturday was his best bowling return in Fourth Grade, and his third five-wicket haul for the club.

Tom Foreman made his Fifth Grade debut in the match against Penrith on Saturday.

Ashton Taylor, with 3-24 in the Metropolitan Cup match with Randwick-Petersham, returned his best bowling figures for the club.

Yuvraj Dalvi, with 3-12 in the Metropolitan Cup match with Penrith, returned his best bowling figures for the club.

Willoughby Watson (83) and Tushar Sharma (50) each hit their first half century for the club in the Green Shield match with Hawkesbury on Sunday.

Milestone Monday

In the AW Green Shield match against Bankstown, Jack Stokes and Alexander Sylow made their first appearances for the club.

James Chan, with 72 against Bankstown in AW Green Shield, hit his highest score – and first half-century – for the club.

Partnership records for University’s AW Green Shield team are surprisingly patchy: but, as far as we can tell, the opening stand of 106 between James Chan and Jack Stokes against Bankstown is the highest opening partnership for the club since it entered the competition in 1997-98.

Jack Manson-Lill and Alexander Sylow each took his first wicket in AW Green Shield in the match against Bankstown.

Milestone Monday

Damien Mortimer passed 500 runs for the season during his innings against Parramatta on Saturday.  It’s the fourth time he has passed 500 runs in a season in First Grade for the club.  He also passed 3500 runs for the club, all in First Grade.  He’s the 13th player to reach 3500 First Grade runs for Sydney University. This is his 250th match in Premier Cricket for all clubs (149 for Campbelltown, 101 for University, 21 for Bankstown and 19 for Western Suburbs).

When Ben Joy collected his second wicket on Saturday – Parramatta’s Gabriel Joseph, caught behind – it was his 198th wicket in First Grade, taking him past Dave Hanlin (197) to become the 12th highest wicket-taker for the club in Firsts.  Hanlin played for the club between 1946 and 1952 and opened the bowling for New South Wales as an undergraduate. Ben is currently the highest wicket-taker in this year’s First Grade competition (with 24).

Charlie Dummer’s 88 against Parramatta on Saturday was his third half-century, and highest score, in First Grade.

By defeating the previous competition leaders, Northern District, on Sunday, the Poidevin-Gray side moved into first place in the Thunder Conference, with one preliminary round remaining to be played.

Nivethan Radhakrishnan, with 53 against Northern District in Poidevin-Gray on Sunday, recorded his first half-century for the club.

Rex Greaves (4-23) claimed his best Poidevin-Gray figures in the match against Northern District on Sunday.

Ben Mitchell (3-21) claimed his best Poidevin-Gray figures in the match against Northern District on Sunday.

Henry Clark’s 6-66 against Parramatta on Saturday was his best bowling analysis (and second five-wicket haul) in Second Grade. He’s currently the leading wicket-taker in this year’s Second Grade competition (with 26).

Charlie Litchfield’s 53 against Eastern Suburbs on Saturday was his eleventh score in Third Grade above fifty (five of them centuries).  During his innings, he passed 1500 runs in Thirds.

During his innings of 43 against Eastern Suburbs on Saturday, Josh Joseph passed 2000 runs in Premier Cricket (including 1374 for North Sydney).

Sanjay Anadarajah (with 3-28 against Eastern Suburbs) claimed his best bowling figures in Third Grade.

Adam Sidhu, with 45 against Eastern Suburbs in Fourth Grade, hit his highest score for the club.

Clancy Barrett hit an extraordinary 193 from 155 balls in Fifth Grade against Eastern Suburbs on Saturday.  It was his first century for the club, the second highest score ever recorded for the club in Fifth Grade (behind Steve Hobson’s 240) and the highest score ever recorded for the club in a limited-overs Fifth Grade match.

Peter Brazel recorded two career-best performances against Eastern Suburbs in Fifth Grade.  First, he hit his first half-century for the club (51).  He followed up with his first five-wicket haul for the club, claiming 6-38.

Oscar Kirk, with 4-36 against Eastern Suburbs in Fifth Grade, returned his best bowling figures for the club.

During the Fifth Grade match against Eastern Suburbs, Murray Miles passed 500 runs for the club in all grades.

Tom Foreman continued his good run of form in Metropolitan Cup, with 3-17 against Randwick Petersham.  In his last three matches, he’s taken 3-17, 6-17 and 4-16 – thirteen wickets for 50 runs.

Xavier Nath, who took 3-9 in Metropolitan Cup against Randwick Petersham, produced his best bowling figures for the club.

James Chan hit his highest score for the club – 43 not out in Metropolitan Cup against Randwick Petersham.

Milestone Monday

Devlin Malone collected his 200th wicket in First Grade when he dismissed Hawkesbury’s Bilal Qureshi on Saturday.  He picked up three more to move to 203, 168 for University and 35 for Sutherland.  Only one leg-spinner has reached 200 First Grade wickets in Sydney at a younger age: Kerry O’Keeffe.

Charlie Dummer passed 500 runs in First Grade during his innings at Hawkesbury on Saturday.

Kieran Tate took his 250th wicket for the club in all grades when he dismissed Hawkesbury’s Connor Mizzi in Second Grade on Saturday.  He becomes the 38th player to reach this milestone for Sydney University.  He now has 252 wickets: 14 in First Grade, 106 in Seconds, 67 in Thirds, 27 in Fourths, 5 in Fifths, 14 in Poidevin-Gray and 19 in Green Shield.

Jackson Gwynne, with 3-26 against Hawkesbury on Saturday, returned his best bowling figures in Second Grade.

Alex Shaw’s 100 against Hawkesbury in Third Grade was his third century for the club, all in Third Grade.

Brayden Dilley has passed 1500 runs for the club in all grades.

Nivek Tanner hit his second successive half-century, and his third for the club, posting 53 not out against Hawkesbury in Third Grade.  During his innings he passed 500 runs in Thirds (316 of them for University of NSW).  And he also took his first wickets for the club, claiming 2-32.

Rex Greaves (3-39 against Hawkesbury) returned his best bowling figures in Third Grade.

Ash Cowan’s innings of 19 against Hawkesbury in Fourths on Saturday took him to 6245 runs for the club in all grades, which takes him past his brother-in-law, Mark Faraday (6241) and makes him the 11th highest run scorer in the club’s history.

Adam Sidhu made his Fourth Grade debut against Hawkesbury on Saturday.

Peter Brazel claimed his first wicket in Fourth Grade against Hawkesbury on Saturday.

During his matchwinning spell of 3-16 against Hawkesbury in Fourths on Saturday, Shehan Canagasingham took his 150th wicket for the club.  He now has 151: one in Thirds, 34 in Fourths, 41 in Fifths and 75 in Metropolitan Cup.  He has taken his wickets at the absurdly low average of 10.92.  He also recorded his highest Fourth Grade score, 16, which is only the fourth time he has reached double figures in 63 matches for the club – although, since he’s usually not out, his career average is 10.50.

In the Metropolitan Cup match against Gordon, Rajprasanyth Varatharajah scored his first half-century for the club (52) as well as taking his first wicket.

Yuvraj Dalvi recorded his highest score for the club (45) as well as collecting his best bowling figures (3-20) in the Metropolitan Cup win over Gordon.

Milestone Monday

Nick Larkin’s dominant 143 against Hawkesbury on Saturday was his 18th First Grade century.  During his innings he passed 9000 runs for the club in all grades. He becomes only the third player (after Greg Mail and Ed Cowan) to reach that milestone for the club. During his innings he passed Mark Atkinson (6679), James Packman (6705), George Wheatley (6721), Graham Rummans (6753), Frank Iredale (6769), Ron Briggs (6782), Neil Marks (6783) and drew level with Noel Hughes (6817) to move into equal 118th position on the list of run-scorers in Sydney First Grade for all clubs.

When Ben Joy dismissed Hawkesbury’s Abdul Kherkhah on Saturday, he collected his 191th wicket in First Grade, taking him past Chris Elder (who took 190 wickets with leg-spinners between 1975 and 1988) so that he’s now the club’s 13th highest wicket-taker in the top grade.  Kherkhah’s dismissal, first ball, put Ben on a hat-trick for the fourth time this season – none of which he completed.  We can’t prove that this is a record… but you can’t prove that it isn’t.  His first wicket, Mohammad Shinwari, was his first dismissal of a batsman hit wicket in his First Grade career.

Dave Miller’s 74 not out in Second Grade against Hawkesbury was his 28th score above fifty for the club (three of them centuries).  On Saturday, he moved past Keith Pitty (5009), Shane Stanton (5052) and Mark Wilson (5058) to become the club’s 22nd highest run-scorer in all grades.

During his innings against Gordon on Saturday, Jack Hill passed 2500 runs in Third Grade.  He’s only the second player for the club (after Ash Cowan) to reach that milestone.

Nivek Tanner’s 70 not out against Gordon in Third Grade was his second half-century, and highest score, for the club.  It was also the highest of his six half-centuries in Premier Cricket (four of them for University of NSW).

Dash Ratnam has completed his 200th dismissal in Premier Cricket in all grades.  For Sydney University he has taken 9 catches and 2 stumpings; for Gordon, 20 catches and 11 stumpings; and for Mosman, 120 catches and 40 stumpings.

Ben Mitchell (with 4-32 against Hawkesbury) returned his best bowling figures in Second Grade.

Rex Greaves made his Third Grade debut in the match against Gordon, and took his first wickets in Thirds.

Sanjay Anandarajah (with 2-29) collected his first Third Grade wickets in the match against Gordon.

Andrew Wilkinson made his Third Grade debut in the match against Gordon and took his first wicket in Thirds.

In his first appearance of the season, Matthew Powys cracked 133 in Fourth Grade against Gordon, his highest score and second century, for the club (both in Fourths).  During his innings he passed 500 runs for the club in Fourths.

Cullen Hathurusinghe made his debut in Fourth Grade in the match against Gordon and (with 3-46) took his first wickets in Fourths.

During his innings of 29 in Fourths against Gordon, Liam Coelho passed 1000 runs for the club in all grades.

Prakhar Sharma made his Fourth Grade debut for the club, having previously played in Fourths for University of NSW.

Fifth Grade went down to Gordon on Saturday, but not before several strong performances were recorded.  Henry Cain (58) recorded his first half-century in Fifth Grade and captured his first wicket in Fifths.  Thomas Lamont registered his highest score for the club (46) before claiming his first five-wicket haul (5-33).  Willoughby Watson (45) recorded his highest score for the club and Aryan Rodrigues (40) hit his highest score in Fifths.

Milestone Monday

Former Sydney University off-spinner, Will Somerville, who has returned to New Zealand to play with Auckland and the Black Caps, has taken his 100th first-class wicket.  His 100th wicket was Wellington’s Devon Conway, in the Plunket Shield match at Wellington.  Somerville made his first-class debut – also against Wellington – on 20 March 2005, so it took him 15 years and 241 days to reach 100 wickets.  We thought this might be a record, so we consulted the guru, Steven Lynch – and it turns out that we were way off.  Allan Border needed 17 years to get to 100 wickets, for example.  But the longest gap between a first-class debut and a player’s 100th wicket turns out to be 27 years 277 days, by Conrad Johnstone, who bowled medium pace for Kent, Cambridge University and Madras between 1919 and 1948.  Aren’t you glad you know that now?

When Tim Cummins caught Northern District’s David Lowery on Saturday, from the bowling of Ben Joy, it was his 300th catch in First Grade (170 of them for Penrith).  His brilliant legside catch to remove Tom Felton was his 450th dismissal in all grades in Premier Cricket (377 caught and 73 stumped).

The match against Northern District was Damien Mortimer’s 150th First Grade game (52 for Campbelltown-Camden).

The match against Northern District was Kieran Tate’s 150th game for the club in all grades.

The T20 match against Penrith on Sunday was Dugald Holloway’s 150th game for the club in all grades.

During his spectacular innings in the T20 match against Penrith on Sunday, Liam Robertson took his tally of First Grade runs to 4579, passing Ian Fisher (4560) and Shane Stanton (4567) to become the club’s fifth-highest run scorer in the top grade, behind only Greg Mail, Ian Moran, Ed Cowan and Nick Larkin.

David Miller’s first run in Second Grade on Saturday was his 5000th run for the club in all grades.  He becomes the 26th player to reach that milestone for the club in Premier Cricket (one other player, the Test all-rounder TW Garrett, also scored 5000 runs, but most of these were scored before the commencement of Grade cricket in 1893).

Ben Mitchell’s first wicket in the Poidevin-Gray match against Penrith on Sunday was his 50th for the club in all grades.  After four rounds of Poidevin-Gray, Ben’s batting average in the competition stands at 120: 4 innings, 2 not out, 240 runs.

Jack Lawson’s 3-33 against Northern District on Saturday included his 50th wicket in Third Grade.

Jack Hill’s 86 in Third Grade against Northern District was his 30th score for the club over fifty (including 8 centuries).

During the Poidevin-Gray match with Penrith on Sunday, Nivek Tanner passed 2000 runs in Premier Cricket (1824 of them for University of NSW).

James Chan made his Fourth Grade debut against Northern District on Saturday.

Murray Miles made his 50th appearance in Fifth Grade in the match against Northern District on Saturday.

In Metropolitan Cup’s big win over Randwick-Petersham on Sunday, Ritvik Dinesh (71) recorded his first half-century for the club, and Tom Foreman (4-14) returned his best bowling figures for the club.

Milestone Monday

Nick Larkin’s 161 against Tasmania in the Shield match Adelaide was his fourth first-class century and first against Tasmania.  He passed 2000 first-class runs during his innings.

The match against Northern District on Saturday was Liam Robertson’s 200th First Grade match.  During his innings he passed 4500 runs in Firsts.

Tim Cummins, with 101 against Northern District on Saturday, recorded his third First Grade century, all for Sydney University.

David Miller made his 250th Premier Cricket appearance for the club in the First Grade match against Northern District.  He has played 137 matches in Firsts, 85 in Seconds, 23 in Poidevin-Gray, 3 in Thirds and 2 in Fourths. At the end of the first day, his tally of runs for the club in all grades stands at 4999.

Hayden Kerr, with 57 against Northern District, hit his 23rd score above fifty in First Grade (including three centuries).  He now has 4366 runs for the club in all grades; on Saturday he passed Peter Mackay (4334) Rob Storey (4343) and Ted LeCouteur 4349 to become the 31st highest run scorer for the club.

Charlie Cassell, with 38 against Northern District, improved on his career-best score in First Grade for the second time this season.

Kieran Tate hit his first six in First Grade, the victim being Northern District off-spinner Tom Felton.

When Max Hope trapped Northern District’s Oliver Hing lbw on Saturday, he collected his 50th wicket in Second Grade.

Rex Greaves (3-27) returned his best bowling figures in Second Grade against Northern District on Saturday.

Charles Litchfield’s 52 not out against Northern District was his fifth score above fifty in Second Grade (including one century).

Ben Mitchell’s remarkable, unbeaten 130 against Bankstown on Sunday was his first century for the club.  It was the 45th century for the club in the Poidevin-Gray competition, and there have only been nine higher scores for the club in the competition.  During his innings, Ben passed 1000 runs for the club in all grades.

Alex Shaw passed 1500 runs in Third Grade during his innings of 41 against Northern District on Saturday.

Hayden Storey’s 66 against Northern District on Saturday was his ninth score above fifty for the club (including two hundreds).  He passed 500 runs in Thirds during his innings.

Murray Watts, during his spell of 3-20 against Sydney on Saturday, took his 50th wicket for the club.

Brayden Dilley’s 56 against Northern District on Saturday was his tenth half-century for the club, and his fifth in Fourth Grade.

Sanjay Anandarajah’s 61 against Northern District on Saturday was his third half-century for the club, and his first in Fourth Grade.

Ned Barnet, with 3-23 against Northern District in Fourth Grade, produced his best bowling figures in Fourths.

James Chan (41) and Murray Miles (32) each recorded his highest Fifth Grade score against Sydney on Saturday.

Nivek Tanner’s 52 against Bankstown in Poidevin-Gray was his first half-century for the club.

Finally, special congratulations to Wides, who remarkably top-scored for both teams in the Metropolitan Cup match with Mosman on Sunday.  Sydney University’s bowlers contributed 26 wides in Mosman’s innings of 112 (the best from the bat was 21).  But Mosman’s bowlers went better – no, worse – in sending down no fewer than 46 wides in University’s reply of 6-113 (beating Henry Cain’s 41 not out).  Mason Ballard, Ritvek Dinesh, Jack Manson-Lill and Yuvraj Dalvi made their club debuts in the game.

Milestone Monday: numbers counted faster than votes in Nevada

Hayden Kerr passed 2500 runs in First Grade during his innings against Western Suburbs on Saturday.  He’s the 29th player to reach that milestone for the club.  His 67 was his 22nd innings above fifty in First Grade (including three centuries).

Charlie Dummer’s rapid 56 against Western Suburbs was his second half-century in First Grade.

Damien Mortimer has passed Will Hay (3307 runs) to become the 12th highest First Grade run-scorer for the club.  His 94 against Western Suburbs on Saturday was his 26th score above fifty for the club (including 7 centuries) and the 32nd time he has passed fifty in First Grade (8 centuries). He has also reached exactly 7500 runs in Premier Cricket in all grades for all his clubs: 3414 for Sydney University, 3087 for Campbelltown, 506 for Bankstown and 493 for Wests.

Ben Joy’s three wickets against Western Suburbs on Saturday took his First Grade tally to 187, which means that he has passed Test all-rounder Roy Minnett (186) and 1920s captain Jim Garner (186) to become the club’s 14th highest wicket-taker in the top grade. 

When Tim Cummins stumped Bankstown’s Nick Carruthers in Sunday’s T20 match, it was his 50th stumping in First Grade (21 for Sydney University and 29 for Penrith) and his 150th dismissal for the club (129 caught and 21 stumped).  In the afternoon, he stumped Hawkesbury’s Bilal Quersehi to complete his 350th First Grade dismissal (299 catches and 51 stumpings).  Astute readers will guess what the next milestone is.

Kieran Tate, with 4-23 in the T20 match with Bankstown, recorded his best bowling figures in First Grade.

Ben Mitchell took his first wicket in First Grade when he dismissed Bankstown’s Daniel Nicotra in Sunday’s T20 match.  He followed with his highest First Grade score (39 not out) against Hawkesbury in the second T20 game – which included his first three sixes in First Grade.

Max Hope, with 3-41 against Hawkesbury in Sunday’s T20 match, claimed his best bowling figures in First Grade.

Three players – Max Shanahan (1-33), Shehan Canagasingham (1-24) and Matthew Johns (2-26) – took their first wickets in Third Grade in the win over Western Suburbs on Saturday.

Hayden Storey’s 57 against Wests in Third Grade was his fourth score in Thirds above fifty (including one century).

After scoring 43 not out in Thirds, Jack Hill has now scored 5066 runs for the club in all grades, passing Mark Wilson (5058) and Shane Stanton (5052) to become the 21st highest run scorer in the club’s history.

Andrew Wilkinson played his 121st match for the club on Saturday, but it was only his second in Fourth Grade.  After coming in at 6-60, he scored his first half-century in Fourths (57), his eighth in all grades, and went on to pick up his first wicket in Fourths (1-30).

Sanjay Anandarajah, with 4-21 against Western Suburbs in Fourth Grade, returned his best bowling figures for the club in any grade.

Murray Miles collected his best bowling figures (3-22) in Fourth Grade.

In Fifth Grade, Christian Kyle made his debut for the club, and took his first wickets (3-23).

The match against Western Suburbs was Zohirul Islam’s 50th Fifth Grade appearance for the club.

Jazz Rinka hit 76 in Metropolitan Cup against University of NSW on Sunday, his highest score (and first half-century) for the club.

Mitchell Cotton’s 44 Metropolitan Cup against University of NSW was his highest score for the club.

Three players – Reuben Kapoor, Tom Foreman and Nathan Gibbons – made their debuts for the club in the Metropolitan Cup match against University of NSW.

Milestone Monday

Damien Mortmer’s vital 61 against Mosman was his 25th innings over fifty for the club, including seven hundreds.

During his innings against Mosman on Saturday, Ryan Danne passed 3500 runs for the club in all grades.  He now has 3513, and becomes the 49th player to reach 3500 runs for the club.

By dismissing Mosman’s Ashley Doolan and Dean Crawford with successive balls in First Grade, Ben Joy took two wicket in two balls for the third match in the succession.  We imagine this qualifies as some kind of hat trick.

Andrew Hazard made his first appearance in Seconds for the club, and collected his best bowling figures (3-26) for the club.

Jack Hill passed 5000 runs for the club during Third Grade’s match against Mosman.  He became the 25th player to pass this milestone for the club and passed Keith Pitty (5009) and Geoff Cooper (5015) to move up into 23rd place in the list of leading run-scorers for the club.  His innings of 67 was his 29th score above fifty for the club (eight of them centuries).

During his innings in Third Grade against Mosman, Hayden Storey passed 1000 runs for the club in all grades.

In Third Grade’s win over Mosman, Max Shanahan, Shehan Canagasingham and Sanjay Anandarajah each made his debut in Thirds.

Brayden Dilley’s 85 in Fourth Grade against Mosman was his sixth half-century, and highest score, for the club.

Ned Barnet’s 45 against Mosman was his highest score in Fourth Grade.

Matthew Johns, with 3-19 against Mosman, collected his best bowling figures in Fourth Grade.

Thomas Lamont made his debut for the club in Fourth Grade’s match with Mosman.

Thomas Crawford’s 4-28 against Mosman was his best return with the ball in Fifth Grade.

In Fifth Grade’s match with Mosman, Joel Ritchie, Harish Jeyaruban, Mitchell Cotton, Ashton Taylor and James Chan all made their debut for the club.

And there were several club debuts in the Metropolitan Cup match against Mosman on Sunday: Max Kidman, Syed Tirimzey, Michael Pahos, Aryaman Sud and Samarth Shrivastava.

A couple of former Sydney University players are in action in the Plunket Shield in New Zealand: Will Somerville for Auckland and Cam Hawkins for Otago.  Hawkins passed 500 first-class runs in the match against Northern Districts in which he scored 90 in the second innings, passing fifty for the fifth time in first-class matches and recording his highest score – against an attack that included no fewer than five New Zealand representatives (Neil Wagner, Tim Southee, Colin deGrandhomme, Scott Kuggeleijn and Ish Sodhi). Somerville moved onto Milestone Watch by collecting his 99th first-class wicket in the match between the Auckland Aces and the Central Stags.

Milestone Monday: wet, wet, wet

Nick Larkin was not out on 33 when the Sheffield Shield match between NSW and Western Australia ended in a draw in Adelaide, only the fourth time he has remained unbeaten in 66 first-class innings.  The Gladys Elphick Park became the 15th venue at which he has played first-class cricket.

By dismissing Harry Byrnes Howe and Baxter Holt in First Grade, Ben Joy claimed two wickets in two balls for the second match in succession.  He may need to practise his hat-trick ball a bit more.

Second Grade took first place on the competition ladder by winning its third match in succession.

After Max Hope took 4-20 against Eastern Suburbs on Saturday, the two players who have captained Seconds for University this season have taken 10-90 between them while acting in that role. Something to do with having choice of ends?

Otherwise: Rain 1, Cricket 0.

Milestone Monday: Mortimer, Mitchell, more...

Damien Mortimer recorded the eighth century of his First Grade career (122 against Eastern Suburbs) and his seventh for the club.  It was his 11th century in all grades in Premier Cricket.  During his innings he moved past NSW representative Dr Eric Barbour (3086) and NSW Colts all-rounder (and father of Ellyse) Mark Perry (3095) to become the club’s 15th highest run scorer in First Grade.  His seven First Grade centuries for the club bring him level with Johnny Taylor and only six batsmen have scored more (Greg Mail, Nick Larkin, Ed Cowan, Eric Barbour, HO Rock and Ian Fisher).

Tim Cummins, with 69 against Eastern Suburbs, passed fifty for the 20th time in First Grade (including two centuries).  He also passed 4000 runs in First Grade.  He now has 4002 (1787 for University and 2215 for Penrith).

Ryan Danne, playing in only his second First Grade match, recorded his highest score (43) in the top grade.

Charlie Cassell, with 34 not out against Eastern Suburbs, registered his highest score in First Grade.

The First Grade match against Eastern Suburbs was Ryan McElduff’s 100th game for the club in all grades.

Ben Mitchell’s hard-hitting 83 against Eastern Suburbs was his highest score for the club, his fourth half-century (he made his fifth the following day), and his highest score in Second Grade.  He also returned his best bowling figures in Poidevin-Gray (3-41) on Sunday, which he followed with an innings of 56, his highest score and first half-century in Poidevin-Gray.

Charlie Litchfield has passed 2500 runs for the club in all grades.

Rex Greaves made his Second Grade debut and collected his first wicket in Seconds.

Nivethan Radhakrishnan took 5-20 in Poidevin-Gray against Fairfield-Liverpool: his career best figures, and first five-wicket haul, in any grade in Premier Cricket.

Sanjay Anandarajah claimed his first Poidevin-Gray wicket.

Dash Ratnam (32) and Adam Sidhu (35) each hit his highest score for the club in the Poidevin-Gray match against Fairfield-Liverpool.

Raveen Ganesh made his debut for the club in the Poidevin-Gray match against Fairfield-Liverpool.