1st Grade:
Sydney University 10/340 (R Carters 113, E Cowan 58, May 48, M Crane 4/112) Def Gordon 10/249 (M Crane 80, M Junk 61, D Malone 5/78, B Joy 2/46)
A full strength Students outfit arrived at Chatswood to take on the undefeated Gordon, hoping Nick Larkin could get first use of the batting facilities on offer. A successful call had the bowlers putting the feet up and searching for the morning papers. With Larkin starting with a sublime cover drive first ball and two less convincing boundaries inside the first over, it was clear we would need to post a decent total to pick up the six points.
The pitch had just enough variable bounce and seam in it to make the batsmen work hard for their runs. Fortunately, Cowan and Carters possessed both the technique and temperament for the task, grafting their way to lunch against some high quality seam bowling from Stobo and leg spin from the English import Crane.
Cowan’s departure for 58 in the middle session brought Mortimer to the crease, who continued his recent good form. Carters and Mortimer added 87 for the third wicket before Mortimer got one that bounced sharply off a length and was caught behind. Carters reached his maiden century for SUCC, an invaluable 113 given the bowling and pitch conditions. The chase for quick runs and some terrible running saw wickets fall rapidly in the last hour. We were bowled out in the last over for 340.
Ben Joy stepped up to take the new ball in Rogers’ absence with immediate effect, removing Eccles caught at the wicket by BTJ. A stunning run out from Mortimer removed the in-form Kahlin and Gordon were reduced to 2-24. Disciplined bowling from Ley and Elley kept the scoring rate down and pressure on the batsmen, but no further progress in the wicket column for an hour or so. Enter Devlin Malone with about half an hour to lunch. Half an hour the later the game was as good as over, with Malone ripping through the Gordon line up. He did all the work himself too, three bowled and two caught-and-bowled. The list of batsman not able to pick him has moved to an electronic platform for ease of storage. Seven down at lunch has us thinking of a potential outright win, but the Gordon tail well and truly wagged and we had to wait until the second new ball to finally claim six points. Cold cans of Asahi tasted very good after a hard fought win.
1ST Grade Kingsgrove T20 Cup: Sydney University 145 (D Mortimer 45, B Trevor-Jones 25) Def by ACT Comets 1/149 (A Blizzard 97*)
Game three off the Kingsgrove T20 Cup saw the students travel down to the nations capital to take on the ACT Comets. Losing the toss, the ACT sent us in and we started well with Nick Larkin cruising to 20 off 12 balls, to have the students 0/33 after 3 before some disciplined bowling saw us lose 4/20 to be reeling at 4/56. Damien Mortimer (45 off 45) and James Larkin (21 off 17) batted with controlled aggression to add some respectability to the score, before some late hitting from Ben Trevor-Jones (25 off 17) saw us post a defendable 145.
Despite Ben Joy taking an early wicket, we were unable to plug the flow of runs from Aiden blizzard’s bat, fresh from his 81* in the morning game, he was exceptional posting 97 off just 52 balls. Tim Ley was the standout with the ball going for just 12 runs in his three overs well supported by Liam Robertson 0/18 off his 3.1 overs.
A second straight loss in the Kingsgrove T20 Cup has us sitting outside the top four, however with a slim chance of progressing through to the final series.
2nd Grade:
Gordon 270 (S O’Brien 56, D Smith 44, K Elley 4/80, L Whitaker 3/50) Def Sydney Uni 10/196 (J Crowley 53, D Miller 42, S Baker 4/38)
Day one against Gordon saw the students arrive to yet another belter at University number 1. Unsurprisingly after winning the toss Gordon didn’t hesitate to bat, getting off to a reasonable start sitting at 0/40 before Kieran Elley made the first breakthrough bowling ex-student Cam New for 14.
Wickets continued to fall at a pleasing rate for the students, with Elley being the chief destroyer, burgling four wickets while Dugald Holloway bowled with great pace and little luck to finish with 2/32 off 20. Liam Whitaker also bowled with fantastic control and varied his pace well claiming 3/50 in his 24 overs.
Just after tea, the students had Gordon at 7/190 with the hope of chasing a little more than 200, unfortunately some late order doggedness saw the Stags post 270 at the close of play.
Heading into Day 2 the Students required 271 to claim a vital six points to establish themselves in the top half of the ladder. A bright start to the day ensued with ‘Old’ winning a scrappy game of Nash to the tone of 2-0.
Jack Holloway and Will Hay began the chase in watchful fashion, Gordon pestering away with early swing and seam movement. Holloway after receiving a barrage of feedback on his technique from the fielding side departed, leaving Miller and Hay to remain resolute until lunch at 1-59.
Proceedings resumed with the Uni boys beginning to the find the gaps in the blanket like in-field. However, the game took a turn for the worst with a collapse of 3 for 4 left the students teetering at 4-88. This was further compounded half an hour later with the loss of the fifth wicket with the score at 107.
Newly induced Cardinal Nicky Craze and James Crowley set about righting the ship, battling against the older reverse swinging Gordon attack. It was not to be however, with the students were dismissed in the end for 196. Crowley was the standout with a fighting knock of 53 adding to his recent run of good form with the bat.
Next Round sees the Sydney Uni up against the fifth place Mosman at Allan Border Oval, the scoobydoos looking for nothing less than a win as it begins the important period heading into the Christmas Break.
3rd Grade:
Gordon 10/108 & 7/274 Def by Sydney Uni 2/309 (H Kerr 129*, C Litchfield 109*, T Kierath 49).
It was some rare shrapnel success from skipper Ash Cowan which set the tone for one of the most all-around dominant days in recent memory on Day 1 for the Students.
The decision to take first opportunity on a lively Killara deck was immediately vindicated as a ruthless bowling and fielding performance saw consistent breakthroughs mostly shared amongst the bowlers, with Kieran Tate the chef destroy taking 4 wickets for the second successive round. The Stags eventually dismissed for 108 in just over 30 overs.
It was from here that the day got better for the Nerds. A confident opening stand saw Tom Kierath increase his season aggregate by 700%, an aggressive 49 laying the platform for the afternoon fireworks. Enter Charles “Mr WorldWide” Litchfield and Hayden Kerr. The pair put on 235 off 205 balls; just 12 shy of the clubs all time 3rd grade highest partnership. No suburban yard was off limits as twin, unbeaten, maiden 3rd grade hundreds saw Uni reach 2-309 at days end.
After coming off maximum points last round, an overnight declaration had the bowlers licking their lips at the prospect of back-to-back 10 pointers. The Stags dug in with renewed resolve, however, and despite enthusiastic efforts with the ball Lady Luck had changed allegiances from week 1. 70 overs returned just 7 Gordon wickets, a feisty Ryan Kurtz the most damaging with 3. An opportunity missed perhaps, but 3 wins on the bounce has 3rd grade firmly seated in the top six just 3 points from first placed Mosman who arrive to fortress Pauls this week!
4th Grade:
Gordon 138 & 7/138 Def By Sydney Uni 4/147 dec (A Shaw 40*, H Kermond 29 J Hill 28*)
The 4s boys came out with a point to prove against a strong performing Gordon outfit. Looking at the table Gordon would have felt ready for the Uni boys given the form to date. However with the injection of some top 6 mercenaries (julios) there was an air of confidence in what we might be able to achieve at Pauls. Unfortunately this air of confidence carried onto the nashball field and the nuffies were again handed the cannon fodder status for another week.
With a 50/50 decision at the toss, the skipper knowing full well he was the bowling clique for the game and silly season was only days away felt the conditions may favour those that stood the seam up. Some run-hungry batsmen queried the call but gathered themselves to swan around in the grippers (armchairs). The stags started well against the new ball and they navigated their way through the first 15 overs for no loss. However from here they lost their way and wickets began to fall steadily throughout the afternoon. The four bowlers worked hard and were well rewarded with the final result of the stags being all out for 138 with 25 overs still to bat.
Amongst the group the feeling was that 138 shouldn't be enough but a good young bowling attack would be a test. The exam started early losing Denzel (Suda) without scoring. With the opportunity for some brackets to be utilised, Shawry was pushed up the order and had a telling impact on the game. Shawry with the support of Kev Jacobs moved the total on and by the end of the day we maintained the honours at 3/70.
Returning the next Saturday we were pleasing greeted by a flatter, drier wicket that would make the stags task all the harder. Add a determined Hilly to the mix and the SUCC chase proceeded well to the needed total. 6 points bagged prior to tea. With the opportunity for some weekend hustling, we sought a little "let's make a game of this" with the opposition.
Initially met with interest the Gordon guys came out offering the idea of some runs, wickets and maximum points. However, Aidan Peek (junior Toyer) went about denting any possible confidence the stags had and the students gallantly pursued taking all 10 wickets. Aidan grabbed Michelle. However, I mentioned it was flat and silly season had now begun, so the wind came out of the sails after an early surge. Stags finished 7 down for 120 odd with no time left.
Great result for the 4s and the goal will be to continue to claim points into Xmas
5th Grade:
Gordon 9/308dec (D Monaghan 66, J Doolan 50, A Cusack 3/75) Def Sydney Uni 10/256 (J Day 103, L Hughes 57, L Stewart 5/43)
It was a game of missed opportunities for the students in fives, having reduced Gordon to 7/165 to let them off the hook to end up with an imposing 308. Angus Cusack bowled with great pace on debut for the club to end as the pick of the bowlers with three wickets. He was well supported by Sameer Murthy (2/36) and Natesh Yoganand (2/20). An aggressive declaration from the Gordon skipper saw the Uni boys with two overs to face on the evening of day 1. Unfortunately losing a wicket in the first over meant we arrived day two with a difficult challenge ahead.
Early wickets again on day two meant we were behind the eight ball right from the start. Until Jake Day (103) and Liam Hughes (57 combined for a 124 run partnership to give us some hope. Jake Day was outstanding, scoring his debut hundred for the club, and worked hard to get the students close to Gordon’s total. Despite some late hitting from A Cusack (25) and Skipper Mike Harris (20) we ultimately fell 50 runs short.
Moving into next week the boys will have to capitalise on all opportunities to ensure the 6 points.
Metro Cup:
Sydney University 9/315 (B Frost 97, A Wilkinson 71, N Fitzgerald 51, MY Ali 5/103) Def Mosman 10/241 (C Barkat 82, MY Ali 45, L Hughes 3/31, TJ Drace 3/39)
The Metro Cup team delivered their second win of the season after a long day in the field - bowling Mosman out in the penultimate over of the day.
Chasing 316 for victory Mosman had successfully batted through 18 overs at the end of the first day to resume at 0/54. It was a promising start in the students' defence as Tom Draca collected 2 wickets in just the second over - on an uncommonly green St Andrews surface. Exceptional fielding and disciplined bowling prevented any attempts to score and at 4/75 (still 8 overs before the first drinks break) the signal came from the Mosman camp to play for the draw. Persistent defence to attacking bowling would mean only one Uni breakthrough for the next 57 overs as the pitch reverted to its typical flatness. However, the arrival of the second new ball injected new life into the students' attack to clean up the tail and claim the final wicket with just 10 balls remaining.