Bring the whole family down to our inaugural Family Day 2019
Sydney Uni Cricket are pleased to announce that its inaugural Family Day, proudly brought to you by FDC Construction & Fitout, will be held on Sunday 17th Feb 2019 in conjunction with the NSW Premier Cricket Limited Overs Cup Quarter Final at University Oval.
Thanks to FDC Construction & Fitout, we will have plenty of activities for the kids, including cricketing challenges, face painting and a jumping castle. There will be heaps of giveaways and prizes, not just for the kids but for parents as well.
If that isn't enough reason to join in the fun, there will be a fiercely contested Limited Overs quarter final between Sydney Uni and Penrith from 10am. The two sides are fighting it out for the Club Championship at the moment, and have already met twice in the T20 Cup earlier this year (with Sydney Uni victorious in the Sydney Thunder Conference Final).
Some of the best cricketers in Australia will be on show during the match, with plenty of exciting cricket action on display. Check out our highlights video below.
Show your interest by either registering to attend on our website or our Facebook Event page. Follow the event on Facebook for any updates. One lucky registered attendee will win a $150 prize pack thanks to FDC Construction & Fitout and Sydney Uni Cricket.
By James Rodgers
THE PROLOGUE
Nick mows our lawns.
He also works as a grounds man on the Bankstown cricket ovals.
He had seen the Club’s match against Bankstown a few weeks ago.
He confides to me as I set out on Saturday that “those Uni cricketers are not only good players, they’re good blokes. They know how to play the game. They even went out of their way to talk with me.”
That unsolicited ringing compliment is still with me as I walk down Lawson St Redfern. A sultry January day crackles with anticipation. Mounted police clip-clop up Abercrombie St. Other police saunter on foot in pairs.
Today is Australia Day, a day of conflicting emotions for many of the 13,000 indigenous people who live in Redfern. Redfern, the birth place of urban Aboriginal civil rights movement in Australia in the 1960s and 70s.
On this day (‘first landing day’ as it used to be called), 231 years ago, eleven ships from Great Britain, carrying about 700 prisoners, entered Port Jackson and in the evening, Captain Phillip, watched by members of the Eora nation, raised the Union Jack and drank to King George III at a place he called Sydney Cove.
This morning, Luke Slattery writes:
“There remains no parallel in human history for the early Australian story of mass human transformation – or elevation – from such lowly beginnings…a story of universal moral value.”
The sandstone University, now also a mass of modern construction sites, seems a world away from Redfern although 370 indigenous undergraduates now study here.
THE LOGOS
The oval’s eccentric scoreboard, a jumble of numbers and half numbers, needs mathematical interpretation. With help from John Kilford, I can see that the batting side is 1-20 chasing 260. Campbelltown are batting; University are in the field.
The hands of ‘Victor’ the clock on the Grandstand are forever set at 12.20. It will tell the correct time twice a day but not now. It’s 2.15pm.
By 3.15, Campbelltown are starting to bat themselves into a strong position. Wells and Browne have put on almost 70 despite steady bowling on a flat wicket.
Robertson induces Wells to hit to mid on. A scrambled run. A direct throw from Malone to Robertson’s hands. Umpire Patel signals Wells out. A vital wicket. But what’s this? The skipper talks to the umpire. The appeal is withdrawn. The decision is reversed. Robertson has broken the stumps without the ball.
“They know how to play the game.”
This is no isolated incident. Earlier in the season, Robertson signals ‘no catch’ after the umpire had given an Easts’ batsman out.
In his hands, under his leadership, the ‘spirit of cricket’ is not some document at the bottom of a cricket bag.
It seems right when Robertson has Wells caught by Kershaw a few overs later.
Another story of universal moral value.
A wander around the ground.
Guarding the boundary is University cricket royalty. At long off is Ed Cowan. At deep cover is Nick Larkin who has scored 138 earlier in the day. Between them, they have 30 centuries for the Club in 1st Grade, nearly 14,000 1st Grade runs.
The quality of the cricket, the quality and integrity of the cricketers are causes for pride. Former Club President, Jim Mackie, who has died a few weeks ago, was a player of integrity says current Club President Bruce Collins who rests a hand on my shoulder and admits in a voice with a slight quaver, “This is what makes us so proud to have played here.”
THE EPILOGUE
Burke of Campbelltown who’s been playing 1st Grade for 18 years garners all his experience and all his fortune to survive 2 dropped catches and 2 opportunities for run outs until he is eventually run out for 40 from 40 balls by Mortimer throwing from the deep. Holloway takes a tumbling diving catch on the boundary near the scoreboard to send the six hitting Cormack back. The 3rd Graders, fresh from triumph at St Paul’s, send up a cheer and then another more lusty one as Robertson bowls the last batsmen when Campbelltown need 12. The strains of the victory song echo across the ground from the change rooms …”we are the Uni boys…” They’re also good blokes, good players in a Club that leads the Club Championship by a long way.
This was Australia Day.
231 years ago, the British first came here to stay.
165 years ago, University cricketers first played cricket and are continuing to play and to win and to instill pride in all of us.
Sydney Uni continue to achieve amazing things in 2018-19, and following their win over Campbelltown-Camden on Satuday to remain undefeated in the Limited Overs Cup (full story on Tuesday), University Oval will play host to a Quarter Final grudge match against Penrith on Sunday 17th February 2019.
We are very excited to announce that we will be hosting the FDC Construction & Fitout Family Day, and a Past Players Social Event at the Quarter Final, making it the biggest day of cricket for Sydney Uni so far this season.
Full details of both events will follow later this week, but for the moment, please put the 17th February into your calendar and join us in what will be an amazing day of cricket, fun and friendships at Uni Oval.
2nd Grade
Raby 1
10:00am start
Nick Walker +
Ben Trevor-Jones
Steve Hobson
James Larkin ©
Ryan Danne
Nicky Craze
Matt Moran
Max Hope
Charlie Cassell
Kieren Tate
Josh Toyer
3rd Grade
St Paul’s Oval
10:00am start
Ben Larkin ©
Jack Hill
Charles Litchfield
Dave Miller
Alex Shaw +
AJ Grant
Will Masojada
Tom Kierath
Nihir Gandhi
Brodie Frost
Lewis McMahon
4th Grade
Raby 2
10:00am start
Matt Powys
Hayden Storey
Ed Arnott +
Michael Robinson
Ash Cowan ©
Liam Coelho
Henry Clark
Tom Fullerton
Aiden Peek
Jazz Rinka
Murray Watts
5th Grade
Camperdown Oval
10:00am start
Brayden Dilley
Hugh Kermond +
James Robertson
Billy Barge
Sanjay Anandarajah
Lewis Ansell
Zohirul Islam
Sanjiv Khalko
Andrew Wilkinson ©
Murray Miles
Tom Hill
Metro Cup
Bland Oval
10:00am start
Rakin Rahman
Saarangan Arvind
Azhar Saeed
Sudarshan Arvind
Robert Browne
Greg Cade © +
SJ De Silva
Max Shanahan
Tom Crawford
Darshan Choudary
Cameron Pereira
By James Rodgers
On this ground in November 1926, 18 year old D G Bradman of St George scored a masterly 110, his first 1st Grade century, as he announced his prodigious talent to Sydney Grade cricketers.
Today, if you stand under the T J E Andrews Memorial Scoreboard on the eastern hill of the ground, you can’t quite see the score. The old Andrews scoreboard looks forlornly out of action. Well-tended hedges in front of the grandstand on the western side just cut off a view of the portable scoreboard. So, walk south near families spread out on the grass in the shade near the rotunda. From here, there’s a clear sight of University players taking the field after lunch and of the scoreboard. Randwick-Petersham are 3 for 98 from 32 overs. Interest among the picnickers seems minimal. Would they sit up and watch if more well-known players were in the middle? After all, in this match, there’s no Warner, no Sangha, no Cowan, no Larkin. But there’s absorbing cricket in a game that flows to and fro.
This is pleasantly suburban cricket in Sydney’s inner west where things always seem a little closer. Houses packing into Station St are only a decent six hit away from the middle. Four suburbs surround the ground: Leichhardt, Stanmore, Marrickville, Lewisham. Aeroplanes winging their way to Sydney airport fly low enough for their undercarriages and identity of the airline to be clearly visible from the ground. If you’re bowling on Petersham Oval, boundaries look forbiddingly short. If you’re batting, they look invitingly close. So three times, Randwick’s Eaton hits uncharacteristic full tosses from Malone over the shorter leg side boundary. A prelude to Sunday’s onslaught by Kerr? Fielding on the boundary is Varun George, the most recent 1st Grader, cap no. 760. He is the ‘Bradman scholar’ for 2018-19. Does he know that Bradman scored his first Grade hundred on this ground 93 seasons ago?
In the middle, Eaton and Ayre prosper against strangely inconsistent bowling. The score mounts. Robertson places the field thoughtfully. Left and right hander hit thoughtfully to other parts of the field. The partnership advances to 118 until Kershaw tests Eaton’s patience and induces the snick to Cummins. But in half an hour Singh hits four effortless cover drives to the nearest boundary. Malone before and after tea, however, is a different prospect. Control and guile return as he takes his tally of season’s wickets to an extraordinary 46. And it’s only January! He skids one on to Singh who is LBW despite using the front pad. ‘Jubilate omnes gentes’ as we used to say. Everyone rejoice!
An involuntary look up to where the score used to be recorded on this ground sends thoughts back to T J E Andrews who trod the paths of this ground until he was 54, from 1909 until final retirement in 1944 (having unsuccessfully tried to retire when his scoreboard went up in 1936, only to be lured back for more in the War years). The leathery faced Tommy Andrews, son of TJ Andrews of Funeral Parlour fame. (You get to know these things when you get to a certain age!). Andrews, scorer of 11,699 runs in 1st Grade with Petersham in addition to his 504 wickets with leg breaks, bowled with an action that caused him to be called for throwing against Queensland in 1914. 8095 runs in 1st class cricket. 16 Tests between 1921 and 1926. University players of the 1920s would never forget him. He lashed them with his highest score, 271 in 1923-24.
In fact, there’s a little bit of this ground that contains memories of distinguished men who served the University with great fidelity:
Somewhere at the southern end of the park is Wentworth Street. Petersham Park was fashioned out of the subdivision in 1857 of one of William Charles Wentworth’s estates. It was Wentworth who moved in the NSW Legislative Council in 1849 for the establishment of the University of Sydney and who was then on the governing body of the University for its first 22 years.
Sydney University’s Hayden Kerr celebrates a maiden 1st Grade ton against Randwick-Petersham at Petersham Oval
Sydney University cricket’s President, Bruce Collins, had his name up on the scoreboard for most of one 2nd Grade game in 1977. He scored a blistering century on the first day and took 5 for 0 in his first two overs on the second day when Petersham collapsed from 1 for 59 to 8 for 61.
And in 1993-94, John Saint’s 173 included 11 sixes, five in one over from an increasingly perplexed Wayne Mulherin.
But this is 2019. Petersham has become ‘Petersham-Marrickville’ and now, since 2001, ‘Randwick-Petersham’ (even though a sign in the park proclaims that ‘Petersham-Randwick Cricket Club’ now plays here).
And University marches on. Another victory as Hayden Kerr, who played at Bowral where Bradman learnt his cricket before coming to Sydney, hits nine sixes on Sunday, in his 133 on pleasantly suburban Petersham Oval.
2nd Grade
University Oval
10:00am start
Nick Walker +
Steven Hobson
Ryan Danne
Nicky Craze
James Larkin ©
Matt Moran
Tim Ley
Dave Miller
Max Hope
Charlie Cassell
Kieren Tate
3rd Grade
Coogee Oval
10:00am start
Ben Larkin ©
Jack Hill
Charles Litchfield
Alex Shaw +
AJ Grant
Will Masojada
Tom Kierath
Josh Toyer
Nihir Gandhi
Brodie Frost
Lewis McMahon
4th Grade
St. Paul’s Oval
10:00am start
Matt Powys
Hayden Storey
Ed Arnott +
Michael Robinson
Ash Cowan ©
Liam Coelho
Ned Barnett
Henry Clark
Dom O’Shannessy
Jazz Rinka
Murray Watts
5th Grade
Marrickville Oval
10:00am start
Brayden Dilley
Hugh Kermond +
James Robertson
Tom Fullerton
Billy Barge
Lewis Ansell
Zohirul Islam
Andrew Wilkinson ©
Aiden Peek
Tom Hill
Shehan Canagasingham
Metro Cup
St. Paul’s Oval
10:00am start (Sun)
Rakin Rahman
Saarangan Arvind
Azhar Saeed
Sudarshan Arvind
Cullen Hathurusinghe
Robert Browne
Greg Cade © +
Darshan Choudary
Max Shanahan
Tom Crawford
Cameron Pereira
Matthew Johns