Round 4 UTS North Sydney vs Sydney University (Week 1)
1st Grade UTS North Sydney vs Sydney University at University No.1
Sydney University 111 (J Aitken 3/6, J Campbell 3/26) and 0/6 vs UTS North Sydney 7 dec/163 (R Aitken 44, B Bryant 35, O Knight 35*)
The UTS North Sydney Bears had a picnic under warm sunny skies at University Oval to eventually claim first innings points against a strong Sydney University line-up which had arrived buoyant after chasing down 462 last week. 
In the absence of Justin Avendano with an injury picked up while scoring 78* for the Sixers Academy during the week, skipper Tom Jagot lost the toss, and was asked to field. The Bears bowlers enjoyed the gusty conditions on a pitch that was offering plenty of sideways movement. James Campbell and Will Graham kept it tight with the Students’ first run coming in the fourth over and after several lbw appeals were turned down. Campbell made the initial breakthrough in the ninth over with a great diving catch to keeper George Lavelle. Graham backed his partner up a few overs later, splattering the stumps of the number three and it was 2/14 in the twelfth over. Olly Knight was introduced into the attack in the 15th over and had immediate success, removing the in-form Hayden Kerr plumb lbw for four. With Matt Alexander (1/27) bowling from the other end, Campbell returned for his second spell taking two more wickets (including uprooting the middle stump of dogged opener Rory McElduff - pictured, who top-scored with 33) to finish with 3/26 and the students wobbling at 6/73. A thirty-run partnership developed between Liam Robertson and Dugald Holloway before Robbie (1/9) and James Aitken cleaned up the tail. It was James’s 250th First Grade game for the Bears and he celebrated in style taking 3/6 from 6.3 overs. Sydney University all out 111 in the 51st over.
UTS North Sydney had to negotiate a tricky period before tea and lost Jack James and Tom Jagot to be 2/26 at the break. Last week’s centurion, Ben Bryant, made a valuable 35, steering the Bears to 3/54 before being caught by the keeper. Robbie Aitken played aggressively for his 44, hitting a boundary to go to 21 and in doing so became just the third player in Sydney First Grade history to both take 500 wickets and score 11,000 runs, a remarkable achievement marked with cheers from his team-mates and the UTS North Sydney supporters.
Knight played as he always does, hitting 35 off 19 balls with three sixes and three fours. The Bears passed the Students’ total when five down to gain the first innings points, and with the fall of the seventh wicket, at 163, Jagot made a sporting declaration hoping for a breakthrough before the close of play. Three overs were bowled at the Uni openers who will resume next week 0/6 with the Bears knowing that a repeat of this week’s performance could bring them their second outright victory of the season.
Kingsgrove T20 Cup Double Header UTS North Sydney vs Manly-Warringah and St George at North Sydney Oval
Manly-Warringah 8/177 (J Campbell 3/43, M Alexander 2/26) def UTS North Sydney 9/138 (O Knight 42)
UTS North Sydney 8/102 (14) (T Jagot 34) def by St George 2/106
The long-awaited T20 double-header at North Sydney Oval featured matches against Manly and St George, in front of a strong crowd.
A star-studded Manly side was always going to be a tough opponent in this form of the game and, after Tom Jagot put them into bat, Jack Edwards made an extraordinary start to the game. Edwards faced six balls and scored the first 23 runs of the day (6, 1, 6, 6, 4) before being brilliantly caught by George Lavelle who ran and dived to take a skier off a relieved James Campbell. This, Mac Jenkins getting rid of the dangerous Jay Lenton, and the introduction of Matt Alexander (whose first two overs went for just four runs) gave the Bears some brief respite, but Sydney Thunder’s Chris Green showed his class in compiling 65 off 45 balls to guide the Tahs to a commanding 8/177. The innings provided several contenders for “moment of the day”, including wonderful catches by Lavelle, Matt Alexander and Jack James, and Married at First Sight’s Cameron Merchant walking out to bat to “Here Comes the Bride” as a wedding was staged on the hill. But the thunder (no pun intended) was stolen by James Campbell whose second dismissal of the morning was his 200th First Grade wicket, putting him in an elite club.
After Tom Jagot hit the first ball of the reply for four, the Bears lost four wickets in the first three overs to be reeling at 4/20. Jake Hardy and Olly Knight started to rebuild, putting on 30 in three overs, before Hardy fell for a run-a-ball 15. Knight continued his rich vein of form making 42 off 29 balls before attempting one big shot too many and being caught on the boundary with the score 7/80 in the 13th over. UTS North Sydney finished 9/138 following cameos from Robbie Aitken (22 off 23) and Matt Alexander (21* off 20).
In the second game, Jagot made it two tosses out of two, but this time chose to bat with rain forecast for later in the afternoon. Before play, young spinner Ben Knox (pictured) was presented with cap number 672 upon making his First Grade debut for the club. As in the morning match, UTS North Sydney lost early wickets and were 4/44 when Jagot fell for a well-made 34 off 24 balls. Robbie Aitken headed up the recovery and steered the Bears to 5/76 in the 12th over before heavy rain halted play for 85 minutes. The match was reduced to 14 overs per side, so the Bears came out to face 16 more balls. Aitken (23 off 17) and Matt Alexander (15 off just 5) ensured 26 runs were score off these to take the total to 7/102. To reflect the curtailment, the DLS method provided St George with a slightly revised target of 106, but unfortunately short work was made of this by St George, and in particular Blake Macdonald who compiled 64 off 38 balls as the Saints won by 8 wickets in the 12th over. On debut, Ben Knox was the pick of the bowlers, conceding just 20 runs in his three overs.
Off the field, it was a hugely successful day with awareness raised, former players enjoying the renovated facilities, live radio coverage from Triple H and dozens of North Sydney juniors enjoying the opportunity to play on the hallowed North Sydney Oval outfield (pictured). We thank everyone who came to support us and especially who assisted before or on the day, and hope to make the event even bigger and better in 2020!
2nd Grade UTS North Sydney vs Sydney University at Bon Andrews Oval
UTS North Sydney 8/316 (G Aitken 93, R Alexander 71*, B Hardy 60, C New 28)
Captain Glenn Aitken won the toss on a hard but green wicket at Bon Andrews and backed his side's batting depth to get the job done. Disciplined two-day batting would be required on the Bon Andrews wicket.
Unfortunately, consistent line and length from the students on a deck that did a bit early left the Bears 2/20.
Cameron New and Broc Hardy consolidated after the early losses and took the score to 73 before New was out for 28 to a sharp chance in gully.
The morning session was in the balance and the wicket brought Jake Hardy to the crease. The brothers dug in and formed a handy partnership into lunch. Both players should great maturity in temperament. Strong defence combined with fine shot selection.
Unfortunately Jake was dismissed early in the second session for 14. Broc continued his resolute inning on an uncharacteristic no2 deck that continued to offer seam and bounce. Combining with Captain Glenn Aitken, Broc compiled a well made 60 runs.
The remainder of the middle session was dominated by the partnership of 128 runs between Glenn and Ray Alexander. The Sydney University bowling attack were disciplined, however both players were unwavering in their defence and scored to all parts of the ground when opportunities presented themselves.
The last session saw the students drop most fielders to the boundary in an effort to control the partnership and limit the Bear’s total. Aitken scored a powerful 93, but fell to a great diving catch on the boundary.
Alexander remained not out 71* with an innings clean timing and accurate placement. He combined with Niranjan Naguleswaran (11) and Jacob Graham (8*) (pictured with Ray) to take the team’s total to 316.
It was a good day for the Bears, that will give the bowlers plenty of optimism heading into the second week.
3rd Grade UTS North Sydney vs Sydney University at St Pauls
UTS North Sydney 237 (A Amir 62, J Ninness 56, D Thorat 29, F May 25)
The day started well, with skipper Chris Lloyd winning the toss and batting on a well grassed but good looking wicket. Dhruva Thorat and Tom Hamblin started well, seeing off the new ball. After Hamblin's stumping, Jordan Vilensky consolidated for the Bears before being strangled down the leg side. A rush of wickets from poor shots resulted in a tea time score of 5/107.
Another wicket soon after tea brought Jarrad Ninness and Ahmer Amir together. Selective shot making from both pushed the score along until Amir was dismissed for 62, his maiden half century for the Bears. Fletcher May joined Ninness and together they pushed the score along. After threatening repeatedly at the back end of last season, Ninness passed 50 for the first time in his Sydney grade cricket career, eventually being bowled for 56. A couple of quick wickets at the end saw May the last man out for 25 and the Bears finishing 237.
4th Grade UTS North Sydney vs Sydney University at Tunks International Sports Park
Sydney University 7 dec/273 (T Robson 3/54, H May 2/66) vs UTS North Sydney 0/4
Fourth grade stated really strongly on a Green Tunks International Sports Park. Captain Tim Robson and last week's bowling hero, Harry May, bowled tight early and to reap some rewards and reduce the students to 3 for 40. It was a windy morning ain Northbridge and the ball was swinging early.
Nathaniel Stokes then entered the attack and nabbed one quickly, with a strangle down the leg side. After that Uni compiled a pair large partnerships which took the shine off the ball and the life out of the pitch.
Uni took it deep in the day and accelerated away to a good position, declaring with 2 overs to go.
The bowling highlights for the Bears were Robsons's 3-for a brace for May.
5th Grade UTS North Sydney vs Sydney University at Camperdown Oval
Sydney University 203 (P Lindsay 5/39, P Brazel 2/20, M Nelson 2/32) v UTS North Sydney 2/52
5s welcomed 4 debutants and one youngster back to the fold at Camperdown Oval vs Sydney Uni. Messrs Noack, Nelson, Gotsis and Jennings suited up for the Bears in NSW Premier Cricket for the first time and Hamish Reynolds returned to the side.
The deck looked hard and flat and SUCC were happy to bat after winning the toss. The pitch played to expectations with little sideways movement on offer and it took a little while to remove the Uni openers.
Savage got the breakthrough and Nelson followed up with his first wicket in bears colours after replacing Noack who bowled a quality opening spell. Brazel then picked up the Uni skipper and the bears were on a roll at 3/49.
The Uni batsmen then got on top, scoring quickly and the score raced to 3/129. Skipper Lindsay (pictured) then got the much needed breakthrough, first removing the number 3 and then the number 5 both of whom batted well for their respective 49 and 67. Wickets then fell regularly with Brazel taking the final pole at 203 giving him a 2nd to match the double of Nelson, with a single to Savage. Skipper Lindsay finished with 5/39 off 18 after taking some early punishment, his twelfth 5-for for the club.
The Bears had 19 overs left to face and made a decent start moving to 27 before Heffernan (11) was dismissed LBW. Madala (10) fell in the 2nd last over with the score on 48. Young Hamish Reynolds looked assured ending the day on 26* with 152 runs required for victory next week.
Pictures courtesy of Tony Johnson and team captains