Week 14 Wrap vs Campbelltown, Randwick Petersham and Sydney

1st Grade Round 9: UTS North Sydney vs Campbelltown-Camden at North Sydney Oval

Campbelltown-Camden 209 (49.5 overs) (M Alexander 3/29, R Aitken 3/38 M Jenkins 2/43) def by UTS North Sydney 7/210 (47.3 overs) (TA Jagot 57, M Papworth 41, A Bariol 34)

With eight rounds completed, more or less, including the intervention of rain and Covid cancellations, the first grade side had some ground to make up, sitting mid table and only seven more opportunities for points. Our opposition were behind us on the table and so this game needed to be won to keep any finals aspirations alive. This game was significant as it would be our first chance to play on North Sydney Oval in season 2020-21, as well as being Tom Jagot’s 100th game for the club at the top grade.

The toss was lost and the Campbelltown-Camden captain had no hesitation in batting first under blue skies and warm sunshine. There were a few early glitches with MyCricket and the new scoreboard, but no glitches on the field as new ball bowlers James Campbell and Matt Alexander heaped the pressure on the opposition openers with Alexander striking the first blow in his second over to have the Ghosts 1/15 after 4 overs. Campbell (1/30 off 8) claimed a second Camden wicket, removing the other opener, in the ninth over leaving Campbelltown-Camden 2/27.

A strong partnership developed that took the opposition score past 100 by the 25th over with the Ghosts scoring consistently at a tick over four an over in this period. Robbie Aitken halted the momentum in the third over of his spell removing Mitchell Carruthers, who had moved to 61, with a magnificent one-handed reflex caught and bowled. A couple of overs later Aitken struck again, removing the other set batsman by creating a simple catch in the gully for Matt Alexander to have Campbelltown-Camden 4/128 after 31 overs. The sustained pressure from Aitken, who bowled in tandem with Jack James for 8 overs, allowed only 20 runs to be scored and this led to the Ghosts batsman getting a bit funky in the search for boundaries. This played into Aitken’s hands as he claimed a third wicket in the 40th over, with the young batsman getting a fine edge on a miscued ramp shot that was taken by keeper Aiden Bariol. Aitken finished his spell with outstanding figures of 3/38.

After a tidy first spell, Mac Jenkins bowled with Aitken and then Matt Alexander with the pair claiming the next three wickets. Alexander claimed the sixth wicket in the 42nd over as the batsman attempted to take the ball from off stump to the leg side and only succeeded in presenting Tom Jagot with a catch in a leg gully position which was brilliantly taken on the dive, close to the ground– 6/172. Jenkins got the next two wickets in the 43rd and then 45th over to have the Ghosts 8/188. The first was a miscued slog that was taken by James Campbell at a shortish mid on and the second at long off by Olly Knight as the Ghosts tried to lift the run rate. Knight was also involved in the next dismissal, as Campbelltown-Camden looked to progress beyond 200, running in from mid wicket to throw down the stumps at the keeper’s end with a direct hit run-out as the batsman forgot to ground his bat. The Ghosts managed another 9 runs before Alexander finished the job with one ball remaining, rattling the stumps of the number 11 and finishing with 3/29 from his 9.5 overs.

Overall, it was a strong bowling display with some enthusiastic and committed fielding that restricted the opposition to 209 runs. Despite this, there were a few bad balls that released pressure and the odd drop in the field that could have brought the bonus point into play had we executed.

Jack James and Tom Jagot opened the batting with James hitting his first six of the season over deep point before being adjudged lbw in the 5th over with the score on 10. Brent Atherton followed in the next over and at the start of the sixth over it was 2/11. Aiden Bariol started confidently with a four from his first delivery. He struck four further boundaries and a six back over the bowler’s head, making a quick fire 34 runs from 25 balls in a partnership of 55 with his captain, to place the home side at 3/66 after 13 overs. As is often the case, Tim Reynolds (17) looked good early, making the most of a free hit to launch a bomb into the Duncan Thompson Stand. When Reynolds fell to the third lbw of the day it was 4/97 from 20 overs and, despite the loss of four wickets, the run rate required remained a manageable four an over.

Max Papworth, in his third appearance in first grade this season, was the next batsman to join his captain in the middle. Both players picked up singles and the odd boundary to move the score along to 147. The partnership put on an even fifty runs before Jagot lost his wicket on 57, lofting a ball straight to deep mid wicket. In Jagot’s 100th first grade appearance for the Bears, it was fitting that he notched up his third fifty for the season to go with two big hundreds. It was also the 16th time that Jagot has gone passed fifty for the club in a first grade fixture. It was a valuable innings that placed the Bears in a strong position with 17 overs remaining.

Papworth was hitting them well as he moved to 41, his highest score in the top grade before he fell with the score at 172. When Olly Knight was dismissed in the next over the Bears were 7/173 giving Camden a sniff if they were good enough. Despite this, the smart money was on the experienced Robbie Aitken and the finisher, Mac Jenkins, to get the job done. However, a few tight overs from the Ghosts bowlers restricted our boys to just 4 runs in five overs and suddenly the pressure was back on the batsmen and with six overs remaining a further 33 runs were still needed. Aitken slapped a four in the 45th to raucous applause from the assembled audience of not only his team-mates but also third and fifth grade players who had already won and returned to HQ. We picked up 7 runs in that over, but the over that turned the game was the 46th with both Jenkins and Aitken hitting boundaries to take 14 from the over to leave just 12 runs required from the last four. As it panned out, only a further 10 balls were needed to claim a vital victory and move the Bears to 10th on the ladder and 7 points out of the top six.

The next round will make or break our season as we take on second placed Manly in another one day fixture. We did manage to knock them off in a T20 at Manly Oval earlier in the season, so will take some confidence into the clash. However, Manly are coming off a win against Eastern Suburbs who now sit fourth on the table and will be desperate to maintain their position on the ladder.

2nd Grade Round 9: UTS North Sydney vs Campbelltown-Camden at Raby Oval No 1

Campbelltown-Camden 146 (43.3 overs) (FJ Noack 3/24, W Graham 3/39. F May 2/21, J Aitken 2/34) def by UTS North Sydney 4/147 (45.5 0vers) (J Leary 37*, J Vilensky 35, A Cavenor 25)

The Bears travelled south west to Raby Oval to play Campbelltown-Camden in the first game after the break on what was a humid and sunny day.

Captain Glenn Aitken lost the toss and we were asked to bowl first, which was the plan in any case. The opening combination of Will Graham (3/35 off 9) and James Aitken (2/34 off 9) got into their work, taking the first three wickets quickly whilst restricting the score. James in particular bowled excellent lines and lengths, bowled his 10 overs straight and consistently got the ball to nibble, creating many a chance.

However, the game was blown wide open with the bowling change of Fletcher May (2/21 off 10) who bowled a fantastic spell, proving to be untouchable until his eighth over where he knocked over their number three. His celebration, after a frustrating period of plays and misses, was as deserved as it was big. Surely GA would have enjoyed reviewing it in the captains’ meeting with the umpires after the game.

The self proclaimed “Best Fielder in the Club”, Sam Alexander, was leading the chat throughout the day. Around midday he decided to give Fraser Noack (7.3-3/24) (Fraser unfortunately being far too close in in the ring, watching a ball fly over his head) and Will some fielding advice, which I’m sure they will hold reverently.

Wickets fell at a steady rate throughout the day without the run rate ever threatening to get out of hand. Fraser and Will finished off the tail, and the Bears went to the innings break in a strong position: Campbelltown-Camden all out for 147.

In reply, Jordan Vilensky (35) and debutant Adam Cavenor (25) got to work chasing the smallish total down. Cavenor, after hitting a few nice shots, threw his wicket away trying to send the ball halfway back home, leaving Vilensky to continue the chase with Ben Van der Merwe (8). There was a slight tremor, with the fall of Ben, Vilensky and Ray Alexander (6) with only a few runs separating each wicket.

Taking control, skipper GA and James Leary batted responsibly, guiding the innings home. Both batted with real intent, with Leary hurrying the scoring along, hitting a couple of fours, and Glenn hitting a large six.

The Bears won with 7 overs to spare, comfortably in the end, Glenn (24*) and Leary (37*) securing the 6 points. On to Manly next week.

3rd Grade Round 9: UTS North Sydney vs Campbelltown-Camden at Bon Andrews

UTS North Sydney 8/214cc (C Lloyd 75, JD Graham 52, L Stewart 43) def Campbelltown-Camden 89 (28.2 overs) (KS Allison 3/18, H May 3/21, JD Graham 2/7, N Whyte 2/14)

With the last round before Christmas cancelled, the long mid-year break seemed like it lasted forever. Finally the Bears were back at home at Bon for a crucial round nine clash with Campbelltown-Camden

Skipper Jacob Graham started the year with a win at the toss and decided to have a bat. With a promotion of young talent Adam Cavenor up to second grade, the opening batsman spot was taken up by the skipper. He joined an in form Finn Nixon-Tomko out in the middle at the start of play.

A few overs in and with the scoreboard just starting to get a move on, Finn fell caught in the slips. Cam New fell two balls later. This brought the skipper of old and the skipper of today together, the man mountain of Chris Lloyd striding to the crease. Immediately the runs started to flow as both batsmen found their groove and leather found itself regularly at the picket fence.

Chris brought up his fifty with a glorious controlled straight six, and, without wanting to be outdone, Jacob followed suit, his next boundary finding the rope at long on to bring up his first half century for the year.

A one hundred partnership was had before the Ghosts skipper brought himself on to bowl, a master stroke as the first ball he delivered found its way full, chest-high and wide. Graham unfortunately had no answer to it as it went straight up caught at cover. The expected ‘no-ball’ call never came and so the partnership of Stewart and Lloyd began.

Both batsmen kept pushing the rate along and only came undone by a last minute miscommunication for a quick single and Lloyd was found stranded somewhere between the bowler’s end and Newcastle, such was his eagerness for the run. Alas, a brilliant 75 came to an end but with a platform set at 4/176 the Bears were staring down the barrel of posting an imposing 230+ target.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite to be, the middle order not fully able to capitalise on the foundation laid, and regular wickets saw the Bears finish the 50 overs a little short of the target, but still well ahead of the game at 8/214. Top scorers were : Chris Lloyd 75, Jacob Graham 52, and Lachlan Stewart 43.

Whilst the Ghosts hadn’t had the best of years to date we knew we couldn’t just expect it all to just fall in our lap. We had to be imposing. We had to lift and, thanks to the batting we’d already done, we knew had the perfect opportunity to make a statement to the rest of the competition.

Nuwan Whyte started us off and his first over was a blinder. Every thing seemed to hit the seam, but just miss the outside edge.

Over #2. Enter Harrison May. “Just keep it simple, just make him play” the skipper said to the Big Horse. “Yeah mate, got it” was the reply. All side mouth stuff as the usual second grade opening bowler stared down the opening stick. There were stumps everywhere. Angle in. Seam away. Bails nowhere to be seen. Off stump obliterated. 1/0. Two balls later, the same result. Front foot press. Late to get the bat down. The right hander didn’t even get a chance to swing at it. 2/0.

Nuwan stated his second over and finally the opening left handed found bat on ball. A thick outside edge through a vacant third slip for 4. The very next ball the same result, higher on the bat this time to give a chance gobbled up by a diving Finn at 2nd slip. An incredible start – 3/4.

The Bears were up and flying but we still needed to be good. Their skipper was in and with him the last semblance of a batter. Five overs later and with a third wicket to Harry, the Ghosts were well and truly reeling. At 4/12 the game was all but dead. The only hope for the Ghosts was to potentially deny the Bears a bonus point. A little partnership of 25 runs started to develop. Kobe Allison replaced Harry May with almost immediate effect, dislodging the #6 and #7 in the same over and, when Jacob Graham built up a couple of tight overs at the other end, another double wicket over was had, this time the captain falling to mid off, and the #8 caught behind. 8/56.

Kobe continued to bowl tightly and took his third, caught at cover. Knox replaced Graham, only to be dispatched for a few sixes by the #11 who had nothing to lose. But when the changes were rung and Nuwan found himself back into the attack the game was done, the free swinging #11 finding the safe hands of Lachlan Stewart at cover to end the innings. Campbelltown-Camden all out 89.

7 points to the Bears. Outright second on the ladder with a huge clash with Manly coming up in round 10.

4th Grade Round 9: UTS North Sydney vs Campbelltown-Camden at Raby Oval No 2

Campbelltown-Camden 9/210 (J Thomas 2/40, L Opacic 2/49) def UTS North Sydney 199 (48.4 overs)

The fourth grade boys ventured out to the well-manicured complex at Raby after an extended break. Being on top of the table, it was important that each player had a ‘must win’ and ‘hungry’ mentality going in.

The warm up was 60% at best, with players not having really cleared the cobwebs from the break. The outfield looked lush and the deck not sorely impacted from the repeated rain onslaught. We won the toss and bowled.

Brad "Castaway" Wilson and Jack "Lleyton" Thomas asked questions early, but the Ghosts picked off any short bowling and cashed in from edges through the cordon. Chris 'Sprattsman the Batsman' took a well-timed catch to get Wilson on the wickets tally, with Wilson soon after contributing to a run out.

Despite a fair start, the Bears were not always disciplined, dropping short, and trying to over deliver with variations that led to extras and the Ghosts able to pile on runs. Finally, Luke 'Papenhuyzen' Opacic gave us some consistency, challenging the batsmen who were looking to keep pushing. He was rewarded with a solid caught and bowled as well as cleaning up one of their harder hitting seasoned campaigners.

The ground fielding was decent however the 8+ dropped catches and half-chances put the Bears on the back pedal and did not reflect a team that was on top of the table. From a position that had the Ghosts 4/92, we allowed them to put on 83 with minimal pressure - strategically, mentally and in attitude.

Pat Lindsay gave us some relief with tight lines without reward (0/21 off 9) and allowed Jack Thomas (2/40) and Brad Wilson to come in with tactical effect to clean up. Brad was really disciplined and smart in his second spell bowling full and straight to finish home with 4/25 off his 10 overs.

Campbelltown-Camden closed at 9/210 – a target that could be chased down with a disciplined approach.

However, the batting started and ended with disappointment. We lost Dhruva to a seed early and Spratt not long after with the score at 18. This put us in a position where we had to consolidate. And consolidate we did, with Luke Smith and John Nevell putting on 88 by knocking the ball around. The pair were going along comfortably until Smith was out for 30 to a poor shot off a low short of a length delivery that left us 3/110 at the 21 over mark.

Nevell was impressive with his composure and maturity at the crease. He made a well-compiled 69 picking off the opportunities and fending off anything not in his areas. Apart from him, it is hard to be positive about our performance with the bat.

From three down we crumbled. There was a lack of application and execution seeing us to 9/174 and just Lindsay and Wilson in the bank, eventually needing 24 off 23 to win the game. To their credit, their mental grit and application showed us a lot. We managed to stretch the game to lose by 11 thanks to a 25 run last wicket partnership.

The Bears look forward to a huge next few weeks, where our true potential needs to be realised so we are able to go into a positive mindset, execute and give ourselves the best possible chance to reclaim OUR spot back on top of the ladder.

5th Grade Round 9: UTS North Sydney vs Campbelltown-Camden at Tunks International Sports Park

UTS North Sydney 2/126 (27.5 overs) (M Lloyd 69*) def Campbelltown-Camden 122 (R Lavery 3/20, A Thomas 3/26)

Fifth grade returned to Tunks International Sports Park after the unusually long Christmas break ready and raring to go. Even in the absence of legendary groundsman, Bernie Vince, the track looked immaculate. Captain Perry flipped the coin with great guile, claiming the day’s initial victory and he opted to make use of any moisture hidden in the strip by bowling first.

The new-ball pairing of Chris Savage and Ben Revai both generated early movement and bowled with great discipline. Only one wicket fell but the run rate stayed camped below two. Aidan Thomas and Shiv Vohra continued to threaten, with Aidan claiming a brace of wickets in his spell.

Rob Lavery then joined in the press, spin-twinning with Shiv as the overs ticked away with runs still evading the Ghosts. Lavery picked up two wickets in the spell and Shiv claimed one with his final ball to finish with 1 for 27.

Relentless line and length from Revai (1/17 from 10) and canny death bowling from Thomas (3/26 from 10), Savage (0/28 from 10), Lavery (3/20 from 9) and Nick Hay (1/4 from 1) kept the brakes on as Campbelltown-Camden completed their full complement of overs with only 122 on the board.

The Bears’ opening pair of Ollie Jennings and Adi Nigul battled against the Ghosts’ surprise tactics of opening with spin and always having the keeper up, however Michael Lloyd’s entrance quickly broke the shackles.

Michael played a vintage innings, hitting the ball with power previously unseen in the game. Slapped square drives and cuts were combined with judicious on-drives as Lloydy powered on at quicker than a-run-a-ball. Nick Hay (19*) provided solid company at the other end, content to ride Michael’s slipstream in their 84 run partnership.

Michael finished undefeated on 69 from 64 balls as the Bears’ claimed an important bonus point. It was a match-defining innings in a game where all the other batsmen combined scored at a strike rate south of 30.

AW Green Shield Round 2: UTS North Sydney vs Randwick Petersham at Tunks International Sports Park

Randwick Petersham 107 (A Rana 3/17, J Hedges 2/18. J Dhanoa 2/20) def by UTS North Sydney 4/113 (J Botfield 27)

The Bear Cubs arrived at Tunks Park eager to bounce back from their Round 1 defeat before Christmas. Under sunny skies, but with a deck that looked a bit juicy and showers forecast, skipper Hamish Reynolds won the toss and had no hesitation in bowling first.

After a delayed start at 11:50am with the game shortened to 45 overs each, we managed 11 overs before rain interrupted again at 12:40pm. Declan Fitzpatrick and Jamieson Hedges had removed an opener each and the score was 2/44. After a lengthy rain delay and a resumption at 4pm, the game was reduced to 26 overs a side.

Our bowlers did well to restrict Randy Petes to 107 all out in their final over, with the pick of the bowlers being Aki Rana taking 3/17 (Hamish said he could not take him off as he kept taking vital wickets!). Jamieson Hedges got his mojo back with 2/18, and the coaching team was super happy with an excellent performance from Jaiveer Dhanoa (2/20) who was going so well that he got the captain’s nod to bowl the last over and took the last two wickets. Elijah Stead also picked up a vital wicket and bowled tightly for 1/12.

Overall, it was a much improved performance in the field from our first game. There were still a couple of dropped catches and missed run out chances (always things to work on) but some good catches and a direct hit run out from Hamish which meant that momentum was with the Bears at the change of innings. We were also buoyed by the DLS calculator adding only 5 to the Randy Petes score, as a result of the curtailment, when we expected rather more.

Jayden Botfield and Dilraj Singh walked out to open the batting in our pursuit of 113 off 26. They made a super bright start with Jayden picking on the short straight boundary to hit a couple of bombs seeing him top score with 27. Dilraj was a willing accomplice in a vital opening stand of 34 that put us well ahead of par, and it was looking like it should be our day. Hamish came in and kept things going with Jayden before Jayden departed when the score was 56, Aden Clark joined Hamish and the pair put the game well in our favour before Aden holed out for 21 in the 22nd over with the score on 91.

Hamish (23) got us to 95 but when he was dismissed we still needed 18 off 21 balls with two new batsmen at the crease. Jamieson and Harrison Allomes kept their cool, bringing it home with 5 balls to spare and 6 wickets in hand. Harrison scored a run-a-ball 11 before Jamieson hit a 3 to win the game.

Special mention goes to Fergus Hitchen for his non-stop work on the super sopper, getting grass clippings and assistance throughout the day. He made sure we got to finish the game, and even though he was not in the run-on team he was one of the players of the day!

AW Green Shield Round 3: UTS North Sydney vs Sydney at Tunks International Sports Park

Sydney 3/247 def UTS North Sydney 9/211 (D Singh 48, B Champion 39, J Botfield 26, A Rana 26)

After Thursday’s success, it was a disappointing round for the Bear Cubs, especially in the bowling department.

Sydney’s openers put on 54 before Neil Sarkar broke the partnership with a catch to Aden Clark, and the two following pairs added 95 and 53 so we never managed to have two new batsmen in together. Sydney’s opener, Vansh Bhatia, made a fine hundred, being the third out for 109 thanks to a catch by Sarkar off Jaiveer Dhanoa. Sydney ended their 50 overs on an impressive 3/247.

In reply, openers Jayden Botfield and Dilraj Singh got off to a strong start putting on 60, but we then slumped to 4/93 and then 7/135, with Ben Champion (batting at 6) seeing a succession of wickets fall at the other end. Ben found solid company in Aki Rana, whose late cameo of a run-a-ball 26 helped get us to 191 before Ben was run out for a well-made 39. Aki himself was out with the score on 201 and the last pair added a further 10 unbroken to finish our 50 overs on 9/201.

AW Green Shield Round 4: UTS North Sydney vs Campbelltown-Camden at Raby 2

UTS North Sydney 8/198cc (H Reynolds 64, H Allomes 56) def Campbelltown-Camden 166 (EJ Oxenham 3/12, J Hedges 3/34)

After the long drive to Raby, Hamish Reynolds won the toss and chose to bat first. Both openers went cheaply, after 13 overs we had stumbled to 4/35. Hamish Reynolds was joined by Harrison Allomes and both delivered with a much needed 119 run partnership. Both worked hard to turn things back in our favour with Hamish finishing on 64 off 125 balls and Harrison 56 off 103. Aki Rana and Elijah Stead were then able to come in late with wickets in hand and did a great job of boosting our score with Aki unselfishly bowled trying to bomb the last ball for 20 off 18 balls and Elijah with 18 off 14 balls including the only bomb of the day to see us post a hard fought 8/198 off our 50 overs.

Hamish in action

Having battled hard to post a competitive total the team was motivated to perform well in the field. Declan Fitzpatrick and Jaiveer Dhanoa opened the bowling, but there did not seem to be much in it for the quicks and we weren’t asking too many questions of the batters, so Jamieson Hedges came on to replace Declan pretty early on and took the first wicket in his fist over and the other opener in his fourth, both from handy 2nd slip catches by Aden Clark. By this stage the Ghosts were 2/52 of 13 overs and were well on target. Hamish was not feeling it with the ball and only bowled himself for two overs before bringing Aki Rana on. The over before drinks, Fergus Hitchen playing in his first game for our Greenies, came on and you just knew something was going to happen. The second ball went for 4, then a 2, dot, dot, last ball wicket! A smart catch from Declan at mid-wicket and the Ghosts were 3/71 after just 17 overs. Without that wicket the game was really starting to drift for us.

After drinks, the Ghosts appeared to be skipping away from us again, making easy runs off our spinners, so we switched back to pace and Elijah Stead took a vital wicket caught behind by Harrison Allomes. With the Ghosts now 4/115 after 23 overs and well ahead of the run rate, we still had plenty of hard work to do. However, our boys hung in there and when Declan came back for a second spell he struck a massive blow removing their top scoring batter for 34 with a good catch from Dilraj Singh at mid-wicket. At this stage the Ghosts were 5/142 needing just 57 to win in the 30th over, needing about 2.6 runs per over, but the young Bears could now sense blood and went in for the kill.

Jamieson had also come back on and bowled the Ghosts’ number 6 in the next over, before the spinners returned to the attack. Aki was very unlucky to not get a wicket, but tight bowling from him and a run out during one of his overs from some great work by Ben Champion at short midwicket and Harrison Allomes behind the stumps. Everett Oxenham was the main destroyer at the end taking 3/6 from 4.4 overs and 3/12 overall, with an LBW and good catches to Fergus Hitchen and Elijah Stead.

It was not the easiest win, but overall one of best wins I (Lachlan Reynolds, the Green Shield manager) have seen over the 7 years I have been involved with our Greenies. Ir was hard fought with the bat to recover from an early collapse to post a score to bowl at. Then hard fought in the field too, with the opposition looking like they were going to run away with it, but the boys hung in there, kept changing things up, worked hard, kept believing and in the end ran away with it. We dismissed the Ghosts for 166 to win by 32 runs, after taking 6 for 24 off the last 14.4 overs bowled.

Media courtesy of Tony Johnson, David James, Sarah Berman, Lachlan Reynolds and team captains.