Week 16 Wrap vs Sydney University, Parramatta and Illawarra

1st Grade Round 11: UTS North Sydney vs Sydney University at University Oval 1

UTS North Sydney 57 (27.2 Overs) vs Sydney University 119 (40.1 Overs) (O Knight 4/38, F May 3/23, J Campbell 3/42) & 4/54 (16.2 Overs) (F May 2/15)

First Grade’s first match at University Oval since the famous outright win of 2019 was quite the rollercoaster – peaking with the Students 6/22 just before 11am, hitting a big dip when the Bears were bowled out for 57 at 4.12pm after Uni recovered to 119, and then ticking back up somewhat before play was halted at 5.35pm.

James Campbell went 2 from 2 at the toss and had no hesitation in sending the Students in after rain during the week, on a pitch that promised to offer something to the seamers, and with the Nick Larkin named for Day 2 so long as the Melbourne Stars were evicted from the BBL as expected.

And the pitch did offer plenty, but the Bears’ dream start was also thanks to excellent, disciplined bowling from Campbell and Olly Knight. Campbell removed Charlie Litchfield with his second ball, which jagged back after Litchfield offered no shot, and Knight took the next two (one lbw and one bowled) in his first two overs before Sydney Uni put a single run on the board. The Bears’ scorer could scarcely believe what was happening, and was soon kept busy again with an lbw to Campbell, another bowled shouldering arms, and a catch by Dylan Mares at second slip off Knight. The score after 12 overs was 6/22, with Campbell 3/13 and Knight 3/9.

A partnership that reached the giddy heights of 26 followed, and Campbell introduced his change bowlers. Fletcher May struck in his second over, which brought Calean Maladay and Max Hope together – the partnership that would play a big role in the Students taking the first points of the match. The stand of 51 either side of lunch (taken at 7/63) was punctuated with edges and lbw shouts, and the odd big shot to hit out of trouble, before May’s return to the attack saw the end of Hope for 52. Maladay landed a few more blows to see Uni to 119 before he ran out of partners, courtesy of a third wicket to May and a fourth to Knight.

More that it might have been, but the Bears were still well on top… or so we thought!

Our response never really got going, with wickets falling on 9, 11, 17 and 20 – a combination of good bowling, a pitch that remained helpful, and some poor shot selection on the part of the batters. The only double-figure partnership was for 23 for the fifth wicket between Jimmy Greenslade (20) and Glenn Aitken in his first First Grade appearance of the year. When Glenn was caught at slip, he was replaced by his brother James, who looked the most comfortable of all the Bears. But when he too was caught at slip for 11, the Bears were in dire straits at 7/54, and the last three partnerships added just three between them (compared to the Students’ equivalent of 71) to seal first innings points for the home team.

Round we went again, back in the field, knowing early wickets would give us a chance of taking something from the game. After dismissing Litchfield first ball in the first innings, Campbell (1/19) went one better (or you could say Litchfield went one worse), sending him back lbw first ball in the second. After a partnership of 40 for the second wicket that threatened to put the game beyond the Bears, May (2/15), James Aitken (1/5) and May again took vital wickets to peg the Students back to 4/52. Just two more runs were added before the heavens opened with Sydney Uni all to happy to leave the field.

The equation is a lead of 116 for the Students (and Larkin set to come in next), with 102 overs to be bowled on Day 2 due to the lost overs at the end of the day. A huge day awaits!

2nd Grade Round 11: UTS North Sydney v Sydney University at Tunks International Sports Park

UTS North Sydney 1/4 (5 Overs) v Sydney University 165 (88.3 Overs) (H May 3/28, H Lee Young 2/13, L Roughley 2/46)

2nd grade were at Tunks with the return of two day cricket against the students. Uni won the toss and elected to bat on a dry, bare wicket.

With limited movement in the air or off the pitch discipline and patience would be key for the Bears bowlers to control the game. Consistent line and length and bowling in partnerships meant the run rate never got above 2 an over.

This created a constant trickle of wickets throughout the day whenever as partnerships were forming and kept the Bears well in control. Wickets were shared once again with all bowlers contributing. Harry May was particularly impressive bowling energetic but controlled spells whenever called upon finishing with 3 wickets including a “Roughers” style spell cleaning up the tail.

Harri Lee-Young continued his recent form playing the role of the enforcer and partnership breaker, taking 2 crucial wickets including one of the set batsmen.

We welcomed back Lachlan Roughley who bowled 18 overs including 5 maidens for his 2 wickets.

U.Syd were bowled out for 165 and the Bears are well poised at 1/4 overnight. With a dry week ahead producing good batting conditions, the Bears should make light work of a modest total.

3rd Grade Round 11: UTS North Sydney v Sydney University at St Pauls Oval

UTS North Sydney 5/63 (20.3 Overs) v Sydney University 127 (56 Overs) (N Desai 4/57, T Laybutt 3/28, J Graham 2/19)

St Paul’s in Sydney University was the venue for 3rds Round 11 clash vs the Students of USyd. St Paul’s is rather small ground set amongst the beautiful backdrop of the famous sandstone university’s best architecture.

With some rain around in the days before the match and after seeing 1st Grade have the students 3 for none down the road at Uni 1, skipper Lindsay has no hesitation in bowling first.

3rd welcomed back big Toby Laybutt and he settled back in smoothly taking 3 poles in his opening spell. Jacob Graham was economical at the other end with 1-11 off his opening spell. Spin was introduced and Nihal Desai ripped through the students middle order with 4 poles reduced Uni to 8-62. However some solid tail wagging saw the last two wickets put on more than the first 8 with Uni eventually finishing all out for 127 off 57 overs.

The Bears chase started brightly with Max Clark taking 10 off the first over. However, 3s didn’t bat with the appropriate discipline and find themselves 5-64 off 21 overs. The Bears are still well in the hunt but will have to bat well to obtain the remaining 64 runs required for victory.

Women's 3rd Grade Round 13: UTS North Sydney v Parramatta at Belmore Park

UTS North Sydney 5/134 cc (B Robson 52*, I Selems 25) def by Parramatta 3/141 cc (A Dongre 2/23, I Selems 1/19)

This round, we went up against Parramatta in a match that we knew would be close.

They won the toss and sent us in to bowl first. We opened up with Anjali d’Cunha (0/12 off 8) and Anushka Dongre (2/23 off 8), who both gave us extremely tidy overs at the beginning of the game. They each bowled 3 maiden overs, setting us up well for the rest of the innings - by the 8th over, we had Parramatta at 1/4. Isabel Selems (1/19 off 7) and Evy McKay (0/26 off 8) also saw some tidy overs, even against Parramatta’s strongest batter. In the field, we lacked some urgency, narrowly missing what felt like half a dozen run-out chances. But, we also had some spectacular moments, including a catch each to Bernie Robson and Isabel Selems, and some great boundary fielding. Overall, a great improvement from our efforts in the field last week. Parramatta ended on 3/141 off their 40 overs.

Kayla Robson (4) and Evy McKay (13) opened up against a tidy bowling side and soaked up most of the opening bowler’s spells. Isabel Selems (25) stuck out at the crease with Bernie Robson (52*). Unfortunately, our run rate wasn’t quite where it needed to be by this point. Anushka Dongre, Karman Jawanda, Anjali d’Cunha, and Anna Lucas went out and scored us some quick runs, but we didn’t quite make the target, ending on 5/135 after our 40.

4th Grade Round 11: UTS North Sydney v Sydney University at Blacktown International Sports Park 2

UTS North Sydney 144 (53.3 Overs) (R Alexander 53, A Nigul 27, B Wilson 26) v Sydney University 3/81 (24 Overs) (B Wilson 2/21)

The Bears made a venture out to Blacktown to play a home game at the ‘other’ international sports park in Sydney against the Sydney Uni Students.

The day was off to a great start when Perry won the toss and elected to bat on an unknown entity of a wicket. Hard underneath and grassy on top, it seemed as though there would be a good day of cricket in store.

Singh and newly promoted Jennings strode out to the middle to face the new ball, which as always, was doing a bit early. The pair saw off the early overs, however both fell caught at 2nd slip shortly after.

Nigul and Alexander went about resurrecting the innings and getting some momentum back in the game, as the pair took the score past 30 at the first drinks break. The pair continued, picking the loose balls to put away, both off to great starts. This was before Nigul tickled one to the keeper, which triggered a middle order collapse, with Perry and Broom coming and going without troubling the scorers.

After tea, Alexander continued to hold the innings together and was looking to again build momentum for the Bears with Matt Cole, before Cole was given a tough leg before decision, turning the game on its head.

Alexander soon passed 50, and was set for a big score on a pristine outfield, however a freight train running behind the sight screen broke his concentration matrix and he, like Nigul, tickled one to the keeper to be dismissed for a well made 53.

A swashbuckling innings of no fear from Wilson and some grit and grind from Greenies skipper Riseborough helped push the Bears total up to a defendable 144.

The Bears has 24 overs at the end of the day to make some inroads into the Students batting lineup, and the side had a dream start, Cole picking up the skipper for 2. The other opener continued to flash at the ball despite the situation, giving a chance and half chances, but the bears couldn’t hang on.

Cole and Wilson had the ball hooping around corners, making it difficult for the batsmen. Wilson picked up his first with Perry taking a catch behind the stumps, and soon picked up his third with a second catch at midwicket to Riseborough.

Some tight pressure spin bowling at the death of the day from Kumar and Jennings created a couple more chances, the bears again couldn’t hang on.

A day of missed opportunity in the field, potentially having the visitors many more down for much less runs, as the opener is 69 not out of the Students 81.

Very much still in the game, the Bears will head out to BISP in search of early wickets to put the Students on the back foot early…

5th Grade Round 11: UTS North Sydney v Sydney University at Camperdown Oval

UTS North Sydney 241 (72.3 Overs) (M Lloyd 51, J Mannix 42, K Dhawan 35, R Adabala 34) v Sydney University

Fifth grade arrived at the convivial environs of Camperdown Oval in high spirits. One look at the sticky spots on the pitch told of an easy bowl-first decision, however when the coin fell the wrong way for skipper M.Lloyd, the Bears found themselves with obliged to try their luck with the bat.

Openers Krishna Vanapamula and Divesh Thakur made a strong start, seeing off the first 10 overs and advancing the score to 30 before Krishna fell for 15. Divesh went soon after for 22, and skipper M. Lloyd joined young gun, Jack Mannix, at the crease. It proved a fruitful union with the pair taking full toll on anything short or full, particularly from Uni’s spinners. They advanced the score to 2/124 at tea – a position of pure strength having been put in on a seaming deck.

Unfortunately, Jack fell shortly after the break for a well-compiled 42. C.Lloyd looked to resume a productive partnership with cousin, M.Lloyd, however Michael lost his wicket for 51 with the score at 152. Chris fell a run later and the Bears’ wheels were wobbling as Uni’s spinners turned the screws.

Ravi Adabala and Kishna Dhawan looked to right the ship and did so with attacking intent. With the ball spinning sharply, each waited for the right ball to attack and they combined for a 64 run partnership before Ravi fell for 34, with Kishna going for 35 shortly thereafter.

With 15 overs left in the day and a strong tail on paper, 226 looked like it could be advanced to a truly intimidating total. Unfortunately the lower order struggled to deal with Uni’s leg-spinners and the innings was closed at 241, with 5 overs to bowl at Uni before stumps.

What followed was poor fortune on par with a helicopter stopping play. Uni had locked the keys to their dressing rooms in their dressing rooms, rendering them unable to prepare to bat. In a display of sporting largesse, skipper M.Lloyd opted not to appeal for a succession of Uni batters to be timed out and agreed to wait for the council to arrive to open the rooms. By the time the rangers jimmied the door opened with what looked like an extended coat-hanger, rain had set in and stumps had to be called without Uni having to face a ball.

The game is all there to be played for this week with a quick, and uneven, outfield making the 242 chase for Uni not the steep total it may first appear.

Brewer Shield Round 13: UTS North Sydney v Illawarra at North Dalton Park

UTS North Sydney drew Illawarra 7/85 (31.1 Overs) (A Uthappa 3/19, S Williams 2/16)

A frustrating day where a long trip south ended in a stalemate when the weather had the final say, in spite of some terrific efforts from our parents to get water off the ground.

Hopefully the weather is kinder this week!

Media courtesy of Tony Johnson, Malcolm Trees, Jeff Williamson, Greg Buckley Adam Cavenor and UTS North Sydney members.