Green Shield: Big finals preview as eight teams remain
The state’s premier under 16s competition is heading towards the pointy end. Read our big finals preview before Sunday’s Qualifying Finals.
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We’re at the business end of the 2020/21 AW Green Shield after the regular rounds came to a conclusion on Thursday afternoon.
With the qualifying finals kicking off on Sunday, we take a deep dive into the teams remaining and preview this weekend’s games.
WHO MISSED OUT
Eight teams are preparing for Sunday’s matches, but unfortunately 12 teams are already planning for next summer.
Parramatta are possibly the unluckiest side in the bottom 12, as they finished with a better net run-rate than three teams that will play in the finals and only missed the top eight by one point.
UTS North Sydney also finished with four wins, but finished two points shy of the top eight.
UNSW, St George, and Hawkesbury all finished with three wins for the season, but UNSW will be left to rue what could have been after finishing with a positive net run-rate.
Campbelltown-Camden, Randwick Petersham, Sydney University, and Mosman all finished with two wins, while Sutherland and Fairfield-Liverpool both finished with a solitary win.
Bankstown was the only club to finish winless in the AW Green Shield.
8. SYDNEY
The Sydney Cricket Club won its last two games of the season against Randwick Petersham and Hawkesbury to sneak into eighth spot on the ladder.
The last-round win over Hawkesbury was particularly important, as anything less than a bonus-point win would have seen them miss out on the finals.
Sydney will need to figure out a Northern District side that is yet to lose this season if they want to progress past the Qualifying Finals.
Key Batsmen
James Moore, Vansh Bhatia, and Cooper Edwards were the three main bats for Sydney this season, each scoring more than 200 runs and chalking up centuries during the season.
Moore scored 298 runs at an impressive average of 49.67, including a 104 against Hawkesbury in the final round which helped his side qualify for the finals.
Bhatia had the club’s highest individual score of 109 against UTS North Sydney as an opener, and averaged 32.29 with the bat.
Edwards scored 100 of his 261 runs against Randwick Petersham and finished the regular season with an average of 37.29.
Key Bowlers
Archie Gowthorp has been one of the best bowlers in the entire competition, let alone at the Sydney club.
He’s taken 16 wickets at an average of just 14.25 while giving up only 3.56 runs an over. He’s taken three wickets three times this season, and his best figures of 4/21 came against Sutherland in round two.
Vansh Bhatia and Srisatwik Bhogadi both took five wickets in the regular season.
7. GORDON
Gordon Cricket Club are the only side to have scored less runs than they gave up, but they won’t care as they booked their spot in the finals despite a last-round loss to UNSW.
The run differential is also explained by some lopsided wins by the Upper North Shore team, who bowled 83 more overs than they faced with the bat.
Gordon will travel to Pratten Park to take on Western Suburbs in the Qualifying Finals.
Key Batsmen
Trystan Kennedy led the charge for Gordon as an opener, scoring four half centuries (including his last three innings) to average 56.6 with the bat.
Sidhant Singh averaged 41.33 and finished with the club’s highest individual score (58*) against Fairfield-Liverpool, while Felix Booth and Dylan Ranjan both averaged more than 30.
Key Bowlers
Gordon carried a strong bowling line up all season, as four players took more than seven wickets.
Bryce Cook was Gordon’s leader with 13 wickets at 17.23, closely followed by Luke Callanan with nine wickets at 24.56.
Sidhant Singh and Dylan Ranjan also impressed with the ball, taking seven wickets each.
6. PENRITH
The mountain men only lost twice this season, but start the finals with a long road trip to Sydney’s northern beaches to take on Manly-Warringah.
Penrith come into the finals in good form, having won four of their last five matches.
Key Batsmen
Jake Scott was Penrith’s best bat this season, scoring 293 runs at an average of 48.83, good enough to finish in the top five batsmen across the competition.
His high score of 85 against Blacktown is also the club’s highest individual score, and he comes into the finals on a high after two straight half-centuries.
The club will also rely on Brock Campbell (227 runs at 32.43) and Cody Robinson (215 runs at 35.83) making runs in the finals.
Key Bowlers
Four Penrith bowlers took at least nine wickets during the season, led by Isaac Nicholls’ 12 wickets at an average of 16.42.
Reegan Wilson, Harveer Dhaliwal, and James Lennox all took nine wickets, although the two latter bowlers will be hoping to shrink their economy rates in the finals.
5. EASTERN SUBURBS
Reigning premiers Eastern Suburbs won four-straight matches through the middle of the season, but will come into the finals off a last-round loss to Blacktown.
They’ll get another shot at Blacktown in the first week of the finals at Joe McAleer Reserve on Saturday.
Key Batsmen
Eastern Suburbs’ best bat also happens to be the competition’s best bat.
Sam Konstas was the competition’s leading run scorer with 420 at a whopping average of 84.00.
He scored two centuries in the Green Shield this season, including his best score of 134 against Gordon, and has also scored centuries in both fourth grade and third grade of senior cricket.
Konstas has the ability to win a game off his own bat, but would need the support of Jonah Trope (216 runs at 36), Hamish Morrison (171 runs at 34.2), and Ansh Tiwary (153 runs at 38.25) to have a shot at defending the title.
Key Bowlers
Matthew Sidhu and Dylan Melvey led the attack for Eastern Suburbs this season with 11 and 10 wickets respectively at averages of less than 20.
Gabriel Quoyle toiled hard this season with 64 overs, but will be looking for some luck during the finals after finishing with an average of 31.17.
4. BLACKTOWN MOUNTIES
Blacktown’s only loss this season came at the hands of Hawkesbury in round five, but are in good form after back-to-back home wins.
The Mounties gave up the most runs of any side this season, but were only one of two sides to bowl the full 350 overs throughout the regular season.
Key Batsmen
Harjas Singh was Blacktown’s best batsmen this summer, the only member of the line-up to score more than 300 runs.
Singh had a high score of 94 against Campbelltown-Camden, and has averaged 45.71 across seven innings.
Remi Ferdinands has an eye-catching average of 85.50 and finished the season with two half centuries.
Key Bowlers
Aikaansh Ahi and Neerav Hemadri were the most impressive bowlers for the western Sydney club this season.
Ahi finished with 11 wickets at 21.64, while Hemadri took 10 wickets at 18.10 from just 44 overs.
Nicholas Bunting (eight wickets) and Nicholas Freedman (seven wickets) both put in big efforts with the ball this season.
3. MANLY-WARRINGAH
Another side with just one loss this season, Manly-Warringah are one of the form sides of the competition with three road wins on the trot to end the season.
The Northern Beaches side’s only loss came to the undefeated Northern Districts Cricket club in round four.
They start the finals at Weldon Oval in Curl Curl on Sunday.
Key Batsmen
Andrew Boulton and Keelan Mendel are near impossible to separate at the top of Manly-Warringah’s batting ratings.
Boulton’s 247 runs came at an average of 41.17, while Mendel’s 240 runs came at 34.29.
Josh Cooper (152 runs) and Billy O’Brien (126 runs) pitched in ably throughout the season.
Key Bowlers
Manly-Warringah has been extremely efficient with the ball this season with a four-pronged attack.
Josh Cooper, Keelan Mendel, Joshua Lawson, and Andrew Boulton all took at least eight wickets this season, and all operated with averages of less than 20.
Bailey Lidgard also took seven wickets this season as the team’s main workhorse (65 overs).
2. WESTERN SUBURBS
The best of the sides with only one loss (according to the ladder), Western Suburbs’ only loss came to Blacktown in round two.
They’ve ripped through the competition since then, and go into the finals on a five-game winning streak.
Western Suburbs has to be considered one of the favourites to knock over the number one side this year.
Key Batsmen
Western Suburbs don’t have one standout bat this season, but have rather accumulated runs across the board.
Raunak Roy is the only Western Suburbs batsmen to score more than 200 runs, and has done so at an average of just over 40.
Ritish Sethi and Thomas Thorpe have both chipped in with the bat with averages of more than 20.
Key Bowlers
Western Suburbs has been led by two of the best bowlers in the competition this season.
Ritish Sethi and Archer Gray both took 15 wickets this season at ridiculous averages of 11.93 and 12.20 respectively.
Both bowlers also gave up less than three runs an over.
Benny Brooks (eight wickets) and Dewashish Adhikari (seven wickets) picked up the slack when Sethi and Gray were resting.
1. NORTHERN DISTRICTS
Northern Districts were inarguably the best side during the regular season, and polished off an unbeaten season with a win over Eastern Suburbs in round seven.
The other side (with Blacktown) to bowl the full 350 overs this season, Northern Districts remarkably are the only side to give up less than 1000 runs in the seven matches.
They’ll be strong favourites to win the competition, and start the finals with a home game against Sydney on Sunday.
Key Batsmen
Northern Districts had two players score more than 200 runs this season.
William McFadden scored 269 runs at 38.43, and scored the team’s only century when he made 119 against Campbelltown-Camden in round six.
Anthony Bartlett also impressed with the bat, scoring 226 runs at 45.20, while Cameron Tunks chipped in ably with 171 runs at 34.20.
Key Bowlers
Charlie Anderson has a very strong argument for being the best bowler in the competition this season.
The Northern Districts stalwart took 14 wickets this season at an incredible average of 8.86 all while giving up less than 2.5 runs per over.
Cameron Tunks was an able sidekick with 12 wickets @ 13.67, while Lachlan Carlyle (nine wickets) and Alex Stafa (eight wickets) also featured heavily in the attack.
FINALS SCHEDULE
Qualifying Finals (January 24)
(1) Northern District v (8) Sydney @ Mark Taylor Oval
(2) Western Suburbs v (7) Gordon @ Pratten Park
(3) Manly-Warringah v (6) Penrith @ Weldon Oval
(4) Blacktown Mountains v (5) Eastern Suburbs @ Joe McAleer Reserve
Semi Finals will be played on January 26 with the final on January 31.
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