Sydney Shires Cricket: Finals draw for premiership battle
With the qualifying finals of Sydney Shires Cricket beginning this weekend, we take a look at the side’s who can still win the premiership.
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After four months, and 13 rounds, of cricket, the Sydney Shires competition is ready to head into the pointy end of the season this weekend when the top six teams play off for a premiership.
In preparation, NewLocal will take a look at each side that made the finals and why they deserve to be there.
WHO MISSED OUT
Although six teams are still in the hunt, seven teams will be planning for next summer.
Lindfield and Strathfield can count themselves as the unluckiest of the bunch, as they finished outside the top six only on runs quotient. Lindfield finished with a better runs quotient than two sides in the top six.
However, both sides really only have themselves to blame as they both lost in the final round of the season.
Georges River and North West Sydney both finished 11 points adrift of the top six, while Warringah was another eight points back.
Balmain South Sydney (six points) and Pennant Hills (no points) will hope for better results next season.
6. MT PRITCHARD – SOUTHERN DISTRICT
The ‘Mounties’ scraped in to the top six with a win over Warringah in the final round despite it only being their fourth of the season.
Three draws and an outright win were enough to get them to 36 points, and they probably deserve their spot in the finals with the third-best run quotient in the competition.
Only two sides in the top six have scored more runs than the Mounties this season, and only one other side have given up less runs.
Key Batsmen
Opener Cosikan Beadle has been one of the best batsmen in the competition all season, but has slowed down slightly since opening with two centuries. He has 497 runs this season at an average of 82.83, and his high score was an unbeaten 118 against Burwood in round four.
Waleed Jalil came into the first-grade set up late in the season, but finished with 339 runs from only five matches. His unbeaten 150 in the final round against Warringah was key to pulling the Mounties into the top six.
Key Bowlers
Muhammad Afridi has been the Mounties most dangerous bowler this season despite only playing four games. He’s taken 18 wickets this season at an impressive average of 10.22.
If Afridi is the strike bowler, Nasir Jalil is the workhouse. No Mountie has bowled as many overs as Jalil’s 109 this season, and he’s taken 18 wickets at an average of 16.83 from those overs.
5. LANE COVE
Lane Cove had the bye in the last round, but had done enough in their 12 matches to finish fifth with 37 points.
They won six matches this year against four losses (including one outright loss), but two draws were enough to vault them over the three teams below them on the table.
Unfortunately Lane Cove are coming in to the finals off an outright loss to Burwood in Round 12.
Key Batsmen
Lane Cove have been carried by the bat of captain Damian Naughton this year, although he hasn’t played a match since January. Naughton scored 368 runs this season at an average of 52.57, and had a high score of 116 against Mt Pritchard-Southern Districts in Round 9.
Greg Hunt is the best of the rest, as he ticked over to 226 runs at an average of 22.60.
Key Bowlers
Ravi Ravi ably leads the attack for Lane Cove. He took 22 wickets this season at an average of 14.73, and took best figures of 5/16.
Sam Nicholls has a better average than Ravi, taking 16 wickets for 203 runs. His best figures of 5/22 came against Mt Pritchard-Southern Districts in Round 9.
Joe Scarcella (15 wickets) and Alec Cornelius (14 wickets) make up a good four-pronged attack for Lane Cove.
4. AUBURN
Auburn looked like missing the finals at several points throughout the season, but a strong finish vaulted them up to fourth on the ladder.
Last year’s premiers won seven games this season, and haven’t lost a match since Round 4.
The winning streak was only broken by two draws, and they come into the finals series off a win over Lindfield.
Key Batsmen
Corey Lowes has been Auburn’s best performer with the bat this season, but it’s been a fairly even spread of runscorers.
Lowes scored 310 runs this season at an average of 44.29, and has scored five half-centuries including back-to-back scores of 60 to finish the regular season.
Najeeb Azimi came into the first-grade team later in the season, but he’s been solid with the bat since his debut. He has 209 runs this season at a healthy average of 34.83.
Ardil Domingo has also scored more than 200 runs this season (201), but he’ll be looking to increase his average (20.10) in the finals.
Key Bowlers
Muhammad Ali has been the definition of a workhorse for Auburn this season. Ali has bowled 144 overs, taken 26 wickets, and worked at an economy rate of under three runs an over.
Five other Auburn bowlers have taken between eight and 11 wickets this season to provide a solid base under Ali’s heroics.
3. ROSEVILLE
Roseville have been ticking away a little under the radar this season, but a big win over Burwood in the final round showed this club is every chance of winning the premiership.
The Upper North Shore club started the seasons by splitting wins and losses through the first four weeks, but have only lost once since that time.
Key Batsmen
Roseville’s batting this season has been the definition of a balanced effort.
Five members of Roseville’s first-grade squad are averaging between 20 and 30 with the bat, but only one man (Shijit Chandran) is averaging more than 30.
Ben Maher (243) and Matt Gubbay (228) were the only two Roseville batsmen to score more than 200 runs this season.
Key Bowlers
If Roseville’s batting has been less than spectacular this season, they’ve been able to rely on a deadly bowling attack to keep themselves in games.
Will Blunt, Daniel Lenehan, Henry Evans, and Aditya Ramakrishnan have shared the spoils this season, with all four taking at least 16 wickets.
If two of those four can fire in the finals, Roseville will like their chances.
2. BURWOOD
The Briars have traditionally been a strong side in Shires Cricket, and the 2020/21 season was no different.
Burwood was in with a shot at winning the minor premiership for the entire season, but a loss in the last round to Roseville stopped that from happening.
Prior to last weekend, Burwood hadn’t lost since December.
Key Batsmen
Nick Govers was Burwood’s best bat in the first half of the year, but he’s been in and out of the first-grade squad in recent weeks. His average of 46.4 is a team-high, and he also has Burwood’s highest individual score of 122.
Brenton Wright and Thomas Burt both have averages north of 30, and Wright has scored one century this season.
Key Bowlers
Brenton Wright has been one of the best bowlers in the competition this season, finishing with a whopping 36 wickets at an extremely tight average of 10. He has three five-wicket hauls so far this season, and one 10-wicket match against Lane Cove in Round 12.
Former United States international player Ryan Corns has also been handy with the ball this season with 15 wickets at 16.4, while Jack Kovacic has chipped in with 13 wickets.
1. EPPING
Epping are well-deserved minor premiers this summer, finishing with nine wins and 56 competition points on the season.
Those nine wins were accompanied by only two losses and a single draw, and the club comes in to the finals in winning form after their match against Balmain South Sydney.
Key Batsmen
Akshay Nichkawde has been steadily amassing runs this season, and finished with 271 at an average of 33.88 with four half centuries.
Anthony Azize has chipped in with some big-hitting efforts from the middle order, finishing the season with 218 runs at an average of 27.25.
Key Bowlers
The minor premiers have a very good three-pronged attack that have carried them to several wins this season.
Danish Ahmed is the pick of the bowlers with 24 wickets while only giving up 2.24 runs per over. His average of 12.42 shows he’s always a chance to knock you over.
Charles Booth also has 20 wickets this season, but is slightly less economical than Danish Ahmed, while Billy McCarthy has ably chipped in with 19 wickets this season.
FINALS SCHEDULE
All qualifying finals will be played on March 13 and March 14.
First Grade
Epping v Mt Pritchard-Southern Districts @ North Epping Oval
Burwood Briars v Lane Cove @ Rothwell Park
Roseville v Auburn @ Roseville Chase Oval
Second Grade
Lindfield v Warringah @ Lindfield Oval
Burwood Briars v Epping @ Ron Routley Oval
Lane Cove v Auburn @ Tantallon Oval
Third Grade
Lane Cove v Auburn @ Kingsford Smith Oval
Warringah v Mt Pritchard-Southern Districts @ Weldon Oval
Strathfield v Burwood Briars @ Airey Park
Fourth Grade
Burwood Briars v Georges River @ St Lukes Park
Warringah v Epping @ Frank Gray Oval
Lindfield v Lane Cove @ Acron Oval
Fifth Grade
Strathfield v Mt Pritchard-Southern Districts @ Bark Huts Reserve
Roseville v Epping @ Roseville Park
Pennant Hills v Auburn @ Pennant Hills Oval
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