NSW Premier Cricket: Saint tees off and Pawson grabs six in hectic season opening
The first round of the NSW Premier Cricket season is in the books, and despite wet weather playing a major role, NewsLocal rates the best XI for our teams of the week from every grade. SEE WHO MADE THE TEAMS.
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EVERY week NewsLocal will rate our teams of the week from every grade of the NSW Premier Cricket season.
Here’s who made the cut for round one.
FIRST GRADE
1. Udit Hari Mehta, Easts (79* runs)
2. Nick Stapleton, St George (67 runs)
3. Zeeshaan Ahmed, Bankstown (57* runs)
4. Blake Macdonald, St George (144 runs)
5. Tom Doyle, Sutherland (66 runs)
6. Luke Bartier, St George (64* runs)
7. Matthew Moran, Mosman (36 runs, 1/27)
8. Kain Anderson, Sydney (5/23)
9. Liam Doddrell, Penrith (45* runs, 3/43)
10. Ross Pawson, Northern District (6/28)
11. Brad Simpson, Bankstown (4/30)
SECOND GRADE
1. Lachlan Coyte, Manly Warringah (90 runs)
2. Charles Mitchell, Gordon (88* runs)
3. Glenn Aitken, UTS North Sydney (78 runs)
4. Mitch Hinds, Bankstown (68 runs)
5. Daniel Leerdam, Sydney (58*)
6. Suthangan Thanabalasingam, UNSW (65 runs, 2/49)
7. Rhys Cattle, St George (55* runs)
8. Lachlan Roughley, UTS North Sydney (4/22)
9. Rex Greaves, Sydney Uni (3/33)
10. Ryan Freeman, Campbelltown Camden (4/53)
11. Nicholas Toohey, Gordon (3/36)
THIRD GRADE
1. Nicholas Hook, Northern District (65 runs)
2. Anthony Bartlett, Northern District (100 runs)
3. Blaise McKee, Western Suburbs (83 runs)
4. James Whiting, Blacktown Mounties (55* runs)
5. Jake Langdon, Fairfield-Liverpool (54 runs)
6. Sam Edwards, UNSW (60 runs)
7. Jared Lewis, Fairfield-Liverpool (51*)
8. Ben Tracey, Randwick Petersham (3/11)
9. Aniket Kapila, Hawkesbury (6/31)
10. Matthew Sunshine, Manly Warringah (4/27)
11. Edward Walker, UNSW (4/14)
FOURTH GRADE
1. Thomas Siede, Gordon (78* runs)
2. Matt Bradley, Sutherland (32* runs)
3. Matthew Iemma, St George (36* runs)
4. Oscar Jago-Lewis, UTS North Sydney (67 runs)
5. Billy Konstas, St George (39 runs)
6. Jake Hutchings, Manly Warringah (30* runs)
7. Ali Bajwa, Sydney Uni (2/4)
8. James Apostolakis, Randwick Petersham (56 runs, 2/14)
9. Ravi Adabala, UTS North Sydney (3/26)
10. James Edwards, UTS North Sydney (3/23)
11. George Cumming, Manly Warringah (3/35)
FIFTH GRADE
1. Aaron Crofts, UNSW (73 runs)
2. Thomas Marriott, Western Suburbs (77 runs)
3. William Carlile, UTS North Sydney (109 runs)
4. Ryan Bolger, Northern District (68* runs)
5. Fred Wilson, Sutherland (70 runs)
6. Stefano Ottavio, UNSW (52* runs)
7. Daniel Siu, UNSW (53 runs)
8. Riley Davison, Easts (4/42)
9. Curtis Lucas, Hawkesbury (3/17)
10. Thomas Gibson, Randwick Petersham (3/30)
11. Matty White, Northern District (3/26)
ROUND ONE WRAP
Reigning premiers Mosman continued on their winning way, while St George’s Blake Macdonald cracked the season’s first ton in a dramatic opening round that saw two of the 50-over contests abandoned by rain.
Mosman opened their title defence on the road and were pushed all the way by Penrith after reaching 9/223. Fifties to Harry Dalton and Nathan Hinton put the Whales on the front foot, but it was Penrith’s Liam Doddrell who almost stole the show. After taking three wickets, the dashing No. 8 blasted five maximums in a breezy 45 off 33 balls only to fall just shy of a miracle.
At Hurstville, Macdonald took to Hawkesbury’s new line-up with a match defining 144 from just 104 deliveries. After sharing in a 110 run stand with captain Nick Stapleton, he was joined by Luke Bartier and the pair added 146 as St George raced to 3/323. Opener Zulfiqar Salahuddin top scored for the Hawks with 30, but it was never enough in a rain reduced contest.
Hari Mehta’s unbeaten 79 for Easts counted for nothing as the weather ended Fairfield-Liverpool’s chase. The contest abandoned, alongside Manly’s home clash with Gordon.
The weather was more forgiving further west, but it didn’t help Campbelltown Camden. Sydney University rolled the locals for 129 before Nick Larkin and Damien Mortimer guided the side to a comfortable eight wicket victory.
New recruit Ryan Felsch delivered from the get-go for Bankstown. The experienced paceman took the prized scalp of Jack Attenborough with the new ball on the way to finishing with 3/45. Tom Scoble’s 58 was the top score in a competitive Bees total of 8/212.
Former Aussie under-19s quick Brad Simpson took the bowling honours for Bankstown with 4/30. In the end, the rain reduced target was never an issue for the home side with young right-hander Zeeshaan Ahmed combining with the ever dependable Daniel Solway in an unbeaten stand of 115.
Apart from a measured 56 by Nick Bertus, Parramatta struggled to 8/190 against a disciplined Blacktown Mounties attack led by Puru Gaur and Jacob Wood, who both finished with three wickets. Although, the Blacktown boys quickly ran out of steam in the run chase, falling for 80 in 35 overs as Evan Pitt and Owen Simonsen returned serve for Parramatta, each taking three wickets of their own.
Sydney won the toss at Drummoyne and executed perfectly with the ball. Kain Anderson starred with 5/23 as Wests slumped to 73 all out. Justin and Anthony Mosca knocked over the bulk of the chase scoring 59 for the opening wicket.
Ross Pawson proved the hero for Northern District at Sutherland. After breaking through the defences of former Saints young gun Sam Konstas, the opening bowler hit the poles on another three occasions to finish with a remarkable 6/28. New Sutherland skipper Tom Doyle led from the front, holding his side’s innings together with a composed 66.
In another rain reduced target, captain David Lowery anchored Northern District’s chase to finish 43 not out in an eight wicket victory.
Randwick Petersham’s Daya Singh was another defiant skipper. Coming to the wicket at 6/78, his unbeaten 61 off 49 balls with five sixes helped set UTS North Sydney a tricky 8/182. But with unbeaten fifties to Tom Jagot and Aiden Bariol, UTS were untroubled, reeling in the target for the loss of only two wickets.
SECOND GRADE
A 107-run stand between Lachlan Coyte (90 runs) and Zach Trewartha (57) propelled Manly Warringah to an imposing total of 6-256.
Charles Mitchell responded in turn for Gordon, blasting 13 boundaries on his way to an unbeaten 88 from 60 balls to give his side a DLS victory at 4-137.
Three wickets apiece to Evasio MacMillan and Andrew Walsh helped St George overcome Hawkesbury by DLS, a similar fate for Sydney over Western Suburbs.
Campbelltown Camden left it late, but were able to secure a one-wicket win over Sydney Uni with just two balls to spare on the back of four wickets from Ryan Freeman.
A superb all-round effort from Suthangan Thanabalasingam (65 runs, two wickets) saw UNSW escape Bankstown by 10 runs.
UTS North Sydney was the most impressive of all sides, hammering Randwick Petersham by 132 runs with standout performances from Glenn Aitken (78 runs) and Lachlan Roughley (four wickets).
THIRD GRADE
Edward Walker’s 4-14 spearheaded a fired up UNSW to a DLS win over Bankstown to kickstart their Mitchell Cup campaign.
Half centuries to Jake Langdon (54) and Jared Lewis (51*) helped Fairfield-Liverpool defeat Eastern Suburbs by DLS.
Manly Warringah needed just 18.1 overs to chase down Gordon’s total of 112 to claim a convincing seven-wicket victory, led by Matthew Sunshine’s four wickets.
The rain fell at Merrylands Oval and Parramatta handled the conditions best over Blacktown Mounties, while Randwick Petersham made light work of UTS North Sydney after dismissing them for just 69.
An amazing 6-31 from Hawkesbury’s Aniket Kapila wasn’t enough to lift them over St George, while Anthony Bartlett’s 100 runs surged Northern District over Sutherland.
The runs continued as Blaise McKee blasted 83 for Western Suburbs in a win over Sydney.
FOURTH GRADE
Just two games netted results at the weekend with wet weather playing havoc around the grounds.
Thomas Siede carried his bat for Gordon with an unbeaten knock of 78 as his side was dismissed for 171. Manly Warringah did enough in their response to finish 26.2 overs at 3-118, giving them a DLS victory.
Randwick Petersham’s innings was saved by a knock of 56 from tailender James Apostolakis to help them reach 9-149, but a great innings from Oscar Jago-Lewis (67) helped UTS North Sydney advance on DLS.
FIFTH GRADE
It was a similar fate in the David Sherwood Cup with just four matches reaching a conclusion.
Eastern Suburbs took their time to chase down Fairfield-Liverpool’s modest total of 115, scoring the winning runs with nine overs to spare to win by six wickets.
William Carlile’s 109 runs put the exclamation mark on a 7-223 innings by UTS North Sydney, and a huge 98-run win over Randwick Petersham.
Ryan Bolger scored an unbeaten 68 for Northern District as they took down Sutherland, while UNSW had three players reach a half-century as they posted 249 on their way to a 89-run defeat of Bankstown.
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