Poidevin-Gray Shield 2021/22: Results, news, finals coverage
Between HSC exams and graduating high school, one young talent has been banging runs across all corners in the Poidevin-Gray Shield to lead the runscoring charts after the regular rounds.
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After five rounds of T20 mayhem, featuring sixes, wickets and plenty of rain, the top eight teams of the Poidevin-Gray Shield have been finalised.
In the Sixers conference, Sutherland and St George have won three from three matches to earn the top two places, where they have been joined by UNSW and Easts Dolphins.
Mosman were the unlucky to miss out at fifth place after suffering a loss to sixth place Manly in the final round, with an inspired 81 off 41 balls for Joel Davies ending the Whales title hopes.
In the Thunder conference, Campbelltown-Camden are the sole undefeated team with an impressive effort in the field restricting teams to 202 runs across three innings, conceding an average of 67.3 runs a match.
The other finalists include Penrith, Bankstown and Northern District.
Last summer’s joint premiers Parramatta lost a must-win match against Campbelltown-Camden on Sunday, failing to get close to the Ghosts 115 run target.
HOW FIRST GRADE WOES INSPIRED POIDEVIN GRAY SUCCESS
The Campbelltown-Camden first grade camp is a sad place to be this summer, with the side failing to win a single match across the opening five rounds and now anchored to the bottom of a 20 team ladder.
For regular first graders – including Poidevin-Gray Shield skipper Jackson Isakka, Australia under-19 World Cup hopeful Will Salzmann, and NSW under-19 leg spinner Owen Cole – the baptism of fire may reap rewards in the under 21 competition.
The trio have stood tall among a strong squad of developing players to be undefeated at the end of the conference stage of the Poidevin-Gray competition following a series of stellar performances in the field.
The opening round saw Northern District skittled for 54 runs inside 14 overs, a chasing Sydney University was restricted to 9/67 off 16 overs and Parramatta were all out for 81 in a must win match on Sunday.
Coach Shane Eva said the “tight knit group” had played to their strengths, with difficulties in the first grade competition ironically paying dividends.
“We are pretty lucky to have a few regular first graders, albeit they are young, but they are learning to play first grade the hard way,” he said.
“It has actually toughened them up a bit.”
Eva said lifting the Poidevin-Gray Shield had been a target of the club since the start of the summer.
“That’s always been our target,” he said. “I’d love to win it.”
The Ghosts will meet Northern District in a conference final on January 31.
LESS NETS, MORE RUNS: LEADING RUNSCORER MAX GLEN
Between HSC exams and graduating high school, Max Glen has been banging runs across all corners in the Poidevin-Gray Shield to lead the runscoring charts after the regular rounds.
The Eastern Suburbs opening bat, who hails from Woollahra, has blasted 187 runs from four knocks including an unbeaten 72 against Sydney Cricket Club in round 4.
The 18-year-old said the purple patch in the T20 competition was possibly down to cutting back his training which has helped clear the head noise when at the crease.
“I have actually been hitting less in the nets,” he said. “Last season I hit maybe five times a week, but I found that made me overthink things and think about my heads, my hands and my feet way too much.
“Now, I am hitting two times a week at grade training and that is helping me just watch the ball, play late and do the simple things.”
Glen said he hadn’t played much T20 cricket before the competition but has enjoyed the chance to be creative and take extra risks, leading to 22 boundaries.
The talented batsman recently received his first grade debut cap, ticking off a goal for this summer, and has now set his sights on having a crack at winning the Poidevin-Gray Shield.
The teenager, who graduated from Sydney Grammar School said it had been about 11 seasons since the Dolphins had featured in the finals, so the “close-knit” team would look to take advantage of the opportunity.
TOP 20 BATTERS
1. Max Glen (Eastern Suburbs) – 187 runs – 62.33 average
2. Thomas Byrnes (UNSW) – 167 runs – 41.75 average
3. Callum Barton (Sutherland) – 164 runs – 82 average
4. Ethan Debono (Bankstown) – 152 runs – 38 average
5. Joshua Seward (Manly) – 140 runs – 35 average
6. Stirling McAvoy (Mosman) – 137 runs – 34.25 average
7. Henry Railz (Penrith) – 130 runs – 32.5 average
8. Tim Reynolds (UTS North Sydney) – 127 runs – 42.33 average
9. Joshua Mellick (Randwick-Petersham) – 125 runs – 31.25 average
10. Hugo Farquharson (Mosman) – 116 runs – 58 average
11. Kaleb Phillips (St George) – 111 runs – 55.5 average
11. Finn Gray (Western Suburbs) – 111 runs – 55.5 average
13. Andrew Calvert (Parramatta) – 104 runs – 34.67 average
13. Dhruv Kant (Parramatta) – 104 runs – 52 average
15. Tom Colgan (Mosman) – 100 runs – 25 average
15. Joel Davies (Manly) – 100 runs – 50 average
17. Yuvraj Sharma (Fairfield-Liverpool) – 95 runs – 31.67 average
18. Henry Kirk (Sydney) – 94 runs – 23.5 average
18. Ryan Freeman (Bankstown) – 94 runs – 31.33 average
20. Jayllen Naganayagam (Gordon) – 93 runs – 23.35 average
BY THE NUMBERS
Top individual score: Callum Barton (Sutherland) – 81* (58) v UTS North Sydney at Glenn McGrath Oval (Round 3) and Joel Davies (Manly) – 81* (41) v Mosman at Allan Border Oval (Round 5)
Most Sixes: Thomas Byrnes (UNSW) – 12
Most Fours: Callum Barton (Sutherland) – 14 and Max Glen (Eastern Suburbs) – 14
TEENAGE TWEAKER’S WICKET HAUL, INCLUDING HAT TRICK
A leg spinner from Camden, Owen Cole, has been a step ahead of opposition batters during the conference stage of the Poidevin-Gray Shield and snared nine dismissals in three matches to top the wickets tally.
A third of his wickets came in a hat-trick performance against Sydney University, with his 13th over heroics including a leading edge from set batter Morris Fredrikkson who had danced down the pitch, a clean stumping of Caelan Maladay and a full deliver clean bowling Sanjay Anandarajah.
After finishing with figures of 4/16, Cole continued the devastation the following Sunday against Parramatta with figures of 4/19.
The recent Broughton Anglican School graduate and NSW pathways player said he had worked hard on his game during lockdown, looking to spin the ball harder and improve his skills in general.
The T20 format can be a haunting prospect for slow bowlers, but Cole said he enjoyed the challenge of taking on aggressive batters.
“I get excited if they try to hit me because that means I am more of a chance to get a wicket,” he said.
“All I think about when I bowl is bowl at the stumps and the right areas and bring all forms of dismissals into the game. That’s my job, keep it simple.”
Cole said the team was focused on completing the task when finals begin late January.
“We keep getting told by our coaches over and over that this is our comp to lose.,” he said.
“We just need to go out there with a killer mentality and want to win it. Personally, I’m as hungry as ever because I know this is our chance to bring success to the club and respect to the club’s name.”
TOP 20 BOWLERS
1. Owen Cole (Campbelltown-Camden) – 9 wickets – 46 runs
2. Ethan Jamieson (UNSW) – 9 wickets – 75 runs
3. Ben Roughnan (Hawkesbury) – 8 wickets – 52 runs
4. Hayden Goulstone (Parramatta) – 8 wickets – 69 runs
5. Hugo Ikeda (Sydney University) – 8 wickets – 84 runs
6. Connor Cook (Gordon) – 8 wickets – 94 runs
7. Andrew Ritchie (Sutherland) – 7 wickets – 43 runs
8. Will Straker (Sutherland) – 7 wickets – 61 runs
9. Jacob Workman (Parramatta) – 7 wickets – 75 runs
10. Liam Marshall (Bankstown) – 7 wickets – 93 runs
11. Rupert Lilburne (Eastern Suburbs) – 7 wickets – 96 runs
12. Harrison Lee-Young (UTS North Sydney) – 7 wickets – 104 runs
13. Darcy Manners (Sydney University) – 6 wickets – 52 runs
14. Vibhu-Sadayappan Karthikeyan – 6 wickets – 63 runs
15. Tyler Grainger-Balding (UNSW) – 6 wickets – 73 runs
16. Koby Layton (Bankstown) – 6 wickets – 86 runs
17. Nikhil Ahluwalia (Sydney) – 5 wickets – 31 runs
18. Jackson Isakka (Campbelltown-Camden) – 5 wickets – 32 runs
19. Sam Greenland (Eastern Suburbs) – 5 wickets – 41 runs
20. Daniel Alleyn (Northern District) – 5 wickets – 42 runs
BY THE NUMBERS
Best bowling: Ethan Jamieson (UNSW) – 5/23
Best economy: Jacob Murphy (Campbelltown-Camden) – 2.67
CONFERENCE FINALS FIXTURES – JANUARY 31
Sixers Conference
Sutherland v Eastern Suburbs
St George v UNSW
Thunder Conference
Campbelltown-Camden v Northern District
Penrith v Bankstown
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