NSW Premier Cricket Rd 7: Players of the Week, Nick Bertus BBL call-up, results

It was a late night phone call this NSW Premier Cricket gun will never forget as it has launched him into a BBL squad. Round seven wrap, PLAYERS OF THE WEEK.

Hard work in Premier Cricket has paid off for Nick Bertus.

From his first NSW Premier Cricket game of the season Nick Bertus showed he meant business.

Now his hard work in Premier Cricket has paid off for the Parramatta captain who was absent for good reason on Saturday when his side took on Sydney on the second day of round seven.

Northmead’s Bertus has picked up a contract as a local cover for Nathan Lyon and is now travelling with the Sydney Thunder squad preparing for the upcoming BBL.

“It was fairly late one night when Shippy (Sixers coach Greg Shipperd) rang me,” Bertus said. It was a bit of a surprise. A bit of shock but a lot of excitement and eagerness for it all to start.

“Having never been in the BBL before but having played first class and List A, I just wanted an opportunity.’’

Nick Bertus in action for NSW last year.

Bertus last year was dropped from the NSW squad and said this season he was determined to fight his way back into elite cricket.

He has done just that and started the season in fine form with a 15th century (144) in his first match of the season to pass 6000 First Grade runs in the process.

Bertus has lost both his mother and father in recent times, both big supporters of his cricket career and his biggest fan.

He has used the loss of them to push himself to reach new heights in the game or three of them are loved.

Merryn Bertus with her children, including Nick, right. Pic: Supplied

Bertus’ father Nigel, a passionate cricket fan, lost his battle with Parkinson’s disease and mother Merryn in January was hit and killed by a car outside a Parramatta service station.

“Dad was a big volunteer at Parramatta, he came to all the games. Mum came with him and she also helped around the club,” Bertus told NewsLocal Sport at the start of the season.

“I want to do well for her and him. It’s a bit weird not having them at the games. It’s definitely motivating for me. They put a lot of time into my cricket. I can’t remember dad missing a game.”

While Bertus was absent there were some big performance sin Premier cricket on the weekend

PREMIER CRICKET PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

#Luke Bartier (St George), 92 at stumps after day one, reached his third century on Saturday with a single, but fell to the next ball he faced. He had added 218 for the third wicket with Nick Stapleton whose 167 fell just short of his career high (170*)

#Chris Williams (Sutherland), on 95 when heat stopped play a week ago, produced a pull shot for six off the second ball of the third over for his fourth century. Teammate Jarryd Biviano scored his fifth half-century of the season and went past 3000 runs to 3004 at 27.81 while teenager Andrew Ritchie took his first five-wicket haul (6/55).

#Josh Clarke (Western Sydney) scored 66 to take him to 595 runs at 59.50 for the season and to 7001 runs at 38.89 for his first-grade career. It was his 49th half-century, 19 of which he has converted into centuries.

#Sydney’s Anthony Mosca became the first batsman past 600 runs for the season. His 75 took him to 611 runs at 67.88.

Northern Districts player David Lowery scored his seventh century.

Sydney Universities Devlin Malone and Ben Joy starred in the match against Hawkesbury. In the second innings, Joy took 4/30 and Malone 4/49.

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NSW PREMIER CRICKET ROUND SEVEN RESULTS

Mosman 8/325 (dec) HJ Dalton 111 N Hinton 60 MM Moran 57* DP Hughes 32 L Hearne 26 JA Clarke 5/69 JD Cook 2/79 def Western Suburbs 160 JA Clarke 66 NJ Cutler 29 C McDean 27 L Shelton 4/43 MM Moran 4/54 Allan Border Oval.

Bankstown 7/194 (dec) J Cormack 64 Z Ahmed 42 N Carruthers 35 BJ Taylor 33 S Skelly 2/16 B Larance 2/31 T Sangha 2/80 and 2/37 (cc) def Campbelltown-Camden 10/132 (cc) B Larance 27 BJ Taylor 5/28 B Simpson 3/42 and 10/250 (cc) W Salzmann 59* B Hardy 55 A Whatley 34 B Patterson 33 J Isakka 29 L Marshall 3/67 BJ Taylor 2/46 B Simpson 2/62 Bankstown Oval

Hawkesbury 99 R Mizzi 44 C Cassell 2/12 D Holloway 2/21 D Malone 2/30 B Joy 2/32 and 188 JA Brett 64 B Qureshi 37 P Moore 25 B Joy 4/30 D Malone 4/49 N Radhakrishnan 2/51 def by Sydney University 7/248 (dec) N Larkin 143 LS Robertson 36* MN Shinwari 2/28 AH Kherkhah 2/48 and 3/43 MN Shinwari 2/26 Owen Earle Oval

Gordon 142 L Barnsley 55 T Crawford 33 T McKenzie 2/15 JS Graham 2/15 L Bartier 2/23 and 9/213 M Newman 72 R Meppem 39 T Crawford 31 N Stapleton 3/33 T Engelbrecht 2/50 def by St George 9/317 (dec) N Stapleton 167 L Bartier 100 AM Premkumar 4/50 QL Titterton 2/82 Chatswood Oval

Randwick Petersham 227 D Singh 103 WJ Affleck 54 S Coyte 26 J Campbell 3/23 JN James 3/64 M Jenkins 2/31 def by UTS North Sydney 8/229 JN James 44 BS Atherton 39 M Alexander 36* A Bariol 33 M Jenkins 26* R Ayre 3/49 A Semple 3/56 D Singh 2/41 Coogee Oval

Sutherland 4/365 (dec) C Williams 130 T Doyle 102 J Biviano 69* J Arnold 30 L Hodges 2/79 def Penrith 217 J Browne 76 C Weir 39 B Williams 34 A Ritchie 6/55 P Singh 2/55 Glenn McGrath Oval

Northern District 8/320 DA Lowery 128* LD Shaw 72 BJ Davis 48 ER Herd 4/78 R Hadley 3/81 drew Manly-Warringah 5/350 (dec) JW Foster 160 J Edwards 108 B Bryant 30 TR Felton 3/102 GW Furrer 2/69 Mark Taylor Oval

Parramatta 322 B Abbott 83 Z Johns 65 L Dempsey 56 K Gordon 37 ND Bills 3/75 BA Manenti 3/88 KB Anderson 2/69 def by Sydney 9/323 SS Eskinazi 78 AJ Mosca 75 MJ Rodgers 65 HJ Manenti 39 C Bateup 3/56 G Joseph 2/26 L Dempsey 2/50 Old Kings Oval

Fairfield-Liverpool 290 A Naqvi 77 P Uppal 62 A Nair 56 R Srivastava 51* CP Tremain 4/56 DO White 2/23 AJ Isherwood 2/88 drew UNSW 6/248 SU Hassan 116* AJ Isherwood 113 J Baraba 5/64 Rosedale Oval

Eastern Suburbs 7/382 (dec) PM Nevill 137 AJ Robson 85 BJ Holt 77 TJ Armstrong 30 J Fawcett 3/32 def Blacktown Mounties 149 JM DiBartolo 31 RJ O’Beirne 4/32 MA Atallah 2/24 N Rowe 2/33 and 3/87 J Newton 30* RJ O’Beirne 2/40

Originally published as NSW Premier Cricket Rd 7: Players of the Week, Nick Bertus BBL call-up, results