Week 8 – ‘The Opening Spell'

^{Caoimhe Bray in action for Greater Hunter Coast Premier Cricket Club // Picture by Andrew McCrae}

First ball – Bray puts Brewer Shield on broadcast!

Caoimhe Bray struck Greater Hunter Coast Premier Cricket Club’s first-ever century in their Brewer Shield win against Gordon over the weekend.

Bray’s unbeaten knock of 106* was captured by local broadcast outlet, NBN News, and featured on the coverage presented by Adam Murray – NBN News Newcastle.

Second ball – Spin king surpasses wicket-taking century!

Blacktown Mounties ever-reliable first-grade spin option, Smit Raval, claimed figures of 6-87 in a crucial win over Penrith at Howell Oval. Raval’s 6-wicket haul sees him surpass 100 first-grade wickets for Blacktown. See more stats in the post below.

Third ball – McColl guides Bankstown to first of many!

Bankstown Sports Women’s Cricket Club claimed their first, first-grade win of the season, downing Parramatta by 28-runs at Merrylands Park Oval 1.

Megan McColl added 30* runs (not out) before claiming figures of 5-15 to restrict the hosts from reaching the 123-run Bankstown total.

Fourth ball – Player of the Match is…?!

Gordon secured a comprehensive victory over UNSW in their third-grade matchup at Killara Park. Bryce Cook claimed 7 wickets, whilst allowing just 22 runs, before Felix Booth notched 131* runs (not out) in an explosive innings that included twenty 4s and four 6s.

Booth despatched 84* runs (not out) in his side’s Poidevin-Gray win (below), taking his weekend tally to 215 runs without dismissal.  

Fifth ball – Trading triple-figure scores!       

Sutherland star Kobe Ross reached 115 runs (134 balls) to propel his Sharks side to a first-innings total of 7/289 from their allotted 50 overs.

In response, Gordon’s Joseph Gillard struck 107 runs (137 balls) to see his Stags secure a six-wicket win at Glenn McGrath Oval on Sunday.

Sixth ball – Why stop at 5!

• Western Suburbs’ first-grader, Tom Brooks, took 8-144 off 29.3 overs against Sydney University. It is the 23-year-old’s second five-wicket performance. His eight wickets took him to 19 wickets for the season at 20.78.
• Matthew Brown claimed 7-52 in fourth-grade for Northern District against Randwick Petersham.
• UNSW’s Suthangan Thanabalasingam grabbed figures of 6-20 in a 104-run win over Gordon in second-grade, whilst club mate Neel Patel snared 6-54 in a tied match in fourth-grade.
• Lewis Ansell, from Sydney University’s fourth-grade squad, collected 6 wickets for 61 runs in a 29-run loss to Western Suburbs

Second Over

First ball – Keeping it interesting!

Blacktown’s fourth-grade wicket-keeper, Daniel Sinclair, held onto five catches, had one unassisted run-out and one stumping in a narrow loss to Penrith.

Second ball – Winning innings!

• Fairfield-Liverpool captain, Luke Ohrynowsky, scored the winning runs 101* (not out) against Sutherland in their Belvidere Cup clash. Ohrynowsky’s seventh first-grade century left him 3 runs short of 500 runs for the season. He had four previous half-centuries coming into the fixture (95, 50, 87, 50).
• Gordon Women’s District Cricket Club representative, Samira Mitchell, struck 70 runs from just 41 deliveries to see her team set an unreachable target against Northern District in their second-grade clash at Chatswood oval.
• Lachlan Coyte opened for Manly Warringah and notched 118 runs (173 balls) in a second-grade victory over Hawkesbury.
• Campbelltown Camden’s James Smith plundered 100 runs (137 balls, nine 4s, six 6s) in a two-wicket win over Mosman in second-grade.
• Northern District second-grader, Lachlan Fisher, put on a 103-run innings to take the points against Randwick Petersham in their second-grade encounter at Petersham Oval.

Special mention to Connor Mcewen, who struck 114 runs for Fairfield-Liverpool against Sutherland on the second day of their fourth-grade fixture. The match resulted in a draw after day one was abandoned due to rain.

Third ball – You win some, you lose some, you tie some!

• Elijah Stead delivered with ball and bat for his third-grade Northern District team. Stead claimed three top-order wickets before hitting the winning shot in his side’s successful run-chase against Randwick Petersham, to finish unbeaten on 68*. It was despair for Randwick petersham pair, Christian Roberts (101*) and Joshua Segal (99), who put on a partnership of over 150 runs in the loss.
• Annabelle Croll added 86* runs (not out) to help her Manly Warringah Brewer Shield team reach 8/178 from fifty overs. In the field, Croll assisted four separate runouts, limiting Northern District from sneaking any singles. This proved vital as the two sides would finish on the exact same 178-run total.

Fourth ball – 22 wickets and a top score of 12!

UTS North Sydney’s fourth-grade XI dismissed opponents, St George, for a first-innings total of 36 all out, with Jack Thomas producing figures of 5-24. Following that, the Bears had their turn at the crease.

Whilst they managed to successfully chase the Saint's first-innings total, they too found themselves all out, holding a lead of just four runs. The match would conclude with UTS securing first-innings points.

See the ridiculous scorecard HERE

Fifth ball – Hunter v Rangers!

Gordon Women’s District Cricket Club first-grader, Elsa Hunter, produced an inspired performance to see her Deers overcome a then, top-of-the-table Northern District side.

Hunter collected figures of 2-20 with the ball, before icing the match with an unbeaten 61* from 56 deliveries.

Sixth ball – Blues are back!

You might have noticed some familiar names make a return to men’s NSW premier cricket over the weekend, mere days after securing victories against Western Australia in both the Marsh One-Day Cup and Sheffield Shield.

• Manly Warringah enjoyed the return of SCG centurion, Ollie Davies, who managed 71 (65 balls), in a successful run-chase against Hawkesbury.
• George had Blake Macdonald back from state duties. Macdonald tallied 111* (not out) from 147 deliveries. This was Macdonald’s third century of the season and the ninth of his first-grade career. It took him past 500 runs for the season, the first player to reach that mark. He now has 576 runs at an average of 82.28.
• Chris Green took 3-48 and scored 71 (131 balls) on his return to Northern District.
• Hayden Kerr contributed 68 (91 balls) as his Sydney University side claimed victory over Western Suburbs.
• Parramatta welcomed Ryan Hackney (53 runs) back to Old Kings Oval. Parramatta would surpass Eastern Suburbs’ 283-run total with four wickets in hand.