Lyall’s Preview – Round 6 vs St George

Preview Round 6 v St George

RIP Phillip Hughes 1988-2014                      Australian Test Cricketer no.408

This round we take on St George in a series of two-day matches over the next two Saturdays 6 and 13 December. Saints are always tough so we’ll need to have our A Game with us to ensure we end up with the major part of the points allocation.

Club Championship: We have dropped to fourth following our unlucky loss in the Poidevin Gray clash with Manly last Sunday. As it turned out it was a battle for the Club Championship lead as Manly has now gone to the front on 354 points just 8 ahead of us. Had we won on Sunday we would be the leader. In between are Penrith and ND’s just 2 points ahead of us. Shows how close this year’s contest is. Every game counts. St George is running 7th just 28 points behind us so another Club Championship battle coming up this week-end.

1st Grade is at Petersham Oval. We remain SECOND in the comp. just 4 points behind leader Manly-Warringah. Losing the toss against ND’s last game on a perfect batting day didn’t help and our boys chased some leather all day. And if ever Adam Semple was likely to win a toss it’s gotta be this week based on averages. He’s had 11 tosses so far in the Grade comp and the Twenty20 Cup and won just two! And it’s welcome home to USMAN KHAWAJA who will play at least day 1 this round. If he is unavailable day 2, Sam Doggett will replace him on 1st Grade debut. St George are already the Twenty20 Cup champions this season and although they have won two Grade comp matches to our three, they are in 12th place. We beat them in the Twenty20 Cup comp. game although we lost to them in the Preliminary Final. We have played Saints 18 times over the years (second only Sydney University who we have played 19 times) and they have a slight edge winning 8 to our 7 with one match tied and two drawn.

2nd Grade is at Hurstville Oval. This is a big game for our boys as St George is leading the comp. We are third and could be close to the lead if we win this round. We were on the verge of a great win over second placed ND’s last game before the round was cancelled. Historically the win count is in our favour 6 to 5. This is the match of the round in 2’s this weekend.

3rd Grade plays at Coogee Oval. We are 13th and Saints are 7th. We have only beaten them three times in 10 clashes so we are due this round as our last win against them was in 2008-09.

4th Grade is at Harold Fraser Oval. Saints are second and we are 11th but only one win separates the two teams. St George have only ever beaten us ONCE in this grade –in 2011-12. We have won 6 with 3 drawn. Captain David Bourke edged closer to the 4,000 club runs milestone last game scoring 21 of the required 31. Maybe this weekend.

5th Grade plays at Kensington Oval. Both teams are on 12 points although on averages Saints are 6th and we are 11th! We hold the whip hand winning 6 out of the 10 played although we last beat them in 2008-09. Grant Rimmer still needs two wickets to join the 300 Club!!

Poidevin Gray UNDER 21 play at Pratten Park THIS SUNDAY. Despite a hiccup last Sunday going down by just 3 runs, we are still in 5th place with the top 6 to contest the Finals. Our opponents this weekend are WESTS who are just one point behind us with our bonus point two games back the difference. And Wests have had the wood on us in this competition winning 4 of the 6 played. But we have a very good team this year and should improve that win ratio on Sunday. Go the Young Randy Petes!!

Metropolitan Cup. RP Green (8th) plays Sydney Uni (4th) at Marrickville over the next two Saturdays while RP Gold (10th) takes on North Sydney (3rd) at Tunks Park over the next two SUNDAYS.

Lyall Gardner