Preview Round 3 v Sydney University and Twenty20 v Newcastle

This round we take on the Club Championship front-runners Sydney University who are away to a flying start. They have been hard for us to beat over the years with 26 wins and 39 losses to go with 5 draws. But two years ago we won the first four grades and lost 5s after leading on the first innings. That round showed what can be done if we put our minds to it. This is a round of two-day matches over the next two Saturdays so plenty of time to reduce their lead of 120 points over us in the Club Championship.

This round we take on the Club Championship front-runners Sydney University who are away to a flying start. They have been hard for us to beat over the years with 26 wins and 39 losses to go with 5 draws. But two years ago we won the first four grades and lost 5s after leading on the first innings. That round showed what can be done if we put our minds to it. This is a round of two-day matches over the next two Saturdays so plenty of time to reduce their lead of 120 points over us in the Club Championship.

THIRD ROUND RECORD: We didn’t improve on our second round record last week and round 3 has not been overly kind to us over the years although we do have a 50% win record. Of the 70 matches we have won 35 with 28 losses and 7 draws. 4th Grade has the best record with 10 wins and just 4 losses. Both 1st and 2nd grades have 7 wins while 3s have just 6 including a tie. 5th Grade has the worst record here with 5 wins and 8 losses plus a draw.

1st GRADE is at Sydney University No. 1: We’ve had some great battles with Uni. over the years and this promises to be another one. Historically there’s not much between the sides with us winning 9 and them 11. Interestingly, our last three first innings victories over them have all been at Uni. 1. Last year we won by 59 runs while two years ago we won in one of the great 1st Grade games—110 to 109. We have the same team which won so well last weekend. Daniel Sams needs just 5 wickets to crack 100 for the club.

T20 1st GRADE THIS SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER: Randwick Petersham play Newcastle in a Twenty 20 match at 10 am THIS SUNDAY at WARATAH OVAL, Waratah, Newcastle (NOTE: This is a change from the original Newcastle Sports Ground venue). We won our first match over Uni. of NSW but Newcastle will be a tough nut on their track. They beat Sutherland at Glenn McGrath Oval in the first round. We go well in this competition but need to win on Sunday to keep our chances ticking over. If you are looking for an early Sunday drive head for Newcastle for the action!

2nd GRADE is at Coogee: A great performance last week to win and our bats will certainly enjoy the Coogee Oval wicket. We have a poor record against the students with only 2 wins and 9 losses so the Law of Averages is on our side (we are due!). They have won their first two matches against North Sydney and Manly. Henry Thornton makes a welcome return for us from injury while fast bowler Barry McCarthy (Cricket Ireland) and leg-spinner Mohammad Emram play their first game with the club. Skipper John McLoughlin is injured and Suffan Hassan will take over the captaincy for the match.

We will also have an umpire standing in his 200th match when Gerry Forliano takes the field to officiate on Saturday. And adding to the significance of this milestone is the fact Gerry has not missed an SCA round in bringing about this impressive performance.

3rd GRADE plays at St Paul’s, Sydney Uni.: A bit of a blow going down as red-hot favourites last week but this is a good side and can turn it all around this match. Like 2s we don’t do all that well against Uni. winning just 2 from 11. But our two wins came in the past 4 matches so we are “on a roll.” Kaoser Ahmed makes his 3rd Grade debut while Barton Lynch needs 88 for 1,000 runs.

4th GRADE is at Petersham Oval: Skipper David Bourke is away to a flyer winning his first toss, the only one of our five captains to do so last Saturday. It’s a pity it wasn’t converted into a win. Chris Sigh started in style with a 30 and is on the verge of a couple of milestones. He has 1,979 in 4th Grade and 2,483 for the club. An innings of 21 or more this weekend will see him pass the 2,000 / 2,500 runs double. We have 5 wins and 5 losses plus one tie against the students so the record is all square.

5th Grade plays at Camperdown Oval: It was a very impressive Grade Cricket debut by 18 years old right hand all-rounder Shailen Assani last game hitting an impressive 54 off 68 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes and following up with 3-14 off 9.1 overs. He goes to 4ths this week. We have a narrow historic win margin over Uni. by 8 to 6.

Metropolitan Cup from Jeremy Jastrzab: RP Gold have had to wait longer than for the end of an Indian wedding for their season to start, but they finally get under way at Kensington Oval against last year’s runners up, Sydney University, who are a very different outfit this season. The club’s international liaison, John Stewart, takes the reigns with a few of the surplus UK imports will be making their Randwick Petersham debuts. Having discovered zen, metro legend Charith De Silva will continue to mystify the metro batsmen with his seemingly delicious dobblers that have regained their masala kick, as he approaches 75 metro wickets (62). For RP Green, it’s a case of out with the new and in with the old, with several metro veterans returning for their first match of the season. Used to travelling to the far ends of Sydney, the Greens will only be going so “far” as Snape Park for their tilt against Penrith, who also are the reigning premiers. Snape is a happy hunting ground for the straight breaks of George Frazakis, who has been working hard at the physio to get fit for the match.

LADIES DAY: One of the club’s great days will be at COOGEE OVAL on SUNDAY WEEK 18th October. It’s a Twenty 20 double-header with our boys playing two matches at 10am v North Sydney and 2.30pm v Sydney. WE WANT EVERYONE TO COME TO COOGEE—LADIES, LEGENDS, SUPPORTERS AND FRIENDS. ONE FOR YOUR DIARY!!!

Golf: Don’t forget the Phil Tresidder Memorial Golf Day at MARRICKVILLE Golf Course on Friday 16 October. It’s our first ‘Legends” function so get your team in now!

Lyall Gardner