From The Pavilion – Round 2, Day 1 vs Mosman + Metro
Match Reports – Round 2
1st to 5th Grades v Mosman (2-Day Games)
Metropolitan Cup v Gordon and UNSW (Limited Overs Games)
The Randy Petes boys would be looking to keep the momentum going in Round 2 after winning 3 of the top 5 Grades against North Sydney in Round 1. Round 2 would represent the 1st 2-day fixtures of the season as we locked horns with a Club from the north of Sydney in Mosman. 1s, 3s and 4s would be looking to make it back-to-back victories to start the season, whilst 2s and 5s would be hoping to atone for disappointing defeats. Both our Metropolitan Cup sides would be looking for their first wins of the season, as they take on Gordon and UNSW in 2-day fixtures. Read below to find out how all the task fared and which players stared in Round 2.
1st Grade – Randwick Petersham v Mosman @ Petersham Oval
Team – A. Sams (+), Kemp(C), Sangha, D. Sams, Chibber, Eaton, Semple, Bohannon, Ram, Ayre, Neser
Result – Mosman 10/343, 82.2 Overs (Sams 4/62-20, Ram 4/49-12) v Randwick Petersham 1/43 – 11 Overs (A. Sams 33n/o)
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First Grade were determined to go 2-0 to begin the new season as they arrived at Petersham Oval on Saturday to take on a Whales’ side that had thumped Bankstown in Round 1. Unfortunately the side suffered a couple of injuries in Round 1 with Jason Hughes unavailable to take on his old Club and Nick Warren out for up to 6 weeks with a hamstring injury. Making his debut for the Club in 1st Grade was one of our new English imports in Josh Bohannon, a talented young player for the Lancashire 2nd XI this English summer. Also coming into the side was all-rounder Kushaal Ram, making just his second First Grade appearance after some strong performances in 2nd Grade over the past couple of seasons.
In what was an evenly contested Day 1, the Randy-Petes ended the day on 1/43 in chase of Mosman’s 343, in a game tantalisingly poised heading into Week 2. On a wicket that Captain Alex Kemp described as the best wicket 1st Grade has played on since he joined the Club, the Petersham Oval track offered something for all players. With good bounce and carry, the quicks were kept interested, while batsmen got good value for their shots. Having lost the toss, our boys were made to work hard for their wickets on a flat Petersham Oval surface, with Mosman Captain Scott Rodgie compiling an impressive 164 n/o to hold the Whales’ innings together.
Pace spearhead Daniel Sams backed up his 3-wicket haul last week, by taking 4/62 in a marathon 20-over effort in hot conditions. Sams is part of the Sydney Sixers Academy Squad and will be looking to press his claims for a Big Bash spot later in the year. The other star for Randwick-Petersham was Kushal Ram (4/47) taking crucial wickets just as dangerous partnerships were building. Ram, playing just his second game in First Grade, has proved a genuine wicket taker in all Grades over the past few years, and it was great to see him show his talents at the highest level of Grade cricket.
Chasing 343, wicketkeeper batsman Anthony Sams opened guns blazing, going to stumps on 33 n/o, with four 4s and two 6s. Sams was First Grade’s leading batsman last season, scoring over 1000 runs in all competitions. Sean Eaton did a good job seeing out a fired up Whales’ outfit, having been promoted to Number 3, remaining not out with a good opportunity next week to nail down a position in the top order.
Jason Sangha (L) with Kushaal Ram (R). Kush took 4 wickets in his 2nd game of 1st grade.
2nd Grade – Mosman v Randwick Petersham @ Allan Border Oval
Team – Hart, James, Calder, McLoughlin, Holland (C), De Silva, Ahmed+, Standing , Hemphrey, Loth, McKenzie
Result – Randwick Petersham 10/292 (James 128, Hart 46, Calder 38, McLoughlin 26) v Mosman 1/56 (Standing 1/0-2)
Second Grade headed to Allan Border Oval to take on the Whales, looking to rectify their loss to the Bears in Round 1. Unfortunately, one of our leading batsmen and wicketkeeper Matt Everett was unavailable through injury and, with Kushal Ram promoted to First Grade, the side was forced into a couple of changes. Ravin De Silva was rewarded for his mesmerising 155 last week with a debut game in 2s, whilst regular 3rd Grade keeper Kaoser Ahmed would take the gloves, also making his 2nd Grade debut.
As with 1st Grade, the contest on Day 1 was a closely fought battle with the Randy Petes scoring a highly competitive 292, and the home side 1/56 in reply. Allan Border Oval has proved a good place to bat over the past couple of years with its even surface and fast outfield.
The star of the day was young gun Jack James (128) who scored his maiden Second Grade century after just a handful games in the higher grades. It’s proved a whirlwind couple of weeks for Jack who has recently been selected in the NSW Metropolitan team for the Australian Under 19s Championships, taking place in Adelaide in December. Jack has always been a talented player, having scored a record number of runs for our AWGS side, before making his maiden Third Grade hundred last season. A First Grade cap is inevitable for Jack, with the only question being whether it comes this year or sometime in the future. Jack’s innings was classy and composed, containing 11 fours over a 4-hour stay at the crease.
Jack was well supported by the other three members of our Top 4 with John McLoughlin (26), Joe Hart (46) and Matt Calder (38) all playing good supporting roles. Hart played a number of fighting innings in the middle order last year, and has now made a solid transition to opening the batting here for 174 minutes, setting a great platform for our team. Calder is another player that showed potential last season and has made a good start to his Second Grade career. Unfortunately, from a really strong position at 3/234, we suffered a collapse to be all out for 292, with a total of 350 gone begging.
In reply, the Whales started solidly, losing just the one wicket. Jack Standing (1/0-2) continued his great start to the season, taking a late wicket, which brought a bit of momentum back at the end of the day. A couple of early breakthroughs will be the key next week, as we strive for our first 6 points of the season.
3rd Grade – Randwick Petersham v Mosman @ Coogee Oval
Team – King, B Stares (C), Eldridge, Lyle, Murdita, Papathanasiou (+), Mahony-Brack, Graham, N Stares, Tsalikidis, Stirling
Result – Mosman 6/402 (dec) – 68 Overs (N. Stares 5-69-19) v Randwick Petersham 3/19 – 10 Overs
Third Grade welcomed their first game at Coogee Oval this year, taking on Mosman, as Ben Stares’ men looked to make it back-to-back victories to start season 2017/2018. With both De Silva and Ahmed in 2nd Grade after strong performances, youngster Apollo Papathanasiou was called upon to take the gloves, whilst Jaya Murdita was called up from 4th Grade after some strong performances with the bat in the second part of last season.
Despite a great victory last week, this was a one-sided day of cricket with Mosman in a dominant position, having put us under pressure at 3/19 in reply to their imposing 6/402 declared. Mosman made the Grand Final last year and have always had a strong and experienced 3rd Grade line-up. The wicket at Coogee was covered with a large tinge of grass so, after winning the toss and bowling first, we needed early breakthroughs and unfortunately a couple slipped right through our fingers. Scott Sterling had two chances put down in the slips, as well as a low catch turned down by the umpires in what was an unlucky spell of seam bowling.
By far our best bowling was off spinner Nathan Stares (5/69-19) who was the only bowler to not only make regular breakthroughs, as well as keep tights tight from a rampant Mosman batting line up. With opening batsman Matthew Moran scoring a magnificent double hundred, the Whales scored at nearly 6 runs an over, but couldn’t find a way to deal with the impressive Stares. Nathan has always been a consistent and reliable off spinner and, now he is playing regular cricket, it’s no surprise to see him doing well in Third Grade, and his 5-wicket haul was richly deserved here.
In reply, the Whales, with their tails up, ripped out 3 early breakthroughs, with Eldridge and Lyle the not out batsmen at stumps. Whilst victory might seem like a tall order next week, it’s a good opportunity for our batsmen to hit back on a surface where you get value for your shots. After racking up over 300 runs last week in a 50-over game, the 3rd Grade boys will be confident, if they can bat the 80 overs, that they can give the Whales a fright or deny them the 6 points.
Nathan Stares – 5 fa!
4th Grade – Mosman v Randwick Petersham @ Balmoral Oval
Team – Powell, Saady, Montedoro, Kenzie, Bourke (C), Frith, Stafford, Budwee, House+, Flanagan, Fox
Result – Mosman 10/190 – 67.2 Overs (Flanagan 3/19-20, Stafford 3/57-18, Kenzie 2/19-6.2) v Randwick Petersham 2/31 – 10 Overs (Powell 11 n/o)
Fourth Grade made the short trek from Tunks Park to Balmoral Oval this week, hoping to make it 2 victories from 2 attempts on the North Shore of Sydney. With both Mullins and Murdita in 3rd Grade, Bourke’s men were forced into making a couple of team changes. Two of the Club’s long serving and experienced players in Nick Saady and Gab Budwee were both called up from 5th Grade, with both having done well in 4th Grade in previous seasons.
Captain David Bourke described Balmoral Oval as being in good nick, aside from the lack of sightscreens, poor outfield, lack of a fence and nearby parking. What eventuated was a low scoring struggle on a wicket tough to score on, with our boys going to stumps at 2/30 in reply to Mosman’s 190. Mosman looked in control of the game at 1/92 before a great team effort with the ball saw us restrict the Whales to a score under 200.
Padraic Flanagan (3/19-20) did an outstanding job with the new ball and later in the day, with the young pace tyro going for less than one an over, as well as picking up 3 key wickets. Veteran leg spinner Stafford (3/57-18) made this 6 wickets from 2 games to start the season, picking up another 3-wicket haul, as well as keeping things tight during a long spell in the middle of the day. Youngster Bailey Kenzie (2/19-6.2) chipped in with another couple of wickets, continuing his strong start to his Randy Pete’s career, whilst Ben Montedoro provided some useful overs, chipping in with a wicket with his off breaks.
Captain Bourke wanted to make special mention of Dylan Powell who did an outstanding job with the gloves all day. A late call-up to keep this week, Powell took a catch and did a really good job behind the stumps, before putting his hand up to open and see out the remaining 10 overs of the game. Nick Saady looked in great nick before getting a rough LBW decision late in the day, which saw the teams go to stumps on an even keel with all to play for next week.
5th Grade – Randwick Petersham v North Sydney @ Kensington Oval
Team – Rushton, Lopes, Andouolopos, Crawford, Saparina, Lee (c), Bhavsar (+), L.O’Laughlin, Deller, Sachs
Result – Mosman 10/244 -63.1 Overs (Sachs 4/45-12, L.O’Loughlin 2/59-16, Lee 2/24-9.1) v Randwick Petersham 3/55 -14 Overs (P.Andonoopoulous 35n/o)
Fifth Grade was looking to rebound from a heavy defeat in Round 1, back at Kensington Oval against the Whales. Somewhat remarkably, the team failed to contain a single player from last year’s Grand Final with injuries and unavailability hitting the club hard early in the season. However, through tough times comes opportunity, and the side had a number of changes with Luca Lopes, Peter Andouolopos, Aanal Bavshar and Oscar Sachs all coming into the side.
Like many of the games on Day 1, this one will have all to play for on Day 2, with our boys in a spot of bother at 3/55 chasing a gettable 244. All our bowlers toiled manfully throughout the day on a Kensington Oval wicket that was slow, but on the flatter side. The best of the bowlers was left arm opening bowler Oscar Sach (4/45-12) who had a fantastic debut in 5th Grade with the ball. Sach would have played a large part in our AWGS side last season, if not for travel, so it was no surprise to see him do well here when called upon. Bowling with great accuracy, and with the ability to swing the new ball in, Sach picked up 4 key wickets as well as keeping things relatively tight. Liam O’Loughlin is another player flourishing after coming up from Metropolitan Cup, bowling a tidy spell of off spin, taking 2 wickets and going at less than 4 runs per over.
In reply, the Whales hit us hard with 3 late wickets falling, however Peter Andonopoulous (35n/o) attacked in the face of adversity, batting at Number 3. Andonopousus struck a number of boundaries in a powerful display to give us some momentum heading into Day 2, with 190 runs required and 7 wickets still in hand.
Metropolitan Cup – Randwick Petersham Gold v Gordon @ Marrickville Oval
Team – Stewart (c), Brown, Grogan (+), R Sachs, Coombs, Sheehy, Jastrzab, Kashyap, Melukote, C De Silva
Result – Gordon 6-327 – 45 Overs (Melukote 2/63 – 9) Defeated Randwick Petersham Gold 76 – 31 Overs (Grogan 29)
Another young Gold side took the field at Marrickville Oval against Gordon. With the toss lost the Stags took user of a bathing friendly wicket and quick outfield. Within 15 overs 100 was posted but the bowlers toiled hard and began to make inroads. A couple of chances went begging which swung the momentum in Gordon’s favour and they finished 6/327 after 45. Well bowled to opener Aryan Melukote (2/63) and Reuben Sachs (1/40) and a bit of interest with Josh Sheehy capturing his first wicket to a catch by his father John, on as a sub fielder.
With good lines bowled it was difficult to score but Grogan (29) and newcomer Coombs (12) began to push the scoring but the large total was too much for the youngsters, and playing one short, fell to a big loss. Next up Georges River and a chance to make amends.
By John Stewart
JC Travel Professionals MVP Award Points
3 – Emmanuel Grogan
2 – Dane Coombs
1 – Aryan Melukote
Metropolitan Cup – Randwick Petersham Green v UNSW Black @ David Phillips South
Team – Jastrzab (+), Coovre (c), Siddall, Mohan, Genner, S Connolly, W Deller, Segal, Robertson, Gandhi, S Singh
Result – UNSW Black 5-324 – 45 Overs (Robertson 2/44 – 7) Defeated Randwick Petersham Green 7-119 – 45 Overs (Coovre 31)
RP Green won the toss and elected to bowl on what turned-out to be a benign second day pitch. Joel Robertson bustled-in, bowling the UNSW Black team’s resident big man opener, then getting the skipper well-caught at mid-wicket, by Mohan. There was also a mix-up, seeing the number three walking back to the pavilion without scoring.
The Green team were off to a good start, the score 3-29, after nine overs. The remaining opener and the number five then hit their straps, taking the score to 129 before the latter snicked one behind to Jez, off the spin of Singh. Genner then had the circumspect opener trapped in front, just one short of a half century, the score 192, after 35 overs. Adam Finkelstein, former RP Green, now a bumblebee, came out and showed his old team mates (most of whom are now in higher grades, and hence unable to witness it) the power of the dark side, peppering the short south-west boundary with eight sixes and two fours. By the close of the innings, the quiet achiever number six had brought-up his ton, and Mr F – 77 not out.
In reply, Coovre (31) and Mohan (24) tried in earnest, and young Mr Will Deller (15*), showed that good technique of his again, but the Green team were never in the hunt, finishing 7/119 after 45 overs.
JC Travel Professionals MVP Award Points
3 – Joel Robertson
2 – Alexis Coovre
1 – Will Deller
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