From the Archives – Looking back on 19 seasons – Series 4

Legends Reunion at Petersham Oval

Season 2020-21 marks Randwick Petersham’s 20th Anniversary. Over 19 seasons there have been an infinite number of team and individual performances. In that time 2 Club Championships and 15 Premierships have been won; most recently the Belvidere Cup. So as we head towards the 20th season we’ve dug into the archives to present some of the best memorable moments since 2001.

In Series 4 of From the Archives we pay homage to three Randy Petes’ record breakers – Greg “Prince” Hartshorne – who wasn’t satisfied to go down in history as the first Premiership winning skipper in 2002-03 but instead went on to complete a hat-trick of Premierships as skipper over the next 2 seasons. We also celebrate Nigil Singh the first bowler to pass the magical 500, the highest Metropolitan Cup run-scorer George Frazakis and also the Club’s first Club Championship in 2007-08.

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The magical 500: Heading into the 2018-19 season Nigil Singh was 8 wickets shy of the magical 500. In Round 4 against Western Suburbs at Blick Oval he achieved the feat before surgery on a long-term troublesome knee forced Singhy into retirement.

Singhy’s illustrious career began with Randwick in 1996-97 as a Green Shielder before working his way up the ranks. Following the merger in 2001 and a strong start in 2nd Grade in 2004-05 he debuted as the Club’s 40th First Grader v Parramatta at Merrylands finishing with 4-75. Throughout his career he was the first Randy Petes bowler to crack the 300 (2012-13) and 400 (2015-16) wicket marks and played 281 matches overall. His best figures were 9-43 v Bankstown in 2008-09 and he took 5 wickets in an innings on 23 occasions and 10 wickets in a match three times. The best being 10-35 without discounting his 10-43 v Gordon in the 2016-17 semi-final (including 7-18 in the first innings to dismiss the Stags for 25). When his Randwick figures are included he finished with 570 wickets.

Metro Run Machine: George Frazakis’ final season for the Randy Petes came in 2015-16 in what was a lean season for the veteran.

He began his career as a 21 year old with Petersham-Marrickville in 1989-90 playing a handful of matches in 5s before a full season in 1992-93 alternating between 3rd and 4th Grade. In 96-97 George he scored his maiden century (115*) in 4s v Parramatta before rising to 2nd Grade the following season.

In 2001 his aggregate in Metro Cup was 469 but 2002-03 was his best season with 711 runs including 4 centuries and 3 50s. Primarily a batsman, he was also a very handy leg-spinner and in his later career turned his hand at wicketkeeping.

In 15 seasons George scored 4,596 runs (the most in the competition) including 6 hundreds with 135* his best in 189 matches. He also claimed 87 wickets with best figures 4-18. When his Premier stats are added into the equation his stats read 26 seasons, 6,638 runs, 140 wickets, 97 wicketkeeping dismissals and 99 catches.

First Club Championship 2007-08: The 7th season for the Randy Petes resulted in the Club winning the prestigious Sydney Smith Trophy.

The 2007-08 season was spearheaded by 4th and 5th Grade’s Premierships under the captaincy of David Townsend (also 4th Grade Captain of the Year) and Darren McCoy respectively as well as 1st, 2nd and Metro Gold finishing as Semi-Finalists. 3rd Grade also had a very strong season and were unfortunate to miss the finals. To top off the season Simon Katich successfully returned to the Australian Test side.

3 Premierships in 3 seasons: Greg “Prince” Hartshorne wrote himself into the annals of Randy Petes’ history as the skipper of the Club’s first premiership. In 2002-03 he led 4th Grade to The Reid Cup by defeating a spirited Manly-Warringah at Petersham Oval.

In 2003-04 Prince took the reins of 3rd Grade and led the team to the Final v Penrith at Petersham. Defending 207, courtesy of Tony Martin’s 33 and Prince’s 47 before rain and bad light led to only 6 overs on Day 2 and a draw to hand The Mitchell Cup to the Minor Premiers.

Yet, still not satisfied with 2 premierships in 2, Prince led 2nd Grade to victory over UTS Balmain at Bankstown. In a tricky chase of 79, Michael Watson 47 led the chase along with a partnership of 56 with ex-First Grade skipper Paul Toole. James Byrnes 4-24 and Greg Hartshorne 4-14 led the way in dismissing the Tigers. The win was historic for the Club and capping off a hattrick of Premierships for the Prince.

In 2002-03 and 2004-05 Prince was awarded the SCA Captain of the Year and in 2005 was awarded Life Membership of the Sydney Cricket Association.