Round 13 NSW Premier Cricket v Bankstown 2021-22 Preview
& Metro Cup v Gordon & Syd Uni Gold
Now that our first premiership win of the season has been put to bed following the big win last Sunday in the Twenty20 Cup, it’s time to look to taking out a few more. The 1st Grade Belvidere Cup, in particular, would be nice. And first cab off the rank in our quest for more silverware is University of NSW CC, this weekend.
When it began as a merged entity in October 2001, Randwick Petersham’s first round was against University of NSW. Only 2nd Grade won on that occasion but of course, we’ve come a long way since then. In fact, we have played them 95 times across all 5 grades in our 20 years prior to this season, winning 54, losing 37 with 4 matches drawn. This weekend, 1st Grade will play the first 2 day match of the regular season, a Saturday-Sunday game. All lowers play one day 50 overs-a-side matches as do the two Metropolitan Cup teams, RPC Green and RPC Gold. All the one-dayers start at 10 am with 1st Grade from 10.30 am each day.
Last week’s four wins against Bankstown were just what the doctor ordered, as they kicked us up the Club Championship leader board from 11th to 8th. We are now on 857 points just 9 behind 7th placed Sydney University (866) and 25 behind Parramatta (882) who are 6th. University of NSW are going well this season and are 5th on 938—81 ahead of us. If we are going to climb further up the ladder, we need to take it to the students this weekend. A few improved batting efforts would make a difference.
In Metropolitan Cup cricket, 5th placed RPC Green plays 13th placed Gordon while RPC Gold (14th) will be very keen to overhaul 2nd placed Sydney University Gold. Green is just one win out of 1st place.
SATURDAY/ SUNDAY: 1st GRADE is at Petersham: With a record 8 wins in a row, the side is enjoying a fantastic season. They are well placed in 3rd spot on the points ladder just 9 behind leader Northern District and 5 from second-placed Mosman. University are champing at the bit in 7th spot, just one win out of 6th. No need to tell you what a win over our team would do for them. Historically, we have the upper hand with 15 wins to their 8, although 2 of their wins have been outrights. One of their outright wins was at Petersham, the only time we have played them there. That was in 2005-06 when they scored 5-362.
2nd Grade is at David Phillips South: Uni. are 8th and we are 15th. We had a good win over Bankstown last week and that is sure to enthuse our boys. Over the years, we have won 10 to their 8 with 4 of our wins coming in the past 6 seasons. We have played them twice at David Phillips South and won both times, scoring 262 in 2016-17 and a mammoth 9-388 in 2018-19 when Matt Calder made 110 and Ireland’s, Harry Tector, scored 118. A repeat of that would be handy.
3rd Grade is at Coogee: This will be the first time we have played UNSW at Coogee. We have won 5 of our 10 wins against Uni. at Petersham and have won 5 of the last 6 clashes. However, they beat us last year, 206 to 195. This is a must-win match for us as Uni. are going well in 4th place on 45 points with us 7th on 34.
4th Grade is at David Phillips North: A disaster last week in not being able to run down 130. We need to get some runs to take this out although there’s not much between the teams. They are 9th on 32 points and we are 15th on 27—just 5 behind. We have had 5 wins and just one loss on this ground, so the momentum is with us.
5th Grade is at Snape: Our boys are going well in 6th place on 39 points. But they’ll need to pull out all stops on Saturday as the students are running 2nd on 44. If we win, we’ll go one point ahead of them so there’s plenty of incentive to play well. Historically, we have won 11 to their 6. We have played one match against them at Snape—in 2005-06 when they won 9-211 to our 210.
Metropolitan Cup. RPC Green will play Gordon at Killara Park on Saturday while RPC Gold plays Sydney University Gold at St Paul’s on Sunday. Along with the two Sydney University teams, Gordon was one of the teams that we couldn’t beat last year in our semi-final run. Traditional powerhouses in the Metropolitan Cup, the stags might be languishing in the second half of the draw, but their thumping of fourth placed Warringah last week means they can’t be taken lightly. The Green team, having strung two strong wins together, will need to win at least 2 of their last four games to solidify their spot in the top 6. The Gold team could help their clubmates out by taking out Sydney University Gold, who now occupy second. Despite their stranglehold over us, the Greens beat them comprehensively recently to break the hoodoo, but Gold will have to massively cut down on the extras if they are to give themselves a chance.
Go the Randy Petes…..and stay healthy!!
The Round 13 Match Preview is Proudly Brought to you by:
Indian Paradise Randwick
Indian Paradise Randwick is the area’s newest Indian restaurant offering lunch and dinner options. All dishes are prepared fresh by their chefs and the choices are endless. Located at 149 Alison Rd drop in to experience the wonderful flavours of India. All dishes are Halal certified and the restaurant is BYO. Indian Paradise also provide home delivery and catering for any size function. Indian Paradise Randwick are offering all Randwick Petersham members a 10% discount on all orders. Mention you are from Randwick Petersham when you arrive or book.
http://www.indianparadiserandwick.com/
