Reconciliation Round – Round 14 NSW Premier Cricket v Gordon 2021-22 Preview
& Metro Cup v Gordon & Hawkesbury
This Saturday is a major occasion for the club. It has been designated Reconciliation Round. The Club will accordingly, be participating in Acknowledgement to Country and a barefoot circle to show our commitment to ongoing reconciliation. It also provides an opportunity to launch our NSW Ports Cricket4Community Indigenous shirt designed by Dharawal woman Charlotte Ryan – Ken Devlin’s great granddaughter. Her grandmother, Auntie Maxine Ryan, will perform the Acknowledgement to Country at Coogee before the 4th Grade match.
In the cricket, we’re back to a round of Limited Overs matches on Saturday from 10 am against Gordon. They are in 10th place in the Club Championship on 865 points, just two spots behind us in 8th on 923. We are just 9 points behind 6th placed Parramatta and 8 from Sydney University who are immediately in front of us. One more win in the lower grades last week, would have put us into 6th. It goes without saying that we need some wins in the remaining matches if we hope to finish in the first 5 or so.
In our 20 seasons, we have played Gordon in 97 matches across all grades and, apart from 9 draws, the amazing statistic is that both clubs have won 44 matches each. We “greenwashed” them with 5 wins in 2009-10 although they evened up the ledger, “whitewashing” us with 5 losses last season. It’s as “Even-Stevens” as you can get two clubs.
In Metropolitan Cup cricket, RPC Green will play the match of the round against Hawkesbury. Green is 4th while the Hawks are 3rd. RPC Gold (14th) is up against 11th placed Gordon. Green is just 9 points out of 1st place.
1st GRADE is at Chatswood: Our 1st Grade team is on fire with 9 successive wins in the Belvidere Cup competition—it’s best-ever run of wins. With the side’s T20 victories, it has gone even better, winning 12 matches in a row. The team remains in 3rd place on the ladder, still 9 points from the lead although Mosman has joined Northern District on top with 67 points after winning outright last weekend. Gordon is struggling in 15th place and were beaten outright by Manly–Warringah last weekend. We have beaten Gordon 12 times to their 10 over the years, although they have nailed us three times in the past 4 years. At Chatswood Oval, we have played 7 times for 3 wins each and a draw. Our best effort was to beat them outright in 2018-19 when we scored 7-331.
2nd Grade is at Petersham: We finally won a close match last round and will be keen to do it again. It won’t be easy this weekend as Gordon is going well in 4th place on 50 points. We are 12th on 31. Historically, it’s us leading, 9 wins to 7 but they have won the last 3 seasons with us taking the points the previous 3 matches. We have won 2 of 3 at Petersham. And the biggest thing in our favour is that the 2nd Grade record score of 5-422 declared, was against Gordon in 2015-16, although that was at Chatswood.
3rd Grade is at Beauchamp: Despite 3 losses in our last 5 games, we are still in with a Finals chance. We are 9th on 34 points with Gordon occupying 6th place just 2 points ahead with 36. It’s anyone’s race. We just need a few wins. Historically, Gordon have had the wood on us with 10 wins to 5. In the past 7 seasons they have done us over 6 times to our one victory. Time to set that record straight.
4th Grade is at Coogee: Gordon is 10th and we are 15th. Both sides have won just once in their past 5 matches so it’s a game which looks pretty even. In 10 matches this season, the side has made 200 just once. Time to get some runs.
5th Grade is at Killara: We dropped out of the top 6 to 7th after last week’s loss to UNSW who are now in 2nd place. But Gordon are 3rd so we are up against it again this weekend. Like 4th Grade, the team has only passed 200 once in 10 games this season. We need to put a score on the board if we are to give the Stags a run for their money. It can be done. We have played them twice at Killara for a win and a draw.
Metropolitan Cup: RPC Green will play Hawkesbury at Kensington with Gold hosting Gordon at Snape. Both matches are on Saturday. Having done well to avoid the rain for most of the season, the Green team were finally hit with an inopportune washout while most of the other matches were able to get on. This has just made the finals race all that much tighter. Green take on the high-flying Hawkesbury, who have only lost three game this season – though one of those losses came against the Green team (by 112 runs, no less) in Round 4. With three regular season games to go, a repeat performance would be very welcome to ensure that the team is one step closer to another tilt at finals this season. With a number of regular premier cricket players back this week, the Green team should be bolstered with plentiful reinforcements. The Gold team, like the Grade teams, will take on Gordon, who have also been on the wrong half of the ladder. However, we expect a good natured game either way, as despite battling against the elements, the Gordon team did everything they could to try and make sure their match against Green last week could get on.
Go the Randy Petes…..and stay healthy!!
The Round 14 Match Preview is Proudly Brought to you by:
The Usman Khawaja Foundation
The purpose of the Usman Khawaja Foundation is to alleviate disadvantage experienced by youth through the provision of educational and cricketing opportunities.
Their mission is to develop well-rounded leaders and cricketers by increasing opportunities for participation in cricket, academic endeavour, social mobility and the development of networks for youth from disadvantaged communities, including new immigrants and refugees.
www.usmankhawajafoundation.org.au
