Preview Round 3 v Hawkesbury and Metro Cup Round 3 v UNSW & Penrith 2023-24

Winning 4 of 5 grades last Saturday gave us a good kick-along in the Club Championship where we are now 2nd on 225 points, just nine behind the leader Parramatta. Wests (213), Gordon (207) and Bankstown (206) follow. And we have a big weekend of short-form cricket coming up, with limited overs played on Saturday while twenty20 is on Sunday.

This Saturday we have one-day PREMIER CRICKET Limited Overs matches against HAWKESBURY in ALL GRADES from 10 am.

1st Grade is @ Bensons Lane 1: We won our first Belvidere Cup match last Saturday while Hawkesbury were knocked over for just 80 by Penrith. Former Australian Test spinner Stephen O’Keefe is now with the Hawks, as is former Randy Pete, Jack James. We have won our last three matches against Hawkesbury in recent seasons. Congratulations too to Dan Sams passing 3500 runs in 1st Grade last week as he scored 130* and Jason Ralston playing his 100th match. Congratulations to Irish Scholarship Recipient Jake Egan who debuts as Cap No. 156

CLICK THE ABOVE IMAGE FOR THE 1ST GRADE LIVESTREAM

2nd Grade is @ Petersham: Both teams have lost their first two games so one of them will get on the points ladder. We have lost our last two 2nd Grade matches to the Hawks.

3rd Grade is @ Bensons Lane 2: With 2 wins we are 3rd on the ladder while Hawkesbury is 7th with one win. We have beaten the Hawks in 5 of the previous 6 clashes. Congratulations to the skipper Tom Holland who played his 75th match in the grade.

4th Grade is @ Coogee: A win with a bonus point last Saturday boosted us into 7th spot with just the one win. Hawkes have lost both games to date. We have won 3 of the past 6 clashes but one of our 2 losses was an outright defeat.

5th Grade is @ Bensons Lane 3: One win each so far. We are 5th and they are 11th. Last season against them, we lost on the first innings then won outright.

Our METROPOLITAN CUP matches this Saturday are also Limited Overs games commencing at 10 am in both.

RPC Green plays Penrith at Marrickville: Green have lost two close encounters so far, but will still have their work cut out for them when they take on the reigning Metro Cup premiers, Penrith. The main thing in their favour is that the Cats have also lost their first two games. This will also be our last game at Marrickville Oval for this season.

RPC Gold plays Uni NSW at Kensington: Congrats to John Stewart whose 16 runs last Saturday took him past the 1,500 runs milestone in Metro Cup to 1,506 and to the skipper Jeremy Jastrzab who took a skier to claim his 100th dismissal in the grade. With a win and a loss to start the season, they’ll be looking to notch another W before heading to the road for the next 6 weeks.

THE BIG MATCH
After 4 wins from 4 matches to head Pool A in the Kingsgrove Sports Twenty20 Cup, THIS SUNDAY 15 OCTOBER, we take on University of NSW in the Qualifying Final. Many will recall our last match against the students at Coogee two years ago in the Preliminary Final when Adam Semple scored that memorable century off 54 balls to lift us into the Grand Final which we won. A win on Sunday will put us into the semi-finals on Sunday 29 October. We have already won this competition 4 times, so why not 5? This Sunday the action starts at 2.30pm. It’s bound to be a cracker of a match, so the suggestion is BE THERE!!!

GO THE RANDY PETES!!!!

Lyall Gardner OAM
Club Historian