Cricket Report

Saturday 1 February 2025

CAR PARK FULL

The sign was out very early at Northbridge on Saturday morning as almost 70 eager young Year 7 cricketers donned the Shore whites for the first time. With three games across two fields and six teams playing, they all enjoyed a beautiful morning at Shore’s home of cricket, the hallowed turf of Northbridge.

With such a high quality of cricketers across this large group, Shore Cricket is in good hands for the years to come. It’s an exciting time for them as they (and their parents!) start a six-year journey of Cricket at Shore, a great experience that boys in Year 12 will openly say are some of their fondest memories of school life.

Sideline conversations included meeting a new Boarder from Yass, who was so excited about the fact he had played cricket every day since he joined Shore… “Sir, can I go to the nets every day after school?” Sure mate, why not!

Cricket Wires

Huge congratulations to six of our First/Second XI squad on their recent selections in the 2024/25 Combined GPS teams. Toby Robinson has been named Captain, a huge honour and just reward for his outstanding leadership and commitment to Shore and GPS cricket over many years. He will be joined by Ben Hocking, Fraser Pandit and Tom Fuzes in the Opens team. Cooper Glanville has been named Vice Captain of the U15s GPS Chairman XI and joined by Thomas Capes. Both teams will be playing a number of games over the next month, and we wish them every success.

Technically speaking, the round was against Sydney Boys High School (SBHS), but it emerged that only one of our teams would play them, with the First XI having a resounding 10-wicket win away from home.

The Thirds had a full BBL style T20 with fielding restrictions, Power plays and the Power surge, resulting in a nailbiter and a 4-run win…to the Shore Third XI!

Was that Cameron Green or Tom Robson in the Gully for the Second XI taking a specky for the first wicket?

Was that Glen Maxwell or Teddy Turner in the 15B’s, Teddy hitting 5 x SIXERS on his way to a well-made 50n.o, scrambling a 2 off the last ball of the innings to raise his bat?

3 RUN OUTS in the First XI. How good are run outs, game changers!

Toby Smith (15A) scored a brilliant 90 on D-Ground. It should be called T-Ground after plundering so many runs there this season!

Tom Gray got a wicket on the first ball of the game to get the Fourths off to a fantastic start.

Tom Penney (16A) demolished the Newington team with an outstanding spell of 5-9.

With the first half of the season done and the second half well underway, a massive thank you to all the parents, supporters, and everyone who assists in supporting their sons’ cricket endeavours at Shore. It is greatly appreciated.

Cricket is such a great sport that allows your son to be part of a team in the beautiful outdoors, to be off their screens and out of the house for multiple hours, creating friendships and memories that will last forever.

Mr Brett Hunter
Head of Cricket

FIRST XI Match Report

The resumption of the competition saw Shore travel to Centennial Park to take on SBHS. Finishing Term 4 with three straight wins, the team was determined to keep improving and maintain their momentum. Captain Toby Robinson called correctly and sent the hosts into bat. Oliver Higgins struck early, and SBHS was 1/7, but SBHS stabilised their innings, showing patience and resilience to put on a 60 run stand before a run out (Fraser Pandit) ended the partnership. Stian Constable (1/12 off 10 overs) and Toby Robinson (0/20 off 10 overs) then entered the attack and put the brakes on SBHS’s run rate, showing great control and skill. SBHS never recovered the momentum, and wickets fell steadily, seeing them bowled out for 128 in the 48th over. Ben Hocking (3/28 off 9 overs) was the only multiple wicket-taker, with Tom Fuzes, Oliver Higgins, Sam Walton and Stian Constable all contributing with a wicket each. A pleasing feature of the fielding innings was three run outs – a direct hit from Toby Robinson being the highlight. It was also great to see vice-captain Sam Walton return to the team following injury last Term.

After the innings break and a lovely lunch provided in the Pavilion, Shore’s openers Fraser Pandit and Dan Harvey set about chasing SBHS’s total of 128. They reached the victory target in the twenty fourth over and secured two valuable bonus points. Both were resolute in defence but punished anything loose. They have had several excellent partnerships this season and seem to be growing in confidence every game.

The bonus point victory sees Shore sitting second on the table, moving a little closer to competition leaders The King’s School. The team will host St Joseph’s College this Saturday at Northbridge in Round 9.

Results