Cricket Report
Saturday 8 March 2025
From The Bush To The City
Moree, Forbes, Mudgee, Hong Kong, Wagga Wagga, Maitland, Japan, Bathurst, Armidale, Illabo, Spring Ridge, Dunedoo, Orange, Wellington, Newcastle, Bowral Curlewis… this could easily be a verse from the famous Lucky Star song I’ve Been Everywhere Man.
In fact, it is just a few of the places that our cricketers call home.
At Shore we have over 35 cricketers that Board either full time or weekly across our 17 teams. We are lucky to have them.
We have opening bats from Bathurst, quicks from Maitland, captains from Curlewis and skippers from Moree, six-hitters from Illabo, chatty ‘keepers from Hong Kong, run-machines from Forbes, leggies from Wagga Wagga, newbies from Japan and all-rounders from Mudgee plus many more.
These players bring different cricketing backgrounds and experiences to Shore Cricket, and all teams are better for it. Travelling two hours for a club game is often the norm. Playing ‘up’ to fill in numbers against boys five years older and twice as big to help out their club is expected.
Recent visits to Northbridge by parents from Wagga Wagga (five hours away) and Moree (eight hours away) gives a new appreciation for being able to watch your son play cricket. It was great to host them at Northbridge and for them to see their sons play and get a feel for the cricket programme we have. Boarders’ parents are always most welcome.
Sydney-based parents have the luxury (while often juggling multiple Saturday commitments) of being able to watch as many or as few games as possible. They can come and go or plan to watch just their son bat or bowl after a quick SMS with match updates.
We love the family atmosphere each Saturday brings at Northbridge with so many friends and family supporting the cricket teams across all grounds.
Special thanks to the generous Shore parents who take it upon themselves to help the cricketing Boarders with pick-ups and drop-offs and ferrying around the students throughout the season.
Enjoy your last game of cricket this weekend (Round 13 v Scots).
Mr Brett Hunter
Head of Cricket
Results
| Team | Result | Scores |
|---|---|---|
| First XI | WIN | Shore 8/88 (Monte Cairns 23, Mat Melville 15 (86)) defeated The Scots College (Scots) 10/87 (Sam Walton 2/9, Tom Fuzes 2/15, Ben Hocking 2/19) |
| Second XI | Loss | Shore 10/138 (Julian Harrison 41, Angus Manchee 23, Stirling Strachan 25) defeated by Scots 5/143 (Max Brownie 2/31) |
| Third XI | Loss | Scots 132 off 19.5 overs (Hamish Barnes 3/19, Henry Pritchard 2/14) defeated Shore 6/94 (Andrew Milton 25, Lachlan Richards 21) |
| Fourth XI | Loss | Shore 9/120 ( Joe Stephens 24, Fred Collins 29) were defeated by Scots 9/179 ( Joe Stephens 2-2) |
| Fifth XI | WIN | Shore 9/98 defeated Sydney Boys High School 4ths 97 |
| 16A | WIN | Shore: 9/119 (Ben Sullivan 37) defeated Scots: 8/102 (Finn Hillam 2/6 off 3) |
| 15A | WIN | Internal Game |
| 15B | WIN | Internal Game |
| 14A | WIN | Shore 8/157 (Henry Hollebone 82, Harry Klineberg 26) defeated Scots 10/81 (Henry Hollebone 2/4, Harrison Koch 2/5) |
| 14B | Loss | Shore 57 defeated by Scots 2/60 (20/20 game) |
| 14C | Loss | Shore 6/111 (Tom Devereux 39*) lost to Scots 7/112 (Tom Devereux 3/11, Ollie Lyle 2/10) |
| 13A | Loss | Scots – 75 (Archie Peterson: 2/7, Harry Smith: 2/6, Mitch Ward: 2/9) defeated Shore – 65 (Henry Perkins: 11, Zac Robertson: 11, Harry Smith: 12). |
| 13B | WIN | Shore 145/6 defeated Scots 53 – 53/10 |
| 13C | WIN | Shore 96 (Charlie Pressley 35) defeated St Ignatius’ College 72 (Cooper Inches 3/25, Barney Court 2/4, Josh Quinn 2/6) |
| 13D | WIN | Shore 0-37 (Matt Chapman 16*) defeated Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview C 10-36 (Tom O’Neil 2-1) |
| 13E | WIN | Shore 4-34 (Tommy Campbell 8, Oscar Cairns 8) defeated Trinity Grammar School 40 (Marley Maurice 4-8) |
First XI Report
Last Saturday the Shore First XI turned out at Northbridge for the last time this season against The Scots College (Scots). After an emotional caps presentation to our departing Year 12 players, the scene was set for a good day of cricket. Scots won the toss and elected to bat first under cloudy skies. Tom Fuzes returned to the team after missing the last round through injury and he and Oli Higgins opened the bowling. Tom made his presence felt immediately trapping one of the Scots openers in front with the fourth ball of the innings. In the fourth over Oli nicked off their Number 3 and Scots were in trouble at 2/7. Tom snared his second and Scots were now 3/14. After ten overs Scots had crawled to 3/21 and were finding scoring difficult. The experienced pair of Ben Hocking and Sam Walton then entered the attack. With 99 competition wickets between them the race to 100 was on. In the twelfth over Sam took a very sharp catch and bowled to bring up the 100th wicket. Ben then claimed two wickets in quick succession leaving Scots 6/48 after twenty overs. Off spinners Stian Constable and Captain Toby Robinson were then introduced with Tom and Oli rotated at the other end. Between them they took a wicket each and only went for 25 runs from seventeen economical overs. With Scots now 8/71 Shore was determined to finish the innings quickly. Matt Melville (1/5) and the return of Sam (2/9) into the attack ended Scots innings on 87 at the end of the forty ninth over.
After lunch, Shore set about chasing the modest 88 run target. The message was a clear one to the batsmen. They were to apply themselves, be patient, disciplined and play straight. A steady start from Fraser Pandit and new opening partner Matt saw Shore’s total progress to 12 before Fraser was caught at gully. In the next over Toby was caught behind and Noah Quayle had his stumps disturbed. In the space of eight deliveries Shore was on the back foot and under some pressure. Four overs later things went from bad to worse with Oli bowled and Tom Glasson being caught behind. Shore was now 5/19 and a long way from the victory target. Monte Cairns then arrived at the crease playing in only his second First XI match. He backed himself and hit four crisply struck boundaries to edge Shore closer to victory. However, in the twentieth over he was dismissed caught trying to loft the ball over cover. Ben came and went quickly, and Shore was now 7 for 55 and 33 runs short of the target. Stian then joined the patient Matt who had shown great application batting for 86 deliveries. This pair took the score to 76 before Matt’s fine hand ended caught behind in the thirty first over. Tom joined Stian, and the pair navigated a lot of pressure and tight bowling to see Shore reach the victory target in the 35th over.
Shore will play their final match of the season away at Stanmore on Saturday against Newington College. The team have a lot to play for. A victory would secure Shore 2nd place in the competition.
16A Match Report
After a rain affected start, the match was adjusted to a T20 with Shore sent in to bat. The top order set a good platform with Jude Terry (14), Will Langfield (14) and Hugo Lloyd (15) all making starts. There was a flurry of wickets in the middle order before Angus Brooks (15) and Ben Sullivan (37) helping to post a solid total of 119. Scots started well with both openers scoring quickly, but the economical bowling of Tom Penney (1/16 off 3) and Finn Hillam (2/6 off 3) put Shore in a strong position. The boys continued to bowl good lines and the opposition wasn’t able to keep up with the required run-rate, leaving them falling short on 102. Shore looks forward to finishing the season well with their final match against Newington this week.
14A Match Report
A gloomy day in the East was met with groans and grumbles when it was confirmed that Queens Park 9 is an astroturf wicket. We won the toss and went in to bat, an early wicket and a Big Pepper List worthy run-out put the weight of the innings onto Harry Klineberg and Henry Hollebone’s shoulders. This was a weight easily carried by Henry as he teed off scoring 82 runs, including multiple wonderful boundaries and some excellent running. He formed the backbone of the innings with the rest of the team scoring around the edges. Reaching 157 was an impressive feat on a dense and damp outfield.
Feeling confident going into the second innings, our first 16 overs was characterised by exceptional bowling from Billy Rogers, Harvey Cloke, Angus Murdoch-Tilmuth and Rishab Reddy keeping Scots to just 2/40! Despite the dominant position Shore was in, it took another 15 overs to see Scots bowled out for an anaemic 81. Exceptional work in the field allowed us to just pin them down and allow our tremendously deep bowling order get the job done. An exceptional win from an exceptional group of young men.
13C Match Report
The Shore 13C Cricket XI this week was scheduled to play up a grade against the St Ignatius’ College Riverview (Riverview) 13B side, and after winning the toss elected to bat first on a tricky wicket. Runs were hard to come by with the ball flying through at variable heights, but a gritty and courageous 35 from Charlie Pressley helped Shore reach a defendable total of 96 against a good bowling attack, the best we had faced this season.
Nonetheless, the highlight of Shore’s performance was, without doubt, its bowling and fielding where they restricted the strong Riverview side to 72 runs. The lines and lengths were just as the team had trained for and discussed before the match, while the fielding was absolutely outstanding. Not a catch was dropped and six were taken, mostly in very difficult circumstances, the last at deep fine leg by Neelan Nanthakumaran, to end our opposition’s innings was simply brilliant. Cooper Inches was again excellent with the ball, taking 3 wickets, while Barney Court and Josh Quinn were almost unplayable, taking two wickets apiece.
It was a tremendous performance by every single player who contributed in their own way to an outstanding result.