Cricket Reports – Round Two

First XI Match Report v Sydney Grammar School

Saturday 29 October played at Weigall

Shore 8/217 (50 overs) (A Bailey 68, J Constantian 34, O Carney 25, H Orpin 23) defeated by SGS 6/218 (B Hocking 2/37 (10), W Nutt 2/56 (10))

Saturday saw round two of the GPS Competition, and the Shore First XI travelled to Weigall to play Sydney Grammar School. It was a clear and sunny day and Lachlan Hunt won the toss, electing to make first use of a pitch that presented as even and lightly grassed.

Will Sutton and Hugo Orpin began cautiously, putting on 31 before Sutton was trapped in front for 19. Orpin and Axel Bailey took the score to 54, before Hugo was stumped for 23. Toby Robinson (6) looked good before being well caught by the bowler, and the innings was precariously placed at 3/69.

Lachlan Hunt joined Bailey, and the pair steadied the ship, taking the score to 107 before the captain fell for 17. Batsmen were making starts, but somebody needed to capitalise and give the team a solid foundation to establish a defendable total. Fortunately, Bailey was batting well, and Oli Carney (25) provided good support with yet another intriguing but effective innings.

When he fell with the score on 162, Shore looked well placed to establish a very good score, but wickets were thrown away in the final overs and the end result was 8/217 after 50 overs: a fair score, but only just par on a small ground. On the positive side, six of the first seven batsmen reached double figures, with four of them passing 20; Bailey’s 68, his first half-century in the First XI, was the undoubted highlight. Josh Constantian’s unbeaten 34 was also impressive.

Shore’s bowling innings began indifferently, and Grammar reached 0/27 before Will Nutt (2/56) finally made the breakthrough. Two more wickets, to Nutt and Ben Hocking respectively, saw Grammar in trouble at 3/42. A good stand followed however, before Bailey captured his maiden First XI wicket, with the score on 99. The game was now evenly balanced, but Shore’s bowling and fielding were unable to tie the Grammar batsmen down and runs continued to flow.

One Grammar batsman was providing the starch needed in their innings, and his masterful innings laid the platform for their eventual victory. It was a close and enthralling contest, but eventually, Grammar reached and passed the total for the loss of six wickets. Ben Hocking was the pick of the Shore bowlers, with 2/37 off his ten overs, and Sam Walton was desperately unlucky not to pick up his first wicket in the First XI, with consecutive appeals for caught behind being turned down by the umpire.

Not the start to the competition that the First XI hoped for, but the side is finding its feet and looks forward to playing The Scots College at Bellevue Hill on Saturday.

Mr T M Wallace and Dr R M Stobo
First XI Coaches

Second XI Match Report v Sydney Grammar School

Saturday 29 October played at the War Memorial Playing Fields, A Ground, Northbridge

Shore 10/211 (O Everett 21 (29), A Molchanoff 28 (53), B Kwan 60 (54), J Mott 27 (55) defeated SGS 10/81 (J Mott 3/17 (7.0))

It was an eerie feeling at Northbridge on Saturday, as the Second XI was the only cricket team playing at home. Surprisingly the pitch had a good amount of grass on it, and would possibly dry up throughout the day. We won the toss and elected to bat. The plan was to play positively from the outset. With our new opening pair, Oscar Everett (21 off 29) and Angus Molchanoff (28 off 53), putting on an opening stand of 40 from just 7 overs.

They set the pace allowing Billy Kwan to come in and play his naturally aggressive style. He batted superbly, hitting the bowlers to all parts of the field and posting a superb 60 to get the team to 4/150 after 30 overs. This allowed our lower order batters a bit of time at the crease to help tick the scoreboard over. Jack Mott was promoted from his usual number 10 to number 6 and played a mature innings to post 27 (55), helping get the team to 211. The second time in just two innings whereby we surpassed 200 at Northbridge A Ground.

The team chat before the bowling innings was about whether the match would be won or lost in the first 10 overs. Jack Mott 3/17 (7.0) and Tom Fuzes 2/4 (4.0) put on a masterclass opening spell and had them rattled at 4/4, setting up the team’s victory. The focus now was, let’s aim for the bonus point by getting them out for less than half our total. Everyone bowled well, hitting the top of the off-stump. Grammar was never in the game and we managed to secure the bonus point by getting them all out for 81 in the 30^th over.

Well done to Jack Mott for his all-round performance. It was a great team effort with so many contributing to the day. The fielding was outstanding, Bill Kwan’s captaincy was first class, and the boys seem to be building up a great relationship. Next week, we have Scots at home which will be a tough challenge, but if we continue to train hard and with a purpose, I believe the boys will come out on top.

Mr G S Tesoriero
Second XI Coach

Third XI: The Third XI suffered another defeat in similar circumstances to last week. We won the toss and batted first. On an up and down wicket, we never really got going, losing wickets steadily (though the last three fell in a rush, constituting a hat-trick for the Sydney Grammar opening bowler). Almost all the batsmen made runs and looked comfortable for a while before getting a good ball that snuck through their defences or falling to a smart catch.

Tom Robson made a positive 24 and Wylie Hockey hit their opener literally out of the park on his way to 17. The Grammar batsmen played more aggressively than they needed and scored the runs quickly. Angus Reardon bowled tidily, taking 2/14 off 5 overs and Theo Florentzos was unlucky not to have figures better than his 1/13. If we had taken a few more of the difficult chances that came our way, the outcome might have been different.

Mr R J Ward
Third XI Coach

Fourth XI: What a stunning day at one of Sydney’s most picturesque cricket grounds, Reg Bartley Oval, as the mighty Shore Fourth XI took on Sydney Grammar. Having enjoyed significant improvements across all aspects of their game over the past two weeks, Shore was very keen to put it all together and challenge for the win.

Our glorious leader Jack McRae won the toss and elected to bat. Unfortunately the next half an hour did not hold many positives as some very accurate stump-to-stump bowling from Grammar saw Shore lose four wickets for just 2 runs.

At this stage, Sam Lewarne-Dale and Oli Ferguson were in at the crease under plenty of pressure, and boy did they stand up! Ferguson hit his first runs in a proper cricket match and with Lewarne-Dale at the other end showing he’d never lost his class after a few seasons away from the sport, we managed to put on a smallish, but definitely needed partnership of 15 runs. Ferguson’s time at the crease came to an end and in walked another batsman who was making his cricket debut, Archer Hall. Archer was stoic in scoring a hugely important 11, while SLD was finding the middle more and more to get the score ticking along. The two put on a partnership of 40 runs which saw Shore’s total creep up over 50 on what was a very slow outfield. Special mention here to Jack McRae who came in with 2 balls left in the innings. McRae also happened to be coming in off the back of consecutive golden ducks, so he was well and truly feeling the pressure. As such there was an almighty roar from the crowd when McRae scored a single to finally break the duck. The champion of the innings though was, of course, Lewarne-Dale, showing defensive grit and plenty of patience on a ground where boundaries were near impossible to score, Lewarne-Dale’s 30 not out was the backbone of Shore’s match winning total.

Knowing just how hard it was to score runs, and how effective bowling at the stumps could be, Shore was pumped to get out in the field and defend their total of 60 runs (a tally worth almost double that on most other grounds…). Tom Lyons got us off to an immense start, clean bowling Grammar batsmen in consecutive balls to have them reeling at 2/2. Tom Santow then added to the pain by nicking off their number four batsman to see Grammar fall to 3/3. Two middle order partnerships saw the tide turn back in Grammar’s favour, but the Shore bowling attack preserved and secured the important dismissal of Grammar’s opener for 18. Some tight bowling from Dylan Dalgliesh-Quinn, Sam Hill and Sam Andrew coupled with Lyons masterfully hitting the right line and length in the final over meant Shore was eventually able to capture a one run victory on the final ball of the game, savouring that glorious taste of victory. This is surely the start of a purple patch for the men of the Fourth XI.

Mr N A Trumbull
Fourth XI Coach

16A: Shore 16As bowled first on a batter’s paradise at Weigall, restricting Sydney Grammar to 151 all out after 30 overs. Opening fast bowlers Digby Hockey and Hugh Reardon combined greatly and put a large dent into the Grammar side with 1/21 and 2/28 respectively. Shore’s run chase started well and remained to build with the total being achieved in 22 overs with a mature 73* from Matt Melville and 44* from Josh Evans.

Mr A Nugan
16A Coach

15A: The 15As rocked up to Weigall 4 hoping to achieve their first win. Sydney Grammar won the toss and opted to bat first. Shore’s opening bowlers Nick Yates and Zac Roberts started the game firing by removing Grammar’s top order with ease through relentless line and length. This continued through the first change bowlers who picked up a wicket each to have Grammar on the ropes at 5/16. They then put on a 41-run fifth wicket partnership which created hope for the home side, however, Stewart Hurt was able to grab the much needed wicket. After this, Shore remained disciplined and got the remaining 4 wickets for only 20 runs, leaving Shore with 78 required for victory.

Shore started their run chase solidly, with Grammar’s openers bowling very consistent lines. The first wicket fell in the fifth over which was the reward for Grammar’s disciplined bowling. Shore continued to move the score along steadily before two quick wickets left us 3/36. Daniel Harvey joined Julian Harrison at the crease, and they remained composed and relaxed, leading the 15As to their first victory of the season, winning with seven wickets in hand. We look forward to seeing how Shore can continue this momentum into next weekend’s fixture.

Miss S Horley
15A Coach

15B: The Shore 15Bs took on a trying Sydney Grammar bowling attack and opening batsmen Brian Thorpe and Dylan Germain utilised the short boundaries of Rushcutters Bay. After a handy start Dylan kept the momentum. After being dismissed, Sam Henry and Henry Clifton took on the tight bowling attack, creating a partnership that Grammar found difficult to break. Both batsmen played terrifically and were dismissed for 19 (Henry) and 28 (Sam). 

With a defendable 141 runs on the score board, Shore came out with their heads held high and knew that if they bowled well, they had a great chance of winning. With a tight synthetic pitch out, opening bowlers Harry Kowalski and Oscar Finlay kept the momentum from the 1st innings with great line and length bowling. This was further enforced by Brian Thorpe and Tom Gray, both keeping the batsmen accountable with Tom Gray 1/6 off 2 overs and Brian 0/24 off 5. Overall, the tight Rushcutters pitch and short boundaries utilised by the Grammar batsmen got the better of the Shore attack with 41 sundries and a batsman finishing the game on 70*. Shore fought extremely well but were beaten by the better team on the day. 

Mr A N Mason-Jones and Mr B Cole
15B Coaches

14A: Shore 14As were sent out to bowl first on a glorious morning at Weigall. The bowling attack picked up where they left off from last weekend and applied the pressure early on the Sydney Grammar opening batsmen. Some electric fielding from Shore resulted in two early run-outs and denied Grammar any easy runs. Cooper Glanville demonstrated his excellent reflexes and hands as he got a stumping off the bowling of Jude Terry. Thomas Hamilton bowled three maidens during his spell and reduced Grammar’s run rate to around two runs an over. James Mathur got two quick wickets with his accurate bowling and Lachlan Boys took off the bails with some fantastic wicketkeeping for the final wicket to see Grammar all out for 89 runs.

Aidan Kurtis and James Mathur took the crease and looked composed from the first ball. Outstanding footwork and technique allowed for Aidan Kurtis to punch multiple boundaries through the covers. Cooper Glanville soon followed suit and piled on the runs to make the total seem achievable before the halfway mark. With scores tied, it was only fitting that the win was brought up with a six to see the 14As on top with eight wickets to spare.

Mr J Murphy
14A Coach

14B: A great all-round effort from the boys. They fielded well affecting two run outs and bowling a good line. The highlight was a team double hat-trick, which included an individual hat-trick to Samuel Lim. Archie Lyle was feeling unwell as he made his way to the centre to open Shore’s innings. As such he decided to stand and deliver and did so impressively, retiring upon reaching his 50 in the seventh over. Angus Pearce then finished off the innings beautifully, bringing up his 50 on the same ball as we passed Sydney Grammar’s total.

Mr M D Webster
14B Coach

14C: Pitched against Waverley at Queens Park, the 14Cs were hoping for their first win of the season. Waverley won the toss and went into bat. They started well (10 runs off the first 4 deliveries) and Shore, by contrast, appeared sluggish, missing opportunities for early wickets. But Hugo Lloyd revived the team with two superb catches, building momentum that was carried through by Hamish White’s impressive three wicket haul from just two overs. Waverley’s tail end began to fight back, securing a very commendable 125-run tally.

Shore opened their batting innings with equal style, led once again by Hugo Lloyd, who notched 32 not out before retiring. Whilst in a strong position at the drinks break, Shore still needed to deliver something special, which came in the shape of a magnificent 40-run partnership between Will Langfield and Henry Johnston, to put the home side under pressure. So, just like the previous week against Kings, it came down to the last over, with Shore still needing two runs to win. Will Langfield faced the first five balls of the over without a run and the tension mounted. On the last ball of the match, he whipped the ball down his leg side for four, securing a well-deserved first win of the season for the 14Cs.

Mr C D Burke
14C Coach

Player of the Week Nominations

1st XI – Axel Bailey 68

2nd XI – Jack Mott 27 off 55 balls, Jack Mott 3/17 from 7 overs

3rd XI – Angus Reardon 2/14 off 5 overs

4th XI – Sam Lewarne-Dale 30*

16A – Matthew Melville 73*

15A – Zac Roberts 4/16 off 4 overs

15B – Sam Henry 28

14A – Cooper Glanville 29

14B – Sam Lim 3/12 including Hat-trick

14C – Hugo Lloyd – special mention to Will Langfield who hit a 4 off the final ball to win!

Player of the Week:

Sam Lim – Hat-trick and figures of 3/12

Team	W/L	Result
1st	L	Shore 8/217 (50 overs) (A Bailey 68, J Constantian 34, O Carney 25, H Orpin 23) defeated by SGS 6/218 (B Hocking 2/37 (10), W Nutt 2/56 (10)
2nds	W	Shore 10/211 defeated SGS 10/81 (Oscar Everett 21 (29), Angus Molchanoff 28 (53), Billy Kwan 60 (54), Jack Mott 27 (55), Jack Mott 3/17 (7.0)
3rds	L	Shore 99 (T Robson 24) defeated by SGS 4/101 (A Reardon 2/14)
4ths	W	Shore 6/66 (S Lewarne-Dale 30*) defeated SGS 8/59 (S Hill 2/2, T Lyons 2/13)
16A	W	Shore 2/153 (M Melville 73*, J Evans 44*) defeated SGS 10/151 (H Reardon 2/28)
15A	W	Shore 3/78 (J Harrison 39) defeated SGS 10/77 (Z Roberts 4/16, D Harvey 2/7)
15B	L	Shore 141 (S Henry 28) defeated by SGS 4/142
14A	W	Shore 2/95 (A Kurtis 47* C Glanville 29) defeated SGS 10/89 (J Mathur 2/16, J Terry 2/14)
14B	W	Shore 2/148 (A Brooks 23, A Lyle 50*, A Pearce 51*) defeated SGS 10/145 (L Arnold 3/13, S Lim 3/12 – including a hat-trick)
14C	W	Shore 7/126 (H Lloyd 32*, W Langfield 27*) defeated WC 9/125 (H White 3/27)