Five things we learned from Round 3 - NSW Premier Cricket 2023-24
Sydney University Cricket Club | October 19, 2023
Jordan Gauci is a throwback
When the 50-over format was first devised, back in the late 1970s, the role of the opening batsman was very different from the one that has evolved today. Today, the job of the opener is to take advantage of the hard ball and fielding restrictions by smashing the ball all over the place and getting the innings off to a rapid start. Initially, though, the idea was that an opener should play steadily, not doing anything too dramatic but ensuring that his side had wickets in hand for an assault on the bowling late in the day. Against Blacktown on Saturday, Sydney University’s Jordan Gauci produced a classic of that genre. Although he was always positive, he didn’t reach twenty until the 16th over of the innings, and he was happy to play a supporting role to Ryan McElduff for much of their partnership of 111. But then, at the end of the innings, he cashed in so effectively that, with Oli Zannino, he took 90 runs from the last nine overs. Gauci was strongest off his pads and on the back foot through the off side, he ran hard throughout and reached his hundred by pulling Jeremy Nunan brutally for four. He was still there at the end, unbeaten on 139 from 137 balls, and proving that sometimes the old fashioned methods still work.
Blake Macdonald is in a hurry
For people who prefer newer technology, however, there’s Blake Macdonald. So far this season, Macdonald has faced 328 balls for St George, from which he’s scored no fewer than 465 runs. Readers over the age of fifty can remember the days when 500 runs was the benchmark of a good season’s batting in First Grade (and anyone over sixty can remember when it all but guaranteed you a place in the State squad). Macdonald is almost there already, and it’s still October. His effort against Sydney on Saturday was ruthless. Macdonald went to the crease after Blake Nikitaras and Matt Rodgers (against his old club) had compiled an opening stand of 139, and he simply shredded the inexperienced attack. He flicked his first ball through midwicket for two, and maintained more or less that rate of scoring throughout his innings, surging to 103 from only 54 deliveries. Charlie Howard, a tidy medium pacer who runs in hard, suffered the brunt of the onslaught in the fortieth over of the innings. The first ball, full on leg stump, vanished over midwicket for 6; then from the last three deliveries, Macdonald flicked a boundary through square leg, then picked up two more 6s with a slog-sweep and a pull. He moved to 99 by sweeping medium-pacer Nikhil Ahluwalia for another 6, and then raised his hundred by tapping a single from the 49th ball he faced. Following the Blues’ ordinary performance with the bat in Adelaide, it’s hard to see that Macdonald will have to wait too much longer for another chance at Shield level, especially as he scored 21 and 61 in his only opportunity last season.
A finger spinner played a key role at Asquith. Just not that one.
At Asquith on Saturday, Nathan Lyon made his return to the field for the first time after he limped out of the Ashes series with a calf injury – and it was also his first appearance in Grade cricket for seven years. This caused a certain amount of confusion among his Northern District team-mates, mostly on the complicated sociological question of just how senior a player you need to be before you get to call him “Gaz”. After his first delivery was respectfully blocked, there was a shout of “Well bowled, Nathan”, something you never, ever hear when he plays for Australia. That seemed rather too formal, so a few of the fielders chipped in with “Come on, Nath”. His third ball drew a very loud, “Good bowling, Gaz!” from somewhere near midwicket, and there was a “mate” thrown in here or there, just to be safe. Lachlan Shaw, behind the stumps, solved the problem by saying next to nothing. Anyway, Nathan/Nate/Gaz/Mate was swiped for six in his first over by Angus Campbell, but otherwise bowled as neatly as you’d expect, allowing only 25 runs from his eight overs. The damage all happened at the other end, through the less likely figure of Jonty Webb, who has approximately 496 fewer Test wickets than Lyon, no discernible nickname, and is basically a dart thrower. Webb bowls left-arm orthodox; he’s not a tall man, he pushes the ball through quick and flat and accurate, and he can be annoyingly difficult to get away. What makes his bowling interesting is that every now and then, he slows up a touch and turns the ball a fraction; Niran Wijewardene was bowled playing inside one that gripped a little, instead of sliding on straight. Bankstown couldn’t come up with an answer, and Webb (who at one stage had 3-5) collected 4-24 from his ten overs as the visitors subsided for only 118.
Mitchell Lole enjoyed the weekend
After several successful seasons in Newcastle, all-rounder Mitchell Lole is now trying his luck with Gordon, where he played Green Shield about six years ago. If he accomplishes nothing else this season, he won’t forget his efforts last weekend, starting with a dominant display against Parramatta in Seconds, where he hit 76 and followed it up with 5-44. That earned Lole a place in the T20 quarter-final the following day – also, as chance would have it, against Parramatta. Lole didn’t need to bat, as James Newton and Trystan Kennedy gave Gordon a decent total of 3 for 163, but he played a crucial role with the ball, bowling both Param Uppal and Nick Bertus in his first over, the sixth of the innings. That reduced Parramatta to 3 for 24, and although Patrick Xie counterattacked effectively, Parramatta never made up the ground they lost early. Lole lopes up to the wicket and doesn’t generate any very threatening pace, but he bowls a full length, is accurate, and mixes it up. He’s looking like a handy acquisition.
Elijah Eales went beserk
Throughout most of their innings against Eastern Suburbs on Saturday, Mosman seemed just slightly off the pace. Blake Harper (89), Angus Robson (53) and Baxter Holt (47 not out) set up a solid total of 281, and although Peter Forrest (59) played well, the Whales needed 142 runs from the last 15 overs of their innings. At which point, Matt Calder stepped up a gear or three. He’d taken only two singles from the first seven balls he faced; in the next 21 balls he faced, he cleared the boundary seven times. But Calder and Forrest fell in quick succession, and with seven overs remaining, Mosman still needed 60 runs. They made it with an over to spare, as Elijah Eales carved his way to 47 not out from only 24 balls. Easts spinner Ashkay Prasan bowls with a curious crouching action that makes it hard to figure out, from a distance, exactly what he’s trying to do, but unfortunately he dropped a couple of deliveries neatly into Eales’ hitting arc, and disappeared for two colossal sixes down the ground. After a lengthy break while fieldsmen hunted for the ball, the left handed Eales cleared his front leg to wallop Harper over mid-on for another six. Twelve were required from the last twelve balls, which in theory should have been tight, but Eales needed only one over, settling the result by heaving Sam Skelly over long on for yet another six. Less glamorously, but perhaps just as importantly, Eales had earlier sent down three of the eight maiden overs bowled in the entire game.
