Adam Zampa captains Sutherland to Poidevin-Gray Shield premiership in 2011-12
Sutherland District Cricket Club | March 31, 2025
Insets: Richie Bresnan, Nick Sharman
Back row: Matthew Bradley (Coach), Jamie Brown, Shayne Smith, Ben Dwarshuis, Adam Whatley, Dylan Smith, Nathan Loder
Front row: Jarryd Biviano, Trent Smith, Joel Brockley, Adam Zampa (captain), Kerrod White, Mark Rice
[This is the Poidevin-Gray Shield team report from the 2011-12 Annual Report]
For the fourth time, Sutherland are Premiers in the Poidevin-Gray Shield competition. In what turned out to be a stellar series for the boys, we started off rather sluggishly with a loss to Campbelltown. The first three matches of the competition were T20 games, with the last four being traditional 50 over matches. As we are seeing, T20 matches are real toss of the coin affairs and can go either way, so it was important we played well in these first three matches to give us a chance to be in the race come the longer games. We got back on the rails in round 2 against Hawkesbury in an absolutely thrilling contest. We were set 133 to win and off the last ball of the match, we required two to win. Jarryd Biviano, only one season out of Green Shield, was on strike. The team stood nervously on the balcony of Lynnvale, willing Biv to come up with the big play. The ball was pitched beautifully in the slot for our little leftie to drop kick it out of the ground, landing up on the hill next to the scoreboard! A cleaner strike you would not see, it was majestic. A long chat in the dressing room after play decided we could give this competition a real shake and it was not beyond us to be in the finish. After all, we had the talent and youthful athleticism to be awesome in the field – what we then needed was to score big runs, bowl to a plan and compete for every minute of every match. Pretty basic stuff which goes a long way to winning matches.
Unable to maintain momentum we gained from our previous victory, we were well beaten by Bankstown, which was to be our worst performance of the season. A couple of changes were made and a more switched on match-aware attitude came with us in round 4 against Western Suburbs. In the first of the 50 over games, we bowled Wests out for 117 and dominated all the way, knocking off the runs easily. Round 5 took us to Hurstville Oval against our enemies St George. And what a day of cricket! A most enthralling match took place and like our round 2 clash in the Green Shield against Saints, this was the turning point of our season. We won the toss and elected to bat. An awful start saw us 2/4. I then witnessed pure class and skill at its very best. Three match winning partnerships between Shayne Smith and Kerrod White, Smith and Adam Zampa, then Zampa and Ben Dwarshuis. These players dragged us from losing complete touch with the top six to elevating us back as genuine contenders. Smith 32, White 74, Zampa 93* and Dwarshuis 45* were largely to thank for our six points in this match. We amassed 5/269 off 45 overs. Our innings was cut short due to a short sharp storm which meant the game would now be finished under the Duckworth-Lewis method. We had huge momentum at the time of the storm, with Zampa and Dwarshuis scoring freely and hitting boundaries at will. It was great to see us completely dominating St George after such a horrid start. The Saints now required 289 off 43 overs, a massive task however at this fast scoring ground, anything was possible. To their credit, they put in an amazing effort to nearly chase this total down. Needing three off the last ball to win, we kept our nerve and one run was all our opposition could manage. What a match! These games teach you so much as a player and the following matches would see the boys grow in confidence and play some superb cricket as a team. In round 6, we defeated Parramatta easily, then accounted for UNSW in a match which set us up beautifully for the finals. We smashed the Uni bowling to all parts of the ground with all batsmen finding form at the right time in amassing 5/345 ( a record score for SDCC in PGs). Uni had no answers to some wonderful stroke play.
The qualifying final at GMO was a wet, rainy and shortened match where our batting got a lesson from some very good North Sydney bowling. We were beaten easily and the players all agreed they played the names of our opposition rather than the ball. This match gave us a good kick in the guts and we decided to go to Howell Oval against an undefeated Penrith side that had some real quality and have a spirited crack at knocking them off. We batted only fairly under pressure and in another shortened match of 48 overs per team, we scored 184. Disciplined new ball bowling from Kerrod White (2-10 off 8 overs) set the standard for the early part of the Penrith innings. A desperate fielding display saw us smother and choke their gun bats and the boys pulled off a remarkable win, bowling the hot favourites out for 71. PG final here we come!
Surging at the right time and having the underdog tag were the perfect mix for us on final day. North Sydney hosted us and the scene was set for a memorable day for the Sutho boys. Their bowlers had embarrassed us in the qualifying final and the batsmen knew where they went wrong and wanted revenge ASAP. The feel in the dressing room and warm up was one of a winning team that gave me great confidence that we were ready to play well.
Norths won the toss and batted. What a start for the Sharks! Adam Whatley showed how to grab a final and tear it apart with controlled aggression and emotion. He tore the heart out of their top order, taking three quick wickets and at the same time filling his team mates with immense confidence. From here, the boys never looked back, bowling Norths out for 184. Being a final, this was a competitive total; however at North Sydney Oval, all it would take was a bit of patience and application to the task at hand and safe waters would not be far away.
After losing an early wicket, Shayne Smith came to the crease to join our most experienced PG player and in-form Joel Brockley. Watching these two players from the grandstands, clubmates, teammates and supporters had no concerns as they set up victory with an awesome partnership of 175. The teamwork these young men showed was very inspiring. Shayne was dismissed for 54 and played a passive but hugely important role in this wonderful partnership. Joel in his last PG game for the club hit 109, earning him the man of the match award. This innings was enormously pleasing for me as Joel showed patience early on, sparring with the new ball and attuning himself to the conditions and showing respect to all that needs to be respected as an opening batsman. He left the oval that day an extremely satisfied and proud player who deserved this outcome.
The players over the series grew as a team, showing they can be a real force for seasons to come. This premiership seemed to come a little unexpected by a few supporters but all this group needed was a bit of belief that they could do it. Congratulations fellas, you now have some wonderful memories and great mates to share a story or two with over the ensuing years.
Adam Zampa captained the team brilliantly throughout the series. Sitting back and watching him operate was a treat for me. He didn’t miss a trick, knowing when to go in for the kill and when to pull back and restrict opposition teams. His handling of our spin attack which consisted of himself, Shayne Smith and Jamie Brown was simply superb. The bowling changes were timely and usually turned innings in our favour. His own bowling was outstanding and classy. He also played some quality innings at very important times. I know he is looking forward to leading this talented team again next season. Congratulations mate – well done!
Given we lose only Joel Brockley from the ranks next season, our club is in a great position to have more success in this competition. Our challenge will be to back up this season’s results with a solid and consistent campaign in 2012-13. I can’t wait!
MATT BRADLEY
Round 1 (T20):
Campbelltown Camden 4/118 cc (Kerrod White 3-22) d. Sutherland 101 off 18.3 overs (Kerrod White 34, Joel Brockley 32).
Round 2 (T20):
Hawkesbury 6/132 cc (Kerrod White 2-25) lost to Sutherland 5/137 off 19.6 overs (Shayne Smith 61no, Dylan Smith 23).
Round 3 (T20):
Sutherland 9/119 cc (Kerrod White 43, Shayne Smith 27, Joel Brockley 23) lost to Bankstown 3/120 off 17.4 overs.
Round 4 (50 over):
Western Suburbs 117 off 45.4 overs (Richie Bresnan 2-14, Adam Whatley 2-25, Shayne Smith 2-27) lost to Sutherland 5/118 off 25.4 overs (Joel Brockley 40, Dylan Smith 29no).
Round 5 (50 over):
Sutherland 5/267 cc off 45 overs (Adam Zampa 93no, Kerrod White 74, Ben Dwarshuis 43no, Shayne Smith 32) d. St.George 8/287 off 43 overs (Adam Zampa 3-43) under D-L method.
Round 6 (50 over):
Sutherland 8/250 cc (Ben Dwarshuis 61, Joel Brockley 49, Jamie Brown 49) d. Parramatta 164 off 38.5 overs (Shayne Smith 4-47, Kerrod White 3-21).
Round 7 (50 over):
Sutherland 5/345 cc (Joel Brockley 96, Adam Zampa 72, Jamie Brown 56no, Shayne Smith 40, Kerrod White 31) d. University of NSW 190 off 49.1 overs (Richie Bresnan 3-25, Trent Smith 3-32).
Qualifying Final (50 over):
North Sydney 8/179 cc off 38 overs (Jamie Brown 2-17, Adam Zampa 2-32) d. Sutherland 122 off 29.1 overs (Adam Zampa 22, Ben Dwarshuis 22).
Semi-final (50 over):
Sutherland 184 off 47.1 overs (Kerrod White 44, Joel Brockley 37, Adam Zampa 28, Jamie Brown 26) d. Penrith 71 off 31.4 overs (Jamie Brown 3-9, Dylan Smith 2-9, Kerrod White 2-10).
Final (50 over):
