The one that got away on the Bears

UTS North Sydney District Cricket Club | February 25, 2025

Sarah Berman reflects on her first season with the Bears, where they could have gone all the way but for the weather.

In 2018-19, the Bears assembled a fearsome First Grade line-up after a few seasons near the bottom of the ladder. The Crosthwaite and Alexander brothers moved across from Manly, Justin Avendano and Tom Jagot were at the peak of their powers, overseas bowler Toby Lester returned for a second season to partner James Campbell with the new ball, and the Aitken brothers were still reliably doing their thing with bat and ball.

It took a while to gel – after a Round 1 win with a birthday hundred for Adam Crosthwaite, we lost three of the next four (the other being a high-scoring draw on a typical Chatswood road) and were languishing in the bottom half of the ladder. But a big win against Mosman in Round 6 with an Avendano daddy hundred and a Campbell 5-fa got us back on track, but it was Round 7 at Drummoyne where we realised this team was something special.

On Day 1, we conceded 380 to a star-studded Sydney side, and we were 1/0 in the first over in reply… but a club record fourth wicket partnership of 261 between Adam Crosthwaite (143*) and Tom Jagot (125*) mowed down the target with three overs to spare. This began a run of nine straight wins through to Round 15, and other than defending champions Parramatta making 299 when attempting to chase 349, no team made more than 225 against us. Crosthwaite plundered four hundreds (plus one in the T20s) and Jagot three plus two 90+ scores, Campbell, Alexander and Robbie Aitken took wickets for fun, and if one player failed, another stepped up.

We looked set for second place, until Penrith won outright in Round 15 to jump us, a result which would end up being crucial as the Sydney weather did its worst that March. All three qualifying finals were rain-affected draws as it monsooned down on Sunday, after we were well on top after Day 1 against Sydney thanks to four wickets each for Campbell and Matt Alexander. This gave us a 2 vs 3 match-up with Penrith at Howell Oval, a match that will live long in the memory for some of the worst luck ever known in Bearland. It was a re-match of Round 2, when we would have lost outright but for a Robbie Aitken rearguard, but this team had come a very long way since then.

We arrived at Howell on a dry morning after a wet week, and were dismayed to discover that rain had got under the covers with a damp patch on the wicket. Cue a trip to Kennards to hire blowers, a lot of waiting and several inspections. Play finally got underway mid-afternoon with the Bears batting first. Matt Alexander, in a new role as opening bat, made a dogged 18, but Ben Bryant fell early. This brought Justin Avendano to the crease, who over that afternoon and in particular the next morning, played one of the best innings any of us have ever seen. In a must-win game, rapid runs were critical to give us a chance, and Justin plundered 143* off 186 with 16 fours and 5 sixes, ably assisted by a fearless James Crosthwaite who made 45* off just 21.

We declared at 4/253 off 61 overs, which of course Penrith had no incentive to chase down. Olly Knight took 3/33 as we tried to force our way through, but hands were shaken after 62.3 overs with the score on 5/163. We may be biased, but we felt strongly that we were the better side and would have prevailed but for the delayed start. To add insult to injury, Penrith went on to beat Sydney University the following weekend and lift the Belvidere Cup.

Adam Crosthwaite and Tom Jagot were deservedly joint runners-up for the O’Reilly Medal, and the season will go down as a career highlight for most of the team even though we will always rue the Premiership that got away!