2008-09 - University of New South Wales Cricket Club

UNSW Cricket Club Annual ReportAustralian University Championships ReportAUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPSWhile UNSW’s University Games performances in Brisbane this year were nothing to write homeabout, I am forced to write this for the Annual Report about the week that was The AustralianUniversity Games 2008. Given UNSW’s good finish in the 2007 games, we were seeded 3rd this yearbehind hosts University of Queensland and our nearby rivals Sydney University. Fortunately,whoever does the seeding doesn’t do them for Wimbledon, and rather unfortunately, they were a fairway off the mark. The Bumble Bees had a tough week on the field winning just one from five gamesbeating Murdoch University on the fifth and final day to save a VG nude lap.The week started off well, with the team travelling out to the infamous Normanby hotel for a meetand greet session to the sweet Aussie tunes from Tuffy the bald guitarist. Andrew Julian got morethan he bargained for, not only meeting his Uni games team, but most of the girls at the pub. On thecricket front, comprehensive losses to hosts UQ, Monash University and University of New Englandon the first three days meant there was to be no finals campaign for the Bumble Bees, but twowinnable games to look forward to. Taking on an under strength UTS team on Uni Oval No.7,captained by Balmain 1st grader Tim Sparkes who couldn’t turn up in time for the coin toss. UNSWbowled well to restrict UTS to 5/130 off the maximum 20 overs with Alex Charlwood dismissing TimSparkes in the first over. Needless to say he wasn’t happy even though you could hear the snick fromthe Chancellor’s office. Ryan Medley bagged himself two wickets and kick started us with the batscoring a quick 18. Suda Sivapalan started solidly also, scoring a steady 40. Unfortunately thebatting fell away from there, UNSW needing 18 off the last two overs and ending up fallingagonisingly short by three runs. The fifth and final day panned out a little better for UNSW, taking onMurdoch University. There was a lot at stake for UNSW in the play off for last spot on the overalltable. Murdoch batted first scoring 7/116, Nick Gorring taking two early ones and some all roundsolid bowling from the rest of the team helped restrict the scoring. Someone didn’t tell their captainthey hadn’t won a game. There was none stop sledging coming from him, even when Meds was inthe middle of an early onslaught. Medley (19) and Suda (35) again got us off to a great start, andNaeef Mostafa (19) guided the scoring, brushing the nervous moments and securing our first win forthe week ‐ UNSW 5/119 (17.4 overs). Well done boys!Of the team, everyone tried to play well. Lincoln Liu bowled well every game in between stints at thebig house. Suda Sivapalan was as consistent and solid as ever at the top of the order scoring 125 runsfor the week (Suey, give this guy a call), and Ryan Medley got wickets and runs in pretty much everygame. At one stage I thought for sure we’d route other teams. That was until I realised that AmaleshSukumar wasn’t Murali, just a splitting image. Big Alex Charlwood bowled his heart out for team, ashe so often does. Other players to make contributions were Pradeep Widana‐Pathirana, NaeefMostafa, Bikram Karmakar, Nick Gorring, Andrew Julian and who could forget Jeff Zhang.While Uni Games is all about your chosen sport, it is also about having a dip, meeting new people andjust having a crackerjack time with both new and old mates. Even though our performances on thefield were not up to scratch for a UNSW cricketing side, I am pretty sure we all had a dip and withvisits to places like Albert’s, The Big House, the GABBA to watch Dan Christian and The Normanbyto name a few, it was impossible not to enjoy spending a week away with the boys. Sharing adressing room with Murali and Medley alone made it worthwhile. Good on you all for participating.All hands on deck for coming games in Perth 2009.Thanks must go to Helen Bryson and the UNSW Sports Association for the help with organising thetrip away. Also to Paul Serov and the club itself for helping support the trip financially. Sueydeserves a thank you for keeping the stats, even though some of us would wish he didn’t for thisparticular week and finally, thanks must go to UQ campus for the terrific hospitality they showedtowards us. Somewhere to stay and three meals a day were terrific.PHILIP HOODAUG TEAM CAPTAIN/MANAGERSeason 2008/2009 Page 77