4th Grade 2005-06

(Back Row) Warrick Folkard, Andrew Tosolini, Tim Spencer, Nathan Alexander, Kieran Pradeep (12th Man), Mashood Bajwa

(Front Row) Ben Skinner, Chris Anstiss, John Sutton, Paul McInnes, Mark Hughes, Paul Chapman

FINAL

Match played at Alan Davidson Oval, South Sydney, 1st and 2nd of April, 2006.

Macquarie University won by 5 wickets. Toss: Burwood. Captain: Paul McInnes

SEMI-FINAL

Match played at Macquarie Northern Oval, North Ryde, 25th  and 26th March, 2006.

Macquarie University won by 41 runs. Toss: Warringah. Captain: Paul McInnes

QUARTER FINAL

Match played at Ross Gwilliam Oval, North Ryde, 18th and 19th March, 2006.

Macquarie University won by 86 runs. Toss: Pennant Hills. Captain: Paul McInnes

FINAL REPORT:

      A Grand Final at Alan Davidson Oval and great weather, we couldn’t ask for any better. The toss lost and Burwood chose to bat. This didn’t worry us, as we had to bowl them out to win, being the lower-ranked team. A good start from Burwood saw them get to 28 before losing their first wicket. Spencer claimed our first. From here, with tight bowling and good catching, we progressed through the Burwood batting line-up. Before we knew it we were at lunch and we had Burwood 6-60. Chapman had 3 wickets, Spencer 2 and McInnes 1. With this good start we wanted to refocus after lunch. In the second over after lunch, a slight field adjustment ends up in Tosolini running out their number 5 and Burwood were 7-61. From here, our fielding really let us down and Burwood were back in the game. We dropped at least 4 good chances before finally claiming the wicket of Clarke who went on to score (50). Burwood were now 8-136, a realistic chance of bowling them out under 100 gone… From here Sutton and Chapman cleaned up the tail after a stubborn 10th wicket partnership saw Burwood reach 168.

      We knew our target and the break of innings revolved around a good talk about building partnerships and taking full advantage of our good work in keeping the minor premiers under 170. We batted for 37 overs till the end of day one. This period was a pleasure to watch, with Chapman and Hughes playing exactly the way they needed to. Both played within themselves and took to the situation like ducks to water. By the end of play both were still there and we were 0-74 and quietly confident, with work still to be done. Chapman and Hughes started day two the same way as the afternoon before. Unfortunately, Chapman (41), playing a great innings, fell with the score at 88. Partnerships were now the key. This is exactly what Sutton and Hughes did. They saw us to 107 before John was out lbw. Next in was Skinner and with Hughes we reached 128 before Skinner was dismissed. In this partnership, Hughes brought up a well deserved half century. Alexander was next in and with the experience of Hughes at the other end, Alexander played well above his years. This partnership saw us to 157. Hughes was still there and then Anstiss joined him in the middle. The first ball to Anstiss went to the boundary and our target got closer. When the target was two runs away Hughes played a shot to go over gully’s head but unfortunately he got a hand to it and batted it up to take the catch. Hughes was out for (81), a great opener’s innings ended which really set up our win. So this brought McInnes to the crease and two balls later and a shot through covers provided us with the win. The Man of the Match was Mark Hughes, closely followed by Paul Chapman. This was a great victory and one I hope the guys remember for a lifetime.