Cricket News

On Friday 18 and Saturday 19 November we competed against Waverley College and Knox Grammar School. The 9A, 10A, 2nd XI and 1st XI competed against Waverley in 2-day fixtures, while the remaining teams matched up against Knox. The 9B are to be congratulated on registering their first victory of the season; their resilience has certainly paid off. The 1st XI and 2nd XI also secured resounding wins. The 10A demonstrated their grit and determination by batting for the duration of Day 2 to secure a draw. There were many standout performances but special mention must be made of the two centurions, E. Fouracre (9WH) – 110 and A. Frazer (10Mu) – 100, and S. Turner (10Mu) for his bowling figures of 5-43. N. Streeton’s (8St) 50 was also pivotal in helping the 9B to their first win. Please read the match reports below for more details.

Neil Smallfield | Acting Cricket Co-ordinator

1st XI

A Friday/Saturday game is one of the many highlights for a Trinity cricket player, particularly the excitement of playing in front of the young men you see in the classroom day in and day out. The 11 young men representing the School were more restless than a Year 7 science class in Period 6 on a Friday, in the anticipation of looking and feeling like a professional athlete in front of our School.

Trinity won the toss for the third week in a row, unheard of in the cricketing community! Trinity elected to bat and M. Rindani (10Mu) and A. Frazer (10Mu) walked to the middle of TGS 1, looking to start Trinity’s innings with confidence. A. Frazer (10Mu) strutted out to the middle with a sense of domination and after consolidating for 20 overs, he juiced balls to the boundary with class and elegance. After being trapped in the nervous nineties for what seemed like forever, he noodled a delivery through the covers for a single to bring up his maiden 1st XI hundred. His batting partner M. Rindani (10Mu) became prime Steve Smith, walking across his stumps and glancing deliveries through midwicket for effortless fours. He ended with a high score of 74. After the dismissal of the two openers, S. Wadhera (11Ke) and T. Bermingham (9Mu) walked to the crease with only boundaries in mind. S. Wadhera (11Ke) ended up with 74 off 91 deliveries, including nine fours, while his batting partner T. Bermingham (9Mu) finished with an unbeaten 50 off 56 deliveries.

Trinity declared and was defending a whopping 312. S. Newton (11WJ) and J. Scott (10WH) opened the bowling and ripped through the top order, taking two wickets each in the first eight overs. This performance allowed S. Turner (10Mu) to spin a web through Waverley’s batting line up and after some exceptional bowling, he ended up with figures of 5-43 off 23 overs. Alongside him, S. Newton (11WJ) ended up with 3-11 off 14 overs and J. Scott (10WH) 2-15 off eight overs. Trinity bowled Waverley out for 115 and secured their first win of the season. The team is now looking ahead to this Saturday’s away game against Knox.

S. Newton | 1st XI Captain

2nd XI

The 2nd XI had a strong win against Waverley. Bowling first, L. Demark (10SC) got the team off to a strong start, bowling three batsmen in his opening spell. After a middle-order fight back, the team managed to wrap up the Waverley innings for 157, with T. Dawson (10Ta) also finishing with three wickets and I. Wyatt (11WJ) with two. T. Dawson (10Ta) was also promoted to open the batting in the absence of his brother (who was playing for the 1st XI) and scored 63. A. Nair (10Yo) also batted excellently for 49 not out as we passed Waverley’s score for the loss of three wickets. We declared immediately in an attempt to bowl Waverley out a second time and seek an outright victory. At the close of play, Waverley were 5-101, leaving us with a convincing 1st innings victory.

Nigel Cowell | 2nd XI Coach

10A

The 10A cricket team departed school early on Friday to take on Waverley at Queens Park in a 2-day fixture. After winning the toss and deciding to bat, Trinity patiently went about building a large 1st innings score. After losing an early wicket, E. Fouracre (9WH) and N. Chun (9Ho) steadied the ship before the latter was eventually dismissed for 15. At 2-60 things were evenly poised as captain D. Clough (9WH) walked to the crease. Thankfully both young men worked hard, valued their wickets, and put on a partnership of 106 runs before D. Clough (9WH) was dismissed for 42.

As the light began to fade, Trinity looked to push the run rate as H. McLean (9Yo) and E. Fouracre (9WH), now closing in on his century, started to get on top of the Waverley bowling attack. Eventually, he would bring up his 100 with a beautiful lofted cover drive for six, before finally being dismissed for a well-made 110 runs. Stumps on Day 1 was called with Trinity on top at 5-218.

Day 2 commenced with Trinity looking for quick runs, with H. McLean (9Yo) falling for 24 before a late 11-run cameo from J. Davies (9St) pushing Trinity’s final score to 9-239. Securing some early wickets was the goal for the Trinity bowling attack and H. McLean (9Yo), dismissing their opener in the 4th over to have Waverley 1-10, obliged. Some quality batting from the remaining Waverley top order and some inconsistent bowling would see Waverley quickly go about building a large 1st innings reply. Despite H. McLean (9Yo) claiming 3-50 and D. Clough (9WH) chipping in with a wicket, Waverley would declare at 4-298 before sending Trinity back into to bat as they tried to secure the outright victory.

N. Chun (9Ho) and D. Clough (9WH) would see Trinity hold off the late Waverley efforts and the game remained a first-innings victory to Waverley. It was a very pleasing first day’s effort and there are a lot of positives to take into our next game against Knox.

Michael Snowden | 10A Coach

9A

The 9A played out an extremely close match against Waverley last weekend. From the beginning, it was set to be a testing match for both sides as it was their first experience of Friday-Saturday cricket. Trinity knew it would be a difficult encounter against the undefeated Waverley side.

After several delays on Friday afternoon, first-time captain, K. Huang (8DU), won the toss and elected to bowl first. The opening bowling combination of J. Tsang (8We) and A. Yee (8Ta) started well and restricted the early flow of runs. They caused much trouble for the batsmen but were unlucky to come away without any wickets. A change in bowling brought on S. Narayanan (8Hi) and L. Ellis (8Yo), who both bowled tightly. They ended with one wicket each. A. Kountouris (8Mu) bowled with good discipline. He kept the ball full and was rewarded with his first wicket for the season. L. Luzzani (8Ta) was again a standout player in the field. He backed up his stunning catch from the last match by running out one of the Waverley centurions. As the innings continued, and the ball got older, the batting conditions became easier for Waverley. The run rate picked up, and they were able to score over 100 runs in the last session to end the first day at 4-308.

Waverley declared before play on Saturday morning. The Trinity boys knew that their chances of chasing down the mammoth total were slim, but it was stressed that if they could bat the day out then anything could happen. The innings started well with K. Huang (8Du) and S. Narayanan (8Hi) sending multiple balls to the boundary. The run rate was on track with what was required, and Waverley’s energy was starting to drop. However, both boys were dismissed in the space of two overs. A. Kountouris (8Mu) came into bat. He was characteristically diligent with his running between the wickets and dispatched many loose balls to the boundary. Alex was well accompanied by L. Luzzani (8Ta). Lorenzo batted like prime Aaron Finch as he scored at above a run a ball, including two sixes over mid-on. Alex and Lorenzo ended with scores of 46 and 48 each. M. Flynn (8Ho) came to the crease and played his best innings of the season so far. He was focused on his way to scoring 24 runs. J. Fudeh (8Yo) also got himself a start before being dismissed for 14.

Two more quick wickets brought Trinity to 9-200 with 13 minutes of play left. At the crease were J. Tsang (8We) and the newly promoted N. Balenthrian (8St). The fate of the match rested with these boys batting out the remaining overs. Waverley was determined to win and fitted seven overs into the last 13 minutes. However, the batsmen did not allow this to go to their heads. They withstood the pressure and batted with great maturity to whittle down the time. The last over came, and the tension was palpable. The entire team, and their parents, were watching with great intensity on the sideline. The 9B, whose match was set to follow, joined in. Waverley crowded in close around the bat. The first ball came, and N. Balenthiran (8St) kept it out. The second and third had similar results. An upward shot on the fourth ball gave Waverley a half chance, but it was not taken. J. Tsang’s (8We) frustration was audible at the non-striker’s end. N. Balenthiran (8St) left the fifth ball. The last ball came and was left through to the wicketkeeper. The time had struck one o’clock, and the match was declared a draw. This came with great excitement to the Trinity boys, and frustration for their opposition. It is a match that will be remembered by the boys for years to come. J. Tsang (8We) ended with a not-out score of 24, while N. Balenthiran (8St) finished not out on 0. The more important story was the combined 111 balls that the pair faced. That was 111 balls which, if one of them got out, Waverley would have won the match. It is a great testament to the effort of both boys. The team ended at 9-219.

It was a draw that felt like a win for Trinity. It is cause to celebrate, but also a learning moment. The match never should have been as close as it was. Seven of the boys got starts in the batting innings, but none of them went on to post a score above 50. With this in mind, the match was definitely winnable for Trinity. The boys should remember this going into the rest of the season. They have demonstrated the potential to beat the premier side in the competition. Their next task will be to fulfil that potential and assert themselves as the top team in the age group.

Thomas Thorpe | 9A Coach

8A

The 8A side had a competitive game against Knox on Saturday 19 November. F. Byrne (8Mu) was able to snare early wickets, but Knox recovered well to finish with 10-135 off 32 overs. Trinity began their batting innings well, setting a good platform to be 2-50 at the break but fell behind the run rate required as the Knox bowlers kept it tight. E. Huynh (8Ke) finished with a well-fought 33 runs including four fours as Trinity managed to score 90 runs off their 32 overs.

Don Kesby | 8A coach