February 2020

Round 12 & 13

Unfortunately after being in commanding positions in all grades, day 2 of Round 12 against Wests ended up

being pretty much a write off due to Sydney’s very wet conditions. The highlight of day 1 being a Trent

Copeland Hat Trick in 1st Grade. More details on this feat further down in this newsletter.

Rain played a little part in Round 13 against Hawkesbury with the away games at Bensons Lane being called

off on day 1. This meant One Day games for them both on day 2 and both teams kept their end of season

ambitions alive with convincing wins. The club was undefeated against the Hawks with two frustrating draws in

Firsts and Fifths and a solid win to our Third Grade lads.

First Grade sit just one win outside the top 6 in 7th position despite some poor luck with 3 no results. Second

Grade have been the form team of the season and are looking tidy in 3rd position with two rounds to go. Third

Grade are finding some late season form and have pushed into 11th after earning some valuable club

championship points with 3 wins in a row. Unfortunately they sit 13 points away from the top 6. Despite a

rough mid season Fourth Grade are looking the goods to try and defend their title as they sit nicely in 3rd

position but will need a good run home to guarantee a spot in the finals. Our surprise package Fifth Grade also

looking good in 3rd position, 6 points clear of 6th position.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE

COPELAND CLAIMS ROUND 12 HAT TRICK

On Day 1 of their Round 12 clash, St George were left with 12 overs at Wests after being dismissed for 231. It’s

a Wests batting line up that has been piecing together some very healthy scores of late. Saints openers Copeland

and Peter Francis combined for a wicket each which bought in gun Wests Captain Josh Clarke who had scored

179 not out against Manly the previous game. Clarke proceeded to get on with business making his way to 14

off 33 balls until the penultimate over of the day where all hell broke loose. At 2-39 Trent Copeland managed to

rip one through to Clarke’s stumps before removing the next two batsman for golden ducks to claim a rare Hat

Trick.

Western Suburbs finishing the day reeling at 5-44. The NSW milestone man, finished with figures of 4-21 off 6

lively overs. “I was extremely pleased to contribute as a win is crucial to the Saints hopes of making the top 6”

Copeland remarked. “What will be memorable about this hat trick was that all three batsman were left handers

including Clarke who has been on fire this season.”

The haul takes Copeland to 386 First Grade wickets for St George. After taking 9 wickets in the Sheffield

Shield match against South Australia he has now moved to 305 wickets which sees him behind only Geoff

Lawson (367), Greg Matthews (363) and Stuart MacGill (328) as the most successful wicket takers for NSW.

Not bad for a guy who started at St George as a wicket keeper.

As we now know rain put an end to the Saints hope of victory but is there anything this bloke Copeland can’t

achieve?

CONGRATS MOEY

It’s been a big 2020 so far for one of our favorite Saints Moises Henriques. Along with wife Krista, they

welcomed their first child, Archie early in January. Moises then lifted the BBL Trophy as skipper of the Sydney

Sixers before being selected to captain the Australia A side against the England A side in the unofficial

Day/Night Test in Melbourne. This game also included Kurtis Patterson, on the comeback trail from injury,

who scored 94 not out in the 2nd innings.

We take this opportunity to wish Moises and Krista all the best as they take on one of the great Tests …

Parenthood.

PAUL RYAN - MY BEST GRADE TEAM 1986 - 2004

Paul Ryan was a very successful premiership winning 1st Grade captain for St George as well as playing 2nd XI

cricket for NSW as a Keeper Batsman. After a successful career in the finance industry he is now the brains

behind the popular TodaysTale and CricketSydney online platforms amongst many others. One of the most

popular segments on these sites are the My Best Grade Teams. Here’s his take …..

I was asked a couple of weeks ago about some of the players I played with during my grade career, and then at

home I saw a couple of videos of international players picking their all-time best teams.

It got me thinking about picking the best team from players I played grade cricket with.

I thought it might be a bit of fun so a couple of days later I ventured back up to the Gate with pen and paper in

hand to find a quiet table. This could take a while and I'll need an inspiration or two.

To set the scene I made my First Grade debut for Western Suburbs in January 1986, I joined Mosman in

1988/89, went back to Western Suburbs 1992/93 and then to St George 1994/95. I finished up at seasons end

2003/04.

I established a selection criteria where we had to at least have played 10 games together.

Why 10?... not sure, it sounded like a good round number and it’s around half a season of cricket. I’ve also

established a support crew to help us get through the season and any possible pre season or end of season tours.

So here goes, it’s in batting order.

1. Brett Van Diensen – St George. Dynamic opening batsman who played for New South Wales and was

also a very good medium pace bowler and good slipper. I so wished he played more first-class cricket,

he was good enough.

2. Jeremy Bray – St George. “Words Bray” scored the most incredible 159 in the 2nd innings of the

1996/97 Grand Final against Mosman – their attack included Phil Alley, Brett Lee, Shane Lee and Craig

Hughes. Words also got a hundred for Ireland in their debut World Cup game against Zimbabwe in

2007. Also a very good slipper.

3. Graeme Rummans – St George and Vice-Captain. Rummo played 38 first class games for New South

Wales and Victoria and has more than likely won more Premier/Grade Cricket Premierships than any

other grade cricketer in the country. He's a winner. .

4. Brad McNamara – Western Suburbs and St George. Played 59 first-class games for NSW and always

dominated grade cricket with both bat and ball. In the field Buzzard's going straight to 2nd slip.

5. Nathan Pilon – St George and Wicket Keeper. Former NSW and Victoria Keeper and selected in St

George Cricket Club Team of the Century as Keeper. Pils was a very talented batsman who scored over

1,000 in one season

6. Scott Thompson – St George. Very talented all-rounder who played 17 first-class games for New South

Wales. Bowled with real pace and would put in all day. He’d always say to us in the field “where would

you rather be, working down a coal mine”.

7. Gary Bensley – Mosman and Captain. I loved playing with Benzo and he had a great influence on my

cricket. An incredibly gifted allrounder who played for NSW and he was a competitor’s competitor.

He’s the captain because he was a great leader, always wanted to play, knew how to win and he’d have

no problems keeping the ego’s of the team in check. He’d be leading the troops from first slip

8. Gavin Robertson – Mosman. Former Australian Test off spinner. Played with Robbo before and after

his time in Tassie and was always quality. Robbo’s at gully

9. Greg Rowell – Mosman. Former NSW, Tasmania and Queensland Fast Bower. Bird was incredibly

dedicated, and was a keepers dream as his leg cutter was a ripper. He loved batting and had many a good

50 nipped in the bud.

10. Neil Jones – St George. Jonesy and I joined St George at the same time. He had good pace, was

incredibly fit and would put in all day. Jonesy played a Shield game for NSW and took 283 First Grade

wickets.

11. Stuart MacGill – St George. 208 Test Wickets., he had some fun at Grade Cricket – sugar he’d want to

be in the slips too. Good luck skipper.

12. Jimmy Turner – St George. I loved playing with Jimmy. 249 First Grade wickets say he could bowl but

he was probably the most improved player who just got better and better. As captain, he became my go-

to bowler whenever we need a wicket and he did so more often than not.

So there’s the team, now for the support crew.

Wayne Turnbull - Coach St George. WT was a well-organised premiership-winning coach

Murray Bennett – Manager (St George) As he was St George Club President I always addressed Muz as

“Boss” and he like Benzo had a great influence.

Mal Gorham – Scorer (Western Suburbs) The late great Pencil. Just a brilliant scorer and friend to all.

Michael Swan – Logistics (Western Suburbs) Former First Grade Captain and successful business owner who'd

ensure an enjoyable tour.

I'd be backing a few of the boys would be making a pretty penny in today's cricket, especially in the BBL and

T20's around the world. There’s my team, it was a bit of fun. Looking forward to reading about yours.

SOCIAL CALENDAR

KERRY O’KEEFFE MEDAL NIGHT – Thursday 9th of April

Who will take out this most prestigious of awards. Put this one in the diary, another great night celebrating the

season at Club Central. All welcome.

For further details on our Golf Day please or to book please contact kevendee@bigpond.com

St George DCC 1st Grade Player No.158 – NORM ALLEN

Young child is Norm Allen

Norm Allen will go down as one of the great St George DCC Clubmen. From visiting Hurstville Oval as a youngster through to many years of playing service throughout the grades through to being the club treasurer and being

awarded Life Membership.

Norm was First Grade player No.158 where he scored 2336 runs with a highest score of 135.

Overall in all grades he scored 7366 runs and claimed 193 wickets and finished his playing days off with a good number of years as Fourth Grade skipper assisting the younger players through to higher grades.

Norm Allen is also notoriously known for being the young child looking at the camera in the famous Hurstville

Oval picture where over 10000 spectators came to watch Bradman bat for St George DCC.

For more historic information like the above

https://www.facebook.com/stgeorgecricket/

Maiden First Grade Century for Blake Nikitaras Nick Stapleton 75 in Round 13 Vs Hawkesbury (Courtesy @bitesizepics)

5 Dismissals in 3rd Grade for Max Farmer Classic Catch in First Grade from Peter Francis

Action from 5th Grade victory at Olds Park in Round 13 (Courtesy of Alex Beadon)