5 November 2007 By Graham Croker
Two unbeaten innings from captain Greg Mail at the weekend kept Sydney University at the head of the Sydney Grade Cricket two-day competition, second in the limited over competition and top of the Club Championship after six rounds of the 2007-08 season.
Opener Mail scored 87 not out on Saturday as the Students posted 1-173 in reply to Fairfield-Liverpool’s 172 in their two-day match at University Oval.
He backed that up on Sunday with an unbeaten 79 in Sydney University’s 9-177 in their limited overs match against Western Suburbs at University Oval. The students then dismissed Wests for 174 off 49.4 overs to make it three from three in the 50-over competition. (While a trophy is awarded for the limited overs competition, match points are included with points from the two-day fixtures in the overall Belvedere Cup competition.)
The Students can thank curator Ray Hunt and his off-siders for collecting 12 points from the weekend. With intermittent storms across the city for two days, Hunt had University Oval spick’n’span for Sydney University to clean up Fairfield-Liverpool on Saturday and dry enough to account for Western Suburbs the following day when many other matches were called off.
While Mail has been leading the way at the top of the innings, Ian Moran has also been in good touch. He scored 45 not out and took 6-28 against Fairfield-Liverpool and backed that up with 34 against Wests. And just for good measure, Greg Matthews joined the fray on Sunday, taking 3-14 off 10 overs, including two maidens.
The lower grades have also been contributing to the Club Championship points, with Seconds placed 7th (having won four from five), Thirds placed equal 4th (four from five); Fourths placed 4th (three from five) and Fifths placed 12th (two wins and a draw).
Meanwhile, Sydney University’s Stuart MacGill and Stuart Clark have been included in the 13-man Australian squad to take on Sri Lanka in the First Test at the Gabba starting on Thursday, while Ed Cowan and Mark Cameron have been regular members of the NSW Pura Cup side this season.