Sydney University skipper Nick Larkin cracked his fourth century of the season to lead the Students to first innings points over North Sydney in their Round 12 Sydney Premier League clash at University Oval at the weekend.
Larkin’s brutish 164 off 186 balls, which included 17 boundaries and three sixes, took him to 7020 runs in all grades for the club since the 2009-10 season.
It was his 16th First Grade century, to go along with 34 half-centuries and put him well on track for a third 1000-run season.
Along with Sunday’s assault, the NSW representative posted 140 against Hawkesbury in Round 4, 135 against Fairfield-Liverpool in Round 8 and 246 against Mosman in Round 10.
He now has 863 runs for the season in the two-day, limited overs and Twenty20 competitions at an average of 86.3, but a more remarkable average in the Belvidere Cup competition where his 10 innings have produced 799 runs at a Bradman-like 114.1.
Having rolled North Sydney for 193 on Saturday (Ryan Van Kemenade 59, James Aitken 46; Ed Cowan 3-28, Liam Robertson 2-10, Lawrence Neil-Smith 2-17), the Students racked up 4(dec)-257 off just 60 overs on Sunday, with Larkin and No.4 Damien Mortimer (65) sharing a 219-run partnership.
They had North Sydney 2-72 in their second innings when stumps were drawn.
Larkin’s efforts helped the defending premiers to regain the lead in the Belvidere Cup competition with three rounds remaining before the qualifying finals on March 17-18.
Sydney University will meet UNSW at Alan Davidson Oval on February 10-17, Bankstown at University Oval on February 24 and March 3, and finish the competition proper with a limited overs fixture against Campbelltown-Camden at Raby Oval on March 10.
The Students will need a couple of clean-sweeps to threaten for the Club Championship which is headed by Parramatta on 1190 points, with Manly-Warringah (1148), Sydney (1123) and Sydney University (1011) still in the hunt.
Meanwhile, young Sydney University fast bowler Jazz Rinka has been named in the 2017-18 AW Green Shield Merit XII which was selected at the end of the competition played during the school holidays and won by Parramatta.
Regarded as the strongest junior club competition in the world, the AW Green Shield is NSW Premier Cricket’s Under 16 competition and forms part of the Club Championship.
Many NSW and Australian players have been part of this competition, including Australian captain Steven Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Stephen O’Keefe, Nic Maddinson, Pat Cummins, Kurtis Patterson, Gurinder Sandhu and Sean Abbott.
Based on statistics from the preliminary rounds only, the AW Green Shield Merit XII comprises the top six batsmen in the competition, the top five bowlers and the leading wicketkeeper.
Rinka took 16 wickets at 15.25 (with a best of 4-38) to earn selection in the Merit X11.
Scoreboard
Sydney Premier Men’s Grade competition – Round 12 (Two-day matches)
First Grade: Sydney University 4(dec)-257 (Nick Larkin 164, Damien Mortimer 65 not out; James Campbell 3-69) off 60 overs, defeated North Sydney 193 off 72.2 overs (Ryan Van Kemenade 59, James Aitken 46; Ed Cowan 3-28, Liam Robertson 2-10, Lawrence Neil-Smith 2-17) and 2-72 off 19 overs (Thomas Jagot 32 not out) on the first innings at Sydney University Oval. Toss: Sydney University. Batted first: North Sydney. Points: Sydney University 6, North Sydney 0.
Sydney Premier Men’s Grade competition – Round 12 (Limited overs)
Second Grade: Sydney University 167 off 43.2 overs (Nicky Craze 50; William Graham 3-31) defeated North Sydney 66 off 38.1 overs (Bennett Walsh 21; Jonathon Craig Dobson 3-11, Jack Holloway 2-16) by 101 runs, with a bonus point, at Bon Andrews Oval on Saturday. Toss: North Sydney. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: Sydney University 7, North Sydney 0.
Third Grade: Match abandoned due to weather conditions. Points: Sydney University 1, North Sydney 1.
Fourth Grade Sydney University 219 off 47.2 overs (Alasdair Grant 66, Michael Robinson 63, Hayden Storey 32) defeated North Sydney 89 off 30 overs (Aidan Peek 3-28, Alasdair Grant 2-5) by 130 runs, with a bonus point, at Tunks Park on Saturday. Toss: North Sydney. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: Sydney University 7, North Sydney 0.
Fifth Grade: North Sydney 9-129 off 35.4 overs (Lucas Heffernan 26, extras 26; Vince Umbers 2-12, Thomas Draca 3-28) defeated Sydney University 6-126 off 36 overs (Brodie Frost 80 not out; Travis McKenna 2-15) by one wicket at St Paul’s College Oval on Saturday. Toss: North Sydney. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: North Sydney 6, Sydney University 0.
Metropolitan Cup – Round 13 (Two-day match – Limited Overs)
Gordon 8-186 off 40 overs (Riley Behlevanas 45, Oliver Williams 33, Connor Cameron 30 not out; Zohirul Islam 4-43) defeated Sydney University 144 off 37.4 overs (Ashwin Kirubanandan 47, Max Shanahan 22; Connor Cameron 3-27, Thomas Gohl 2-22) by 42 runs at Killara Oval on Saturday. Toss: Sydney University. Batted first: Gordon. Points: Gordon 6, Sydney University 0.
