Making The Grade week two

MORE:  Making The Grade week one  |  Why the future of Australian cricket is being undermined  

First-class hit out in Sutherland-Fairfield clash

Shane Watson and NSW middle-order batsman Ben Rohrer were the two heavyweights coming into this clash and it was the latter who got the upper hand.

Rohrer whacked a compelling 90 runs off 111 balls to lead Fairfield-Liverpool to 9/212 from 50 overs.

Step in Watto’.

Everyone would’ve been backing the former Aussie opener to take it to Rohrer and the Fairfield attack, and things were looking good early on.

That is until in almost typical Watto’ fashion, he departed for a well-compiled 29 at a run-a-ball.

Sutherland were saved by their lower order with a Shayne Smith 43* getting the shire boys across the line after 49 overs.

NSW Keepers go at it

The NSW future looks bright behind the stumps.

Phil Nevill, Ryan Carters and Jay Lenton, three wicketkeepers all capable of donning the gloves for NSW, were standouts in their respective first-grade hit outs on Saturday.

Coming in at 3 for Sydney University, Carters whacked a silky smooth 56 before being caught-behind off fellow NSW representative, Stephen O’Keefe.

In reply, Manly Warringah’s Lenton was the pick of the trio, absolutely cracking anything the Sydney University bowlers dished up.

The Sydney Sixers contracted keeper-batsman hit 113 not out of 97 balls in his sides unfortunate 6 run loss.

Finally, Easts looked set for a tough task taking on Parramatta at Waverly.

That was until they lost their first wicket at 1-196.

Nevill scored a quick fire 73 as he combined with Matthew Condon (110 off 90) to demolish the Parramatta bowling attack.

Posting 3/338, the Parramatta boys were always outside favourites and were respectively rolled for 109.

Across the line isn't fine 

It’s always a sight to behold when you watch the likes of Kevin Pietersen, David Warner or MS Dhoni pull off the tricky shots. But when your side needs runs in a tight-knit game, maybe save the razzle-dazzle stuff for the sheds.

Watch this reverse-sweep shocker from Eastern Suburbs gun opener Ian Moran in their Kingsgrove T20 clash with Manly last Sunday.

To be fair to Moran, if any of us had hit 189 runs in our last 3 digs like he has, we’d maybe try the same thing.

Copeland can do no wrong.

Remember Trent Copeland? The bloke who played a few Tests for Australia and can put in on a dime six balls in a row?

Those who have watched him play for Australia and NSW would know that he’s seen as one of the tail batsmen on the big stage.

Well how about this for form.

Batting between 3-6, Copeland has hit 160 runs in his last four innings for St George and has only been dismissed once. Throw in a cheeky 10 wickets and this guy is seemingly a force to be reckoned with.

We mentioned before the future’s bright for NSW keepers, well Copeland’s keeping the State’s fast bowling in the mix as well.

Penrith plough through Bears

How about this for a whitewash.

Penrith put on almost 400 runs in their bonus point win over North Sydney in their fourth grade One-Dayer on Saturday.

There was no messing around for Penrith opener Adam Ison who smashed 159* to lead his team to 4/385 off 50 overs.

In reply, Norths fell to 3/24 early on in their innings and had no answer to Penrith bowler Jacob New.

New took an unbelievable 4-1 off 3.2 overs to roll through Norths middle to lower order and seal his side a 277 run thrashing.