We witnessed an exceptional day of cricket played in the right spirit under beautiful weather.With some rain falling yesterday, Stirling Hamman did a magnificent job to cover and prepare the deck, after returning only on Thursday from the UK. We were only delayed by 45 mins and obviously it was a good deck to bowl on for the initial early couple of hours. The bowlers did not let Paddy down.
Mandalong Cricket Ground
Will Calov and Ashwin Premkumar took quick wickets to have Monas side struggling for 3-16. At this stage Sam Schembri-Green joined Lachlan Donaldson and in an exciting partnership from these two Greenies, they took the score to 54. We must remember that these youngsters were against an experienced attack on a bowler friendly wicket. Lachlan scored an excellent 33 with 6 fours and really looked the part in difficult conditions, facing a very handy attack on a tough deck. In particular I must mention our new young 20yo quick Ashwin Premkumar who took 3-14 off 5 overs
Tall, fit, athletic and strong, with a very easy action, he showed much promise in the early net trials. It was even better to see him today in full flight under match conditions and maintaining a very brisk pace throughout.
Nick Andreou in action last season
Manus Chauhan also bowled superbly for his 2-5 off 5 overs and hopefully this may be the start of a big year. Special mention must also go to two young bowlers again from the Greenies. Jaiden Gray took 2-17 off 5 overs of really promising leggies and Kartik Khetarpaul a very tall (and growing) young quick, who bowled 5 overs at a brisk pace for 0-12.A top cameo knock was also played by Prashan Seneviratne towards the end of the innings. He scored 29 and it included 2 sixes and 2 fours.
After lunch the wicket was now dry and settled and the bats relished the change. Michael Fletcher (24 ret) and Riley Behlevanas (also 24 ret) opened and set the foundation for the win. Michael in particular struck the ball beautifully for so early in the season. In strode Nick Andreou who punished anything loose for his 33 ret, with 2 sixes and 4 fours. Joining the fray came Will Calov with 25 and Manus Chauhan 19 ret, completing a good double. The bowlers deserve praise as well, with Danusha Seneviratne 1-12 off 6 and the young tall Greenie, Callum Bladen 1-9 off 4, the most successful.
It was really exciting to see a now injury free Callum bowling at a brisk pace with such accuracy. Callum missed all the Greenies games last season due to injury and is definitely one to watch this season in both Grade and Greenies, particularly as he continues growing.
Also special mention must go to our new young LA finger spinner Conor Clift, who bowled extremely well in his debut game for 0-5 off 4 overs. I am sure he will be much relieved and we will ask Michael Falk to coach and monitor his progress.
Another good performance came from Lachlan Donaldson who kept very tidily after his excellent innings and the beauty here is that he is prepared to work very hard on both his game and his fitness.
Special thanks must go to Stirling Hammon, for providing the ground and a beautiful lunch and the Club will follow this through after next weekend.
Also thank you Michael Falk for organising and umpiring all day. He also offered the players an excellent summary at the end of the game of how to improve their running between wickets and which hand to hold the bat in, whilst backing up.
Will Calov in action last season
Club coach Trevor Chappell would have endorsed these words of wisdom – thank you Michael. And thank you to the senior captains in Paddy Effeney and David Monaghan, who controlled both the bowling and batting to perfection and ensured everyone was involved all day.
One last thank you goes to all those in attendance, from the players to the supporting parents, who blended in so perfectly.
This ensured the game was played in a most enjoyable spirit and it was an absolute delight to see everyone mixing so well, throughout the day. This is the culture that the Gordon Club is promoting and it made us all so proud to see the smiling faces from both the players and supporters.
The Mandalong ground definitely promotes this atmosphere and to have a good deck and a perfect outfield in early September is a perfect start to the season – thank you Stirling.
Scores:
Monas X1: 156 all out in 40 overs: Lachlan Donaldson - 33, Prashan Seneviratne - 29, Callum Bladen - 12, Sam Schembri-Green - 10 (2nd innings Arvin Niranjan - 17, Mitch Kleem -12). Ashwin Premkumar 3-14 off 5, Manus Chauhan 2-6 off 5, Jaiden Gray 2-17 off 5, Will Calov 1-8 off 4, Paddy Effeney 1-8 off 2, Naji Haider 1-14 off 3.
Paddys X1: 5-163 off 40 overs: Nick Andreou 33 ret, Will Calov 25, Michael Fletcher 24 ret, Riley Behlevanas 24 ret, Manus Chauhan 19 ret; Danusha Seneviratne 1-12 off 6 , Callum Bladen 1-9 off 4, Shiv Rana 1-31 off 4, Conor Clift 0-5 off 4.
Teams:
Saturday 1st Sept Internal Trial at Mandalong
1)Mitch Kleem
2) Arvin Niranjan
3) Naba Haider
4) Lachlan Donaldson w/k
5) Sam Schembri-Green
6) Dave Monaghan ©
7) Shiv Rana
8) Conor Clift
9) Lachie Burrows
10) Callum Bladen
11) Danusha Seneviratne
12) Prashan Seneviratne
1) Riley Behlevanas
2) Michael Fletcher
3) Nick Andreou w/k
4) Jaiden Gray
5) Manus Chauhan
6) Will Calov
7) Ashwin Premkumar
8) Paddy Effeney ©
9) Naji Haider
10) Prahlad Iyer
11) Kartik Khetarpaul
12) Nathan Sequeira
The club is pleased to announce our new sponsor would like to offer club members, volunteers and their families a special deal for working with Century 21 Northside for their real estate needs:There offer is as follows: 
Are you interested in playing cricket with one of Sydney’s leading clubs in the Sydney premier cricket competition? 
With our English tourists returning from their winters in the UK, Tony Wilson wrote a final summary during the week, but then couldnt resist and update from their final performances. So the first part is as at 28th August for each player, followed by a quick review from Saturday 1st September performances.
Ryan Meppem (19yo) at North Petherton CC in the Somerset West England League:
Cameron New at Worthing CC in the Sussex League:
Daniel Chillingworth at Stokesley CC in the North Yorkshire/South Durham Central League.
Fraser Wilson at Rowledge CC in the Hampshire Southern Premier League:
