 Congratulations to Beau and Nicho
While the NSW players celebrated their win on Wednesday at the SCG, Simon Katich thanked all of the players who had contributed to the NSW season prior to the availability of their Australian representatives. One of those of course was Matt Nicholson, an unsung hero of the season who not only took valuable wickets when needed, but also scored a number of runs including a century.
(Beau Casson in action)
Matt decided to retire from Australian first class cricket after the final round of the season and finished this year with 18 wickets at 29.61 and an economy rate of 2.81. He also scored 301 runs at an average of 43, which is very helpful for a number 9 batsman in Pura Cup cricket.
Our other Gordon representative Beau Casson has had an excellent year after initially playing for the injured Stuart MacGill and then playing with him in the last two rounds. Beau finished with 29 wickets from 9 matches at 35.13 and an economy rate of 3.26. What was equally impressive though has been Beau’s batting. Here is a player that has proven that when you work at your game you can succeed and his devotion to practice and skill development saw him score 485 runs at an average of 60.62.
 While everyone (rightly so) is talking about the performances of Simon Katich and the Test players in the final, Beau has played two very important innings for his team. His 17 in the first innings came when the score was 5 for 189 and helped take it to 240 with Brad Haddin. Then in the second innings his 89 came while the team put on 207 runs to end the chances of Victoria in the match. A slip up at 5 for 324 with the bowlers to follow would have given the final a very interesting finish.
(Matt Nicholson who took 4 for 12 off 10 on Saturday for Gordon)
While Beau might have been disappointed inside about not bowling in the first innings he certainly didn’t show it with an end of day comment that it was a privilege to play with the NSW players.
Simon Katich had dealt the perfect set of cards by using his Test bowlers in the first innings and then allowing Beau to bowl 27 overs unchanged on the last day.
While his 4 wickets in the context of the match didn’t affect who won the Cup, they showed his ability to bowl long spells and kept the batsman guessing at all times. I am sure Stuart MacGIll was pleased to have a spinning partner with him.
For the historians, Beau’s 89 in the second innings when he shared a record 7th wicket partnership with Brett Lee of 176 - is the highest score by a Gordon player in an Australian domestic first class decider.
The previous highest score by a Gordon player in a final was Phil Emery's 62 in the first innings against Victoria at the MCG in 1990/91, when NSW lost by 8 wickets.
We look forward to the semi final against Sydney University this weekend.
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