Port Jackson Host State 65s Tournament

Division 1 Champions - Port Jackson Red

Tournament Report from Paul Adams:

Port Jackson hosted its first State Championship from Feb 3 - 5 utilising the grounds and facilities of Randwick Petersham, Georges River and Warringah in a 12 team competition played in 3 Divisions of 4 teams. Many thanks go to those Clubs. The championship was for the o65s age group which was fought closely in each Division in a round robin format.

After the weather gods threw us a challenge on Day 1 (although all games got completed in full) Sydney turned up the heat over Day 2 and Day 3. Congratulations to the winning teams:

• Division 1 Port Jackson Red

• Division 2 Central Coast who retained the trophy

• Division 3 Central West

In Division 1 all games could have gone either way between PJ Red, Penrith, Highlands/Illawarra and the defending champions Mid North Coast and it always came down to the last 5-10 overs who was going to get over the line. Port Jackson adds the 65s title to the 60s title won in Maitland last November, they will be targeted next year as the age group standard gets better and better across NSW.

In Division 2 Central Coast came ready to defend their title and did it after a close game with Central North on day 1, coming through in a high scoring game. Southern Districts started with a convincing run chase against Macquarie Valley. With Central Coast beating Southern Districts day 2 they would retain the trophy with a last day win which they got in a tighter game with Macquarie Valley.

Port Jackson Blue competing in Division 3

In Division 3 a new trophy was being played for and on day 1 Port Jackson Blue got up in a very tight game with Hunter whereas Central West started with a strong win over Western Wildfires. On Day 2 Central West beat PJ Blue convincingly and looked to be coasting to the title. However, they had a wobble on the final day with Hunter bouncing back to beat them and PJ Blue won their final game to be in a tie on points at the top after the three games. Due to Central West being convincing winners on the first two days they deservedly took the title on Net Run Rate.

Always a team game but there were some outstanding individual performances. Sorry if any one has been missed but those that caught the eye in the scorebooks:

Division 1

P. O'Reilly scored 55 runs for Port Jackson Red (against Penrith)

H. McKay scored 56 runs for Penrith (against MNC).

G. Whitaker scored 60 runs for Highlands Illawarra (against Penrith).

Division 2

M. Burgess scored 70 runs for Central North (against the Central Coast Cyclones).

M. Burgess scored 51 runs for Central North (against Macquarie Valley).

S. Byfield took 6 wickets for 19 runs for Central Coast (against Southern Districts)).

S. Parsons took 5 wickets for 17 runs for Southern Districts (against Central North).

Division 3

S. Cox scored 53 runs for the Western Wildfire (against Hunter Taverners).

P. Smith took 5 wickets for 20 runs for Hunter (against Port Jackson Blue)).

R. Wilson took 6 wickets for 3 runs for Central West (against Port Jackson Blue).

A. Hubbard took 4 wickets for 14 runs for Central West (against Western Wildfire).

Best wishes go to Craig Cox (65s Rep at CNSW Masters) who is currently having health issues and could not be at the Tournament.

Paul Adams

Winning PJ Red Captain, Peter O'Reilly writes:

A successful 3 days Over 65 State Championship in Sydney for PJ Reds to win all 3 games and the Norm Stanton Trophy for Division 1. We were challenged in all three games but came through with discipline, effort and teamwork.

Our first match against Ken Hall's Penrith team was switched to synthetic at Heffron Park after Kensington Oval was unplayable due to overnight rain. Heffron turned out to be the WACA on steroids" with its extreme bounce on a newly laid pitch which troubled batsmen on both teams. A low scoring game, we failed to bat out our full 40 overs (my fault) to reach an unimpressive total of 119. Through good bowling, fielding and continued pressure we were able to hold Penrith to 8-103. 2 wickets each to Kevin McBride and Rob Drummond and an important run out (Lego- Poate) and consistent tidy bowling got us home by 16 runs. 

MOM Awarded to Peter O'Reilly 55 runs (57balls), 1-13 off 7.

A much improved batting performance in game 2 v Highlands/Illawara got  us to 5-191 off 40 overs at Snape Park. Building on a solid start at the top of the order, great batting intent and hard running by Mark Wilson 28* (off 35) and Mal Whittaker 21* (off 31) and then a hard hitting 32 off 24 balls by Marty Poate got us to a decent but not unbeatable score. Earlier 35 ball retirements by Drummond 32* and O'Reilly 26* helped set up the innings.

Best of our bowlers was Mal Whittaker with 2-25 off 7 overs of controlled leg spin and googlies. Again consistent and accurate bowling and good fielding across our team kept the pressure on to contain Highlands/Illawarra to 7-159 and a 32 run victory. MOM Awarded to Mal Whittaker for a great all round performance batting, bowling and fielding (including a run out).

Game 3 was against Mid North Coast Sharks at Coogee Oval, the 2025 State Titleholders. We knew we were in for a tough match especially given the extra significance of having the Michael Collins Memorial Trophy on the line. We were keen for this memorial trophy to return to PJs.

Again, after a good start with retirements by O'Reilly 35*/35 and Drummond 23*/35, our position was further enhanced through the middle and late order. Whittaker 21/31, Wilson 28*/35 again pushing hard. Poate 24/25 again with great impact. McBride 37*/33 and Greenwood 17*/14 stealing runs from the opposition and from each other to get  us to 5-211.

Our seam bowling cartel of Stu Ridge, Ross Greenwood, Paul Adams and Kevin McBride had performed well all week and again kept us in control  from the opening. While MNC were batting well and getting to retirement ball limits only for a limited time were MNC threatening our total. This was due to some fine stroke play and aggressive batting by Wayne Smoothy and Bruce Mackie. We weathered these storms to win by 29 runs. Stu Ridge best figures with 2-17 off 7 overs

MOM Awarded to Kevin McBride for his hard hitting 37*/33 and bowling efforts. (Wine to be shared with Ross!) 

Overall, a great tournament by the PJ Reds. We fielded very well as a team and kept to game plans set. Our MWs (Mark Wilson and Mal Whittaker) were outstanding in the field and between the wickets. We took the standard up a notch (or two) this year with our fitness, discipline, teamwork and effort. 

Congrats to all you State Champions.