McARDLE STARS IN PREMIER MEN FIRST-UP WIN (12 October 2024)
Three debutants, with Dylan McArdle leading the way, were largely responsible for the Premier Men starting the season with a solid win against Riccarton on Saturday. McArdle’s unbeaten 83 pathed the way for a challenging target that the Sydenham bowlers were able to defend, led by Tom Agnew’s 4-36. The Championship side nearly emulated that performance but fell just one wicket short of taking the match out at Edgar Macintosh Park.
The Premier Women and Division 1 Men didn’t carry the same success, with the women, thanks to Sam Petherick’s 5-23, doing a good job initially in restricting OBC to just under 100, but then capitulating in the run chase to lose by 24 runs. Over on Sydenham no. 3 Division 1 fell well short in its chase for an Easts target of 208.
However, most of the afternoon grades had a good start to their seasons with wins to the Div 5 All-Stars, Div 6 Tamils and both Presidents’ sides. Highlights were Rahul Mukherjee’s 4-15 and Andrew Leckie’s 84* for Hospital, and 4-16 from the Masters Cardinals Phil Walker, 5-22 from the All-Stars Jacob Koster
On the day of the side’s debut in the grade, it was a reminder of the quality of the youth Championship grade when the CBHS 1st XI comprehensively outplayed the Sydenham Youth 1st XI on Sydenham no. 1 on Sunday.
A number of the photos in this publication are also courtesy of Ash Hart’s Hartland Images.
Scott Insurance Brokers Insurance Premier Men
Sydenham’s match against Riccarton on Sydenham no. 1 was evenly balanced going into the 2nd day. Sydenham had a lead of 146 runs with four 2nd innings wickets in hand, and with the game well advanced, desperate to get the target up towards 200. Riccarton was equally keen to secure those final wickets and indeed started well, claiming Mitch Gardner’s early at 61-6 – however, the match then slipped away from them from there.
That was primarily thanks to debutant Dylan McArdle. Dylan had been the one player who had stood up in the late afternoon carnage the previous week as Riccarton had torn through the Sydenham 2nd innings top order. In a very controlled manner, he set about further resurrecting his side’s total as he pushed the lead up over 200 and his own score from the overnight 20* to eventually remain unbeaten on 83 at the close of the innings.
Dylan McArdle
But there was another young debutant that also took the eye in Northlander, Michael Robinson, a top-order batsman brought in on the second day for the unavailable Canterbury player Michael Rae. This was Michael’s first innings since a serious injury 18 months ago, and together with Dylan, they put on an invaluable 66 for the 8th wicket. With a declaration coming, Tom Agnew and Dylan quickly produced another 25 for the 9th wicket, and when the final two wickets fell, Sydenham was all out for 160, setting Riccarton 250 for the win with time not a factor.
Michael Robinson
That left Riccarton about 30 minutes to get through to lunch, but they were immediately set back losing both openers at 16-2 to the experienced Sydenham duo of Mitch Gardner and Tom Agnew – Mitch’s an excellent slip catch by Michael Robinson. It was a challenge for Riccarton from there, but Cole McConchie was looking classy and focused on the task. He had support from the likes of Jemmett and Cookson, but the runs were only coming from him as Tom, Mitch, and Dylan McArdle turned the screws on the others. Riccarton could not quite wrest the initiative from Sydenham, and then Benji Bell, the young leg spinner also making his Premier debut, claimed his second wicket, the Canterbury captain McConchie, at 102-6, it was all uphill for the batting side from there.
Tom Agnew & Benji Bell
Devon Flannery showed his talent with a fine 36 off 44 balls towards the end, just enough to deprive Sydenham of a couple of bonus points by keeping the loss just below 100 runs, with Riccarton finishing all out for 156. It had been a team bowling performance from Sydenham, with Tom Agnew taking the honours with 4-36, but with great support from Mitch (15-2-34), Benji Bell (8-2-40), Dylan McArdle (5-1-11) and Archie Goodrick (10-1-35).
A resolute Angus Jemmet finally plays on Dylan McArdle
It was a good first-up win for the home side in a match where both sides had their moments; Riccarton certainly their bowling effort late on the first day, Sydenham with the ball in both innings and just enough with the bat to escape through when the pressure came on.
Thanks to umpires Shreyash Kalyan and Kaushik Padmanaban
The side’s next match is against East Shirley at Burwood Park.
Full scoreboard & video highlights: https://live.nvplay.com/play/?tab=m_summary#m1c344cc4-9bba-436c-b1e0-d1e4186cadb3
The Birdwood Premier Women
Match report courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
Sydenham 10/69 (23.2)
OBC 10/93(28.5)
Winning the toss, Sydenham made a strong start with the ball. After allowing OBC openers through to 38 in the first 9 overs, wickets started falling with Sam Petherick pickup Abby Gerkin’s wicket, caught by Izzy Fox. This was the start of a great spell of bowling by Sam who finished the day with 5/23.
Wickets fell steadily without OBC getting away. OBC all out for 93 in the 26th over. Kate Irwin picked up 2 wickets. Beth Dodd and Lizzy Cohr a wicket each. Sydenham felt that 94 was reachable. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, with Sydenham providing catching practice to OBC, nine of Sydenham’s wickets being caught out.
Sam Petherick
Sydenham’s top 5 made a very poor start, departing for 18 runs after 7 overs. Kate Craig (36), provided some hope, showing some resistance along with cautious batting from Lizzy and Rachel Davidson. Unfortunately, it was too little too late with the team finishing up all out for 69 in the 24th over.
Scott Insurance Brokers Championship
It was a case of so near yet so far away when the Championship boys fell just one Merivale Papanui wicket short of emulating their Premier teammates’ performance earlier in the day. It had been a day that started out with Sydenham 44 runs ahead in the 2nd innings with all wickets in hand and with Nathanael Paltridge 62* and Taylor Irie 4*. Nathanael was out in the first over of the second day at the same score and it was Taylor who anchored the first half of the innings as Sydenham looked to set a target. He found good support from Eliyas Varghese (25 from 67 balls) and then Tom McDonald (32 off 66).
Taylor Irie
When Taylor was out for 55 off 132 balls, his side was handily played at 151-3, but then the early loss of Cam O’Leary and Mitch Suddaby started to cast doubts at 170-5, a lead of 148. Nathan Chin (12 off 16) and Tom got the total up to 190 before both fell in the same over at that score. The remaining batsmen eked out another 24 crucial runs, with Sydenham all out for 214.
Carl Hooper
Merivale Papanui’s run chase got off to a poor start and never really looked like threatening the Sydenham target of 183. Charlie Finnie snapped up a wicket with his second ball and then a second with the score at 9-2. When key batsman Matt Ling went with the score at 18-3, the Merivale innings had lost all momentum and struggled from there. The side’s middle order got some starts but failed to follow through and soon became a case of survival only. The final over came down to Merivale still 77 runs short with two wickets in hand. Charlie Finnie took the 9th wicket with his penultimate delivery before the no. 11 held out the final ball to achieve that draw
Sydenham’s next match is against East Shirley at Burwood Park
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/cmca-adult-summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/f3dcc925
Division 1
Match report courtesy of Richard Howe
Starting 37 runs behind on the first innings, we needed to bowl out East Shirley cheaply and quickly in order to have some control over our destiny – a run chase without too much run rate pressure. The pitch looked better than the previous week, and surely our batting would be better!
First things first. The Shirley batsmen looked reasonably assured and got off to a solid start before Isaiah Prasad got the breakthrough with them on 60. Shortly after that, memories of the previous week returned as a very good shout by Isaiah was turned down, and the batsman going on to make 95…Both spin and medium pace was struggling with the short boundary at the Southern end as “95” took on the challenge. Syd bowlers are unlucky, with a couple of tough chances missed.
Ivon Bobby
A change to spin from the northern end provided rewards, 2 down for 103, but “Mr 95” was still in play, and it was only when he was the 5th wicket down caught off Prashant Singh’s bowling (5- 163) that we started making taking real control. Two more wickets, and at 7 for 171, a lead of just over 200, East’s declared. Prashant finished with 2 wickets for 17, Isaiah Prasad 1 for 19 and Richard Howe 4 for 25.
We were reasonably confident that the run chase was achievable. The RPO was reasonable; we needed to bat positively and get some decent partnerships. We had the quality for this – we just needed to execute!
Our openers looked positive and showed good intent until their lefty swung one in, LBW, and the procession started. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, we were 7 down for 44 when Prashant was out for 19, and then 8 for 55 as Noah Jefferson’s 42-ball innings ended. 209 looked a long way away.
Andrew Reynolds
Andy Reynolds was joined by Richard Howe and the two mixed defense with attack; Andy, in particular, being very effective with his 66 ball innings, included some wonderful 6’s, Richard hit a few lusty blows but was last man out (for 28) as Sydenham finished 90 odd runs (and 30 odd minutes short)
So, bowling and fielding and general effort were all positives, batting execution definitely needs more work!
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/cmca-adult-summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/c65c168e
Division 4 Goats – LOST
Match report courtesy of Jon Bennett
The Goats arrived at Centennial 1 for the first game of the season thankful to see the crease markings so we could differentiate the pitch from the outfield. With the pitch well-grassed and damp, so, upon winning the toss, we had no hesitation in asking the Royal Challengers to bat first. Paddy Wicks immediately created a chance with a ball lobbed up to gully but unfortunately this was put down. Their openers then batted solidly against the openers, looking in little trouble and with the pitch playing much better than it looked. A bowling change got the breakthrough with Jessie Marks getting the wicket in his first over. This brought their classy number 3 to the crease who again looked in no trouble and Marist worked their way to 95-1 at the 20 over break. Chris Douglas finally got the breakthrough having their opener LBW and from then on wickets fell regularly. After going for 12 in his first over Olly Philpot spun a spell on their batsman picking up 3-15 and combined with Chris and Jessies 3 wickets each Marist were bowled out for 170. The dropped catch in the first over was a key play as that openers 40 runs proved vital to their innings.
We headed out to bat confident that 171 was quite chaseable on a pitch getting better through the day. However, at 4-26 in the 8th over, we were immediately on the back foot. George Wigley joined Tony Dannenberg who had been watching the carnage from the non strikers end and they started to rebuild the innings. They put on a partnership of 47 before Tony was LBW to a ball which rolled along the ground. Wickets continued to fall, as no one could stay to support George, and when he was 9th out for 41 with the score at 100 it looked all over. However Chris and Jon put on 36 for the final wicket to give some hope until Jon was bowled leaving Chris 22no.
A disappointing result in a game we could have won. We played like a team in its first game of the year and will only get better from here
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/cmca-adult-summer-202425/mens-division-4/game-centre/9fec35df
Division 5 All-Stars – WON
Match report courtesy of Abe Atherton
The Division 5 Sydenham Allstars kicked off their 2024/25 campaign in dramatic fashion, clinching a 1-run win against OBC SNCC at Centennial Park #2. OBC won the toss and elected to bowl first, setting the stage for a strong start from Sydenham’s openers, J Koster and J Ward. The pair batted positively, quickly establishing a 30-run opening partnership before Ward was dismissed. Koster continued to build momentum, striking boundaries with ease and keeping the scoreboard ticking alongside B Nixon. Their partnership crossed the 50-run mark before Koster was eventually dismissed for an impressive 43 off 40 balls. Nixon played a supporting role with a valuable 16.
Despite regular wickets falling through the middle order, the Allstars continued to accumulate runs. Lower-order contributions proved crucial, particularly from S Senarathna (15), but it was C Barnsley who anchored the innings. Batting at number 7, Barnsley, after a slow start, unleashed a series of powerful strikes to finish unbeaten on 34 off 49 deliveries. The Allstars were eventually bowled out for 172 in the 26th over.
Sumedha Senaratha
Chasing 173, OBC SNCC faced a challenging target, but with their reputation for taking games down to the wire, the match was far from over. Sydenham’s bowlers struggled initially, with A Atherton unable to claim any wickets in his opening spell. M Flowerday broke through with a high catch taken by keeper J Ward, but it was J Koster who turned the game in Sydenham’s favour. Coming into the attack, Koster immediately struck, taking two wickets in his opening over. His control over swing, line, and length baffled OBC’s batters as he tore through the lineup, finishing with sensational figures of 5 for 22. J Ungerer, making his debut for the Allstars, provided a standout moment after the drinks break, capturing his first wicket with what was hailed as ‘the ball of the century,’ taking out a key player.
Despite Sydenham’s dominance, OBC SNCC refused to give up. With 13 overs remaining and OBC 8 down for 133, their in-form batsman launched a counterattack, smashing boundaries and bringing the game dangerously close. The score crept to 146 before another breakthrough brought the Allstars within reach of victory. However, the in-form batter kept fighting, guiding the number 11 and taking the game to the brink, with just two runs required for OBC to win. In a tense finale, Ward bowled a delivery outside off, tempting the batter into a slash. J Ungerer raced to take a spectacular catch, sealing the victory for the Sydenham Allstars by a single run. It was a thrilling contest to open the season, with Sydenham’s resilience, especially from Koster and Barnsley, making the difference in a nail-biting finish.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/cmca-adult-summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/150dbdeb
Division 6 Tamils XI– WON
Match report courtesy of Chid Palaniappan
Tamil XI vs Hornby Hawks @ Barrington Park-1. Hornby won the toss and asked Tamil XI to bat taking advantage of the green pitch conditions. Tamil XI struggled early, losing a couple of wickets. Then Monty (33) & Gopi (11) steadied the innings with Monty showing some aggressive power hitting & Gopi compensating him on the other end. However, the momentum swung back to Hornby, with wickets falling quickly. Chidu (15) & Niranjan (32) stabilised the innings again. Despite their efforts, team could only put up 10-113 in 33 overs.
Vignesh Balan
Defending the modest target of 114. Energised by the captain’s rallying call for battle. The Tamil XI begin their innings with determination putting pressure on Hornby from the beginning. Chidu (1-15/4.0) & David (2-14/5.0) restricted Hornby with the beginning spell. Vicky (2-14/5.0) & Kella (3-15/3.5) continued to put pressure on the batsmen with their tight spell as well. Niranjan (0-20/5.0) & Jags (2-11/5.0) continued the pressure. With that Tamil XI had restricted Hornby for 10-92 in 27.5 overs. – Player of the match: Niranjan – Special callouts: Jag’s 2 catches. Kella’s LBW of the long-standing batsman.
Conclusion: Tamil XI had begun the season with a win & a great cricket spirit.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/cmca-adult-summer-202425/mens-division-6/game-centre/bb6a3d84
Cavaliers Cardinals – LOST
Match report courtesy of Ben Larter
Sydenham T20 Cardinals vs St Albans Fozzies Barrington 2
Rocked up to great weather lush green outfield/pitch, won the toss and elected to bat first as is the Cardinals way. Playing last year’s winners, we were there for the beers, BBQ and punishing chat.
The pitch while the same colour as the rest of the field actually played well. Our normal dou-bro batting order was done. Can #9 has now been retired and relabelled simply as Cam. The first picks hid themselves from 3-6 leaving Kezza & Larts to open up. Larts was there for a good time not a long time and departed for a quick 10 (8) while Kezza anchored the innings retiring on 43* off 50 in the 19th over. Geo 25 (33), Woolfy 16 (14), and Stokesy 19* (12). Special mention also to Smitty for his energetic running to push Stokesy and score 17 valuable runs off the final over. Final score 121/3. Considering the quality of the opposition and the lush outfield this wasn’t a bad total in the end.
Jamie Livingstone
Typically, their top order came out playing quality attacking cricket. Generally, our guys bowled well, with Woolfy setting a trap with a full toss for AB to take a great swirling catch at mid-off to remove the opener E Stewart for a duck. The other opener J Stewart 21 (23) scored quickly but was caught by Geo off Smitty. This brought Shanan Stewart to the crease who showed his class and scored an almost chanceless 37* (32). Their skipper Atkinson scored an aggressive 46* (27) after Larts dropped a tough C&B early. Tight bowling midway from Kezza & Geo brought us back into the game and they need 21 off the last 3. A tough, high-swirling running back catch in the last over just eluded our grasp and would have put us in the box seat if taken. Their innings ebbed and flowed and we were in it right up until the last over when they knocked our total off with 3 balls to spare 3 down. The game was played in excellent spirits and the boys still had a great day out.
MVP to Macca who drove in from Rangiora to deliver the new seasons custom scorebook support and cook some BBQ! Big thank you also to those that all stopped in during the day to support. Cammo also asked that we make sure to mention that he did play this game despite not registering on the batting, bowling or catches.
Masters Cardinals – WON
Match report courtesy of Brenden Winder
We started the season at Bradford Park vs a new team (Marist Harewood) in the Grade – but many familiar faces from the old ES Strikers. Marist Harewood won the toss and inserted us on a grassy but firm deck in the middle of an enormous and lush outfield. Boundaries would be hard to come by.
Mathews and Wild opened. Getting away to a quick start before Wildy fell to tight bowling that would be a feature of the day. O’Connell joined Mathews and settled into a steady partnership as we all eyed drinks as the natural reassessment point. Unfortunately, we ended up 4/45 before we had our lemonades as batsmen fell to a mix of good bowling, safe fielding and some early season rust.
Chris departed not long after drinks for a well-made (top score) 25 and at stages it looked 75 would be beyond us – but some dogged defense, sensible running and a few slogs got us to 93 and a total we could defend.
They started the chase slowly but without chances. We had to be patient- and it paid off. The ball was swinging and the variable bounce was now our ally and inspired bowling changes from the Skipper keep the pressure on as wickets fell. Phil took four, Ken was lethal and deserved more and others chipped in to make the chase seem much bigger than 93. At drinks we had them on the back foot. Paul R and Anak took good catches, Jules made some telling fielding contributions and Stumps was next level with the gloves on. Flem had an unusual wicket less day but kept them tied down. We completed the game with about 5 overs to spare and a four-wicket bag for MOM Phil Weapon Walker who had the last batsman out caught in a snare that is legitimately an early contender for catch of the year in gully by – who else? Flem diving away to his right and grabbing the ball inches above the deck. Flem gets the Jules Trophy. The Frampton Shield stays with us. Game played in good spirits and a quiet beer enjoyed afterwards.
Gail again an unsung super star with her scoring and coaching tips.
Masters Hospital – WON
Match report courtesy of Bruce Day
Hospital played Lancaster Park first up this season, it was supposed to be at Lancaster Park, but the pitch was flooded from overnight watering. Transferred to Ferrymead, which most of us didn’t know existed. Park batted first and were soon in trouble with great bowling from Rahul and Frank. Only their opener, Dowds, looked comfortable and ended up with 97 not out from a total of 140. Rahul ended with 4 wickets and Frank 2 for 5 from his 4 opening overs. Sydenham got the runs comfortably, losing just 2 wickets with openers Andrew Leckie and Mark Crawford getting an opening stand of 111, Andrew finishing on 84 not out and Mark 39.
First XI – LOST
Match report courtesy of Andy Winsor
Sydenham Youth 1st XI were taking on Christchurch Boys 1st XI on their first game in the Championship, on Sydenham Park 1.
The weather on the day was overcast with occasional showers in the morning, resulting in the covers being left on and a delayed start of 11am. On uncovering the wicket, it looked green and a good toss to win, which thankfully was the case; Sydenham asked CBHS to bat first in difficult-looking conditions. As it played out, the opening attack was good, but were a little unlucky a number of times not to get a wicket or two and CBHS went past the 50 mark for 0. In fact, the first wicket didn’t fall until the 15th over when CBHS were 59-1. This soon became 87-3 and it felt like we had a game on when the 4th wicket fell for 108. However, the next partnership steadied and accelerated to add another 108 to leave CBHS on 216-5 in a strong position. A final score of 280 looking challenging for Sydenham. 2 wickets for Noah Dean on his debut and good figures of 42-1 from Cadell Durdin and 44-1 from Henry Hood the highlights.
Cadell Durdin
So, 280 was required at over five an over; Sydenham got off to a dreadful start and were 11-3 off the first 8 overs, with some excellent new ball bowling by CBHS, particularly Ben Forrest, who looked a real threat in his opening six overs. Steadying the innings was now the key, and the next wicket didn’t fall until the score hit 50, with Conway Andrews and Freddie Winsor batting well together. The Sydenham batting lineup, always under pressure against a well-drilled CBHS team, folded for 85 off 35 overs, a commendable 32 for Conway Andrews on his official debut and 18 for Josh Chapman but little else.
Freddie Winsor
It was a tough day. CBHS were strong in the field and, off the back of a week in Sydney, had their game tactics tweaked to perfection (under the watchful eye of a former NZ cricket coach), but there were signs of promise with the ball and some with the bat for Sydenham. It is a tough ask to meet probably the best team for the first game, but that’s the level we are now at. So, onto a doubleheader next weekend with Bede’s and STAC.
The worm for anyone interested shown below.
Full scoreboard & video highlights : https://live.nvplay.com/play/?tab=m_scorecard#mb19ff2d6-43b0-4094-abc4-a1944a50ddcd
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