LEGEND – 25 JANUARY 2025
Tom Agnew had another of his many career big wicket hauls when he stepped down to assist the Championship side on Saturday and took the club’s season’s best figures of 7-23. However, despite bowling Merivale Papanui out for a paltry 69, the home side failed to finish off the match, falling seven runs short of their target. It was little better elsewhere in the morning grade as the 2025 malaise continued; the Premier Men went down by 71 runs at Riccarton Domain, the Prem Women by six wickets against North West Women in the 40-over competition, and despite making a good fist of chasing down 294, the Division 1 side also fell short at Burwood Park.
Tom Agnew
In the afternoon grades, the Division 4 Goats made it five in a row, with Ollie Phillpott’s standout all-around performance of 5-17 in the St Albans innings and a 42. Likewise, the Division 5 All-Stars had an excellent effort from skipper Abe Atherton to thank for their win, backing up a 4-29 with an unbeaten 14 with bat that saw his side home in a low-scoring match.
Some of the photos in this publication are also courtesy of Ash Hart’s Hartland Images.
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Sydenham’s frustrations in the 1-Day competition continued on Saturday when they played Riccarton on Riccarton Domain. It proved to be a match where they did good work to get into strong positions with both bat and ball but then let both slip away.
Sydenham won the toss on a fine-looking and well-grassed wicket and, with their bowling ranks boosted by the availability of Michae Rae, asked Riccarton to bat first. They had early success with a wicket in Michael’s first over at 1-1. But the wicket was playing well, and the outfield leaving little chance to chase down anything well struck, Riccarton recovered the score to 39. Micheal’s second wicket was followed by one from Matt Rowe, who, although not yet operating at 100 per cent, has been bowling well in his recent return to club cricket.
Shreyas Debur misjudges the pull off Matt Rowe.
Unfortunately, Shreyas Debur, who had been batting well, missed an attempted pull shot off Matt’s bowling, was struck on the helmet and had to leave the field. When Ryan James picked up the fourth wicket at 4-52 in the 13th over, Riccarton was at risk, but Debur’s return to the field after a few overs off produced a partnership with Jemmett that steadied the ship again as the pair put on 79 for the fifth wicket. Srirah Harish broke that partnership, and Matt Rowe picked up his second to rebalance at 143-6.
Fresh out of school and following on from the U19 competition, Makenzie Thomson was making his Premier debut in the match. The slow left-arm chinaman bowler had started well, grew in confidence and then took his first wicket at 145-7, then his second in the following over, leaving Riccarton vulnerably placed at 155-8.
Makenzie Thomson
It was a key point in the match where Sydenham was unable to make the final decisive breakthrough, and Lachie Jemmett and Debur batted their side back into the match with a 34-run partnership, followed by another of 27, that took their side through to 215 before Mitch Gardner claimed the last wicket in the final over.
Although certainly back in the match, it should have been a very gettable total in the excellent batting conditions at Riccarton Domain. All of the Sydenham bowlers had done well to contain, with Michael Rae [10-2-35] and Matt Rowe [7-2-30] impressing in the opening overs, but with credit also going to young Makenzie with his maiden ten overs of 2-49. The only real disappointment of the bowling performance was the injury to Ryan James off the final ball of his spell, which saw him off to the medical clinic and out of the match.
The loss of the opening batsmen saw an order reshuffle and then the early loss of Matt McCall at 12-1. The second wicket fell in the 10th over at 42-2, bringing a couple of form players together in Ryan Wallace and Aarush Bhagwat. The pair batted with a lot of control for the next 12 overs, and by the 22nd over at 110-2, the match wasn’t won, but it was Sydenham’s to lose.
Ryan Wallace
Unfortunately, that’s precisely what happened as the innings unwound quickly. Ryan was out at that score for 43 off 71 balls, and then in the 25th, successive wickets saw the score slump to 115-5. Worse came three overs later when Aarush was also gone for another fine half-century. From there, the only notable score was a 15 off 18 balls from Matt Rowe as the Sydenham innings faltered further and died at 144-9. To be fair, there had been a couple of critical unlucky dismissals, but nonetheless, it was a disappointing final session and end to the match for the visitors.
Aarush Bhagwat
Riccarton had won comfortably by 71 runs and certainly showed the fight in the match at the right times to do so deservedly, but for Sydenham, it was very much a match that they let get away from them, perhaps twice.
Thanks to umpires Mark Wood and Scotty Maher
Now well out of 1-Day contention, the side’s next match is against East Shirley at Sydenham.
The Birdwood Premier Women
Match report courtesy of Linda Pettigrew
Sydenham played North West Women on Sydenham Park 1. This week we welcomed Morgan Smith from Selwyn Wahine to the team for her Premier Women debut. Morgan did really well, especially with her bowling. North West won the toss and elected to bowl first on a warm day at Sydenham Park. Sydenham opened cautiously to end NW’s opening spell one down, with Rachel Davidson holding her end in the face of some very good bowling. After a few wobbles Izzy Fox (45) was joined at the crease by Kate Craig (41*) to build a 56 run partnership to form the core of a reasonable total. With contributions by Shizuka Miyaji (10), Sydenham ended the 40 overs on 135.
Kate Craig
The day was considerably warmer when Sydenham took the field to defend. Boadicea Lynch and Charlotte opened the bowling with some good tight lines, with pressure bringing the first wicket in the eighth over. A smart run out by Julia Manton followed shortly after to bring NW to 2-28.
Sydenham’s bowlers could be disappointed by a lack of wickets for their efforts as they bowled really well, with great economy rates. Charlotte was the best of the bowlers with 2-28
Morgan Smith on debut
All in all, NW’s innings followed a similar pattern to Sydenham, with two players scoring the majority of the runs. Unfortunately, we weren’t on the winning side this time, having just opened up the lower order when the total was chased in the 33rd over.
Thanks to umpires Altamash Askai and Robert Hill
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There wasn’t much more Tom Agnew could do when he had the opportunity to step down and assist the Championship side in their match against second-placed Merivale Papanui on Sydenham 3. It proved to be a short-lived match highlighted by Tom’s magnificent 7-23 and then an unfortunate capitulation by his batting side that failed to chase down a meagre total.
Tom Agnew
The match couldn’t have started better for the home side, winning the toss and asking Merivale Papanui to bat first. The opening bowlers started well – Charlie Finnie with two wides, but then a wicket in his opening over, as did Tom in his first. A small recovery to 30-2 by the 5th over, then saw the carnage start as Tom took three more in his third over, and at 32-5, the Merivale Papanui’s innings faltered from there. Both bowlers picked up more wickets to 40-7; Archie Goodrick, the only other bowler to be used, then claimed another, as Merivale was eventually bowled out for just 69. Tom finished with outstanding figures of 7-23 from his seven overs, but Charlie Finnie was equally impressive with his 2-22 off five.
Bowler Charlie Finnie celebrates
Although conceding 27 wides, especially in such a small total, was a concern, a solid pre-match warm-up saw some good-quality fielding, and Mitchel Suddaby’s work behind the stumps was top-class, including his quick thinking in stumping key batsman Ling when standing up to Tom Agnew.
Akshan Gulati
The Merivale batting had been poor, but the home side’s proved worse. They started slowly, as they could well afford to do, but then lost successive wickets in the 5th over at 8-2. Indeed, over the next seven overs, three of them had pairs of successive wickets, and with few runs being earned, the side was on its knees at 44-9 in the 18th over. But recognising run rate was never the problem, the two Prem bowlers Tom and Archie Goodrick set about saving the match. They undoubtedly had both sides on tenterhooks at 63-9, requiring just seven runs for the win. But then an aggressive Agnew drive was well caught by Gillespie at cover, and the match was lost – Tom out for 12 off 18 balls and Archie unbeaten on 13 from the same number.
Thanks to umpires Dave Stuthridge and especially young Alan Hill, who was standing in his first adult men’s Metro match
The boy’s next match is at Burwood Park against East Shirley.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/8fb24cd5
Division 1
Match report courtesy of Matt Bell
Division One played at Burwood no. 2 ground at Shirley against East Tridents who won the toss and decided to bat first. Sydenham got off to a great start with Isaiah Prasad (3/64 off 9 overs) rattling the stumps to pick up an early wicket, At the other end Carl Hooper (0/29 off 9 overs) bowled a beautiful opening spell to consistently beat the bat and trouble the batters without any reward. The Tridents batters negotiated the new ball well picking off boundaries on the small ground to keep the scoreboard ticking over nicely to be 130/2 after 23 overs.
Nadun Seneviratne (1/41 off 8 overs) put together an excellent 6 over spell to stem the flow of runs and pick up an important wicket after drinks but it was hard to contain the Trident batters as when they decided to take on the small boundaries they seemed to make great connection consistently and accelerated their innings nicely in the last 10 overs to finish on 7/294 from their 45 overs. Ajith Shetty (3/61 off 8) bowled some handy overs in 3 spells throughout the innings from both ends and was rewarded with some late wickets for his efforts. It was a solid effort from the team and if you take away the 36 extras of which 30 were wides then it would have been only a 250 chase.
Chasing the target down was going to require a good solid start with the bat and unfortunately the team lost Freddie Winsor early and were really under pressure by some excellent new ball bowling of left arm swing from Brijesh Patel and genuine pace and bounce from Sunil Patel. When the spinners came on it was time to counter attack and Matt Bell (41 off 51) and Todd Ward (14 off 22) started to turn things around nicely. This set the tone for the rest of the innings as the middle order showed great intent with Ajith Shetty (55 off 69), Nadun (37 off 26), Gaurav Jadhav (46 off 50), Conway Andrews (27 off 18) and Carl Hooper (14 off11) to keep the team in the hunt to chase the Tridents score down. In the end, the team fell short by 44 runs and were bowled out in the last over for 250. It was a competitive game played in the right spirit and the team can be proud of their efforts on and off the field.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/77e3b0ea
Division 4 Goats – WON
Match report courtesy of Chris Douglas
Sydenham took on St Albans Buccaneers at Barrington Park. The Goats were struck down by sickness this week, missing three key players who had succumbed to the flu. Not to mention another being away at a wedding (hefty fine coming for that one, sorry Joe). Unfortunately, one of the weak immune systems belonged to Captain Jon Bennett. This left Ollie Philpott to handle some extra responsibilities, handle them he did as he put together one of the more impressive all-around performances this season.
We lost the toss, were sent into bat, and quickly found ourselves 10-3 in the early overs. Fortunately, Geordie Dann 39(38) and Kyle Clark 20 (30) put on a 55-run partnership for the 4th wicket, including some large 6s from both ends. After the partnership was broken, we lost three more wickets for six runs and found ourselves in a bit of a hole at 71/6. Thankfully, stand-in skipper Ollie Philpott, 42(49), rescued us from a subpar score. Very well supported by fill-in Noah 14(50), the pair had a partnership of 53 and set us up to eventually be all out for 142 in the 38th over. Probably a few short of where we wanted to be but always defendable with our bowling attack.
St Albans came out to bat intent on chasing down the total as quickly as possible and scored a quick 40 odd off the early overs. With the score at 41-1 Ollie decided it was time for his lethal leg spin, he proceeded to tear apart the St Albans lineup and finish his spell with figures of 5/17 off eight overs. A good fielding display, great catching and sharp keeping with Kyle Clark taking two catches and a stumping saw the Goats stem the runs and at 7-74 we were well in control. Their tail dawdled around for a while but were finally all dismissed in the 30th over for 99. O. Philpott 5/17, C. Douglas 4/24, G. Wigley 1/13
Another win for the Goats as we extend our streak to 5 in a row.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-4/game-centre/9831ec7a
Division 5 All-Stars – WON
Match report courtesy of Abe Atherton
The Sydenham Allstars clinched a thrilling 2-wicket victory over the Marist Harewood Purple Goannas in a closely contested match at Bradford Park #1. Winning the toss, the Allstars opted to field. Their bowlers dominated early, led by M Flowerday and A Atherton, with Atherton securing an early breakthrough courtesy of a sharp catch by T Elliott. J McCormick’s direct-hit run-out piled on the pressure, reducing the Purple Goannas to a shaky start. J Koster made another critical breakthrough, dismissing a key batter with a sharp catch by J Ungerer. T Elliott and C Hatcher tightened the screws in the middle overs, combining for three wickets and keeping runs at a premium.
Mark Flowerday
Atherton returned for a second spell, claiming three wickets despite conceding 13 runs from his four overs—an expensive outing on an otherwise low-scoring day. Flowerday wrapped up the innings by dismissing the final batter, restricting the Purple Goannas to 90 all out in 36 overs. M Flowerday: 5.4-2-8-1; J Koster: 5-0-7-1; T Elliott: 5-1-9-2; C Hatcher: 8-2-22-2; A Atherton: 8-1-29-4; J McCormick: 4-2-12-0. Notable Fielding Efforts: Catches by T Elliott, J Ward, J Ungerer, and B Nixon.
Jaedyn Ward
Chasing a modest target of 91, the Allstars got off to a brisk start with J Ward scoring 15 off 13 balls before falling to a spectacular catch in the 3rd over. J Koster (16 off 22) and T Elliott (30 off 51) carried the momentum, propelling the score to 55/2 in 10 overs. However, a sudden collapse saw the Allstars lose 6 wickets for just 11 runs, including four ducks, leaving them teetering at 66/8. Elliott’s dismissal ended a valiant innings as the Purple Goannas sensed victory.
Tom Elliott
Enter A Atherton and J McCormick. The pair steadied the ship with cautious play, grinding out singles and running quick byes. Slowly but surely, they chipped away at the target. With 14 runs needed, the duo capitalized on loose deliveries, culminating in Atherton hitting the winning shot over mid-off. McCormick’s jubilant celebration underscored the significance of the hard-fought victory.
J Ward: 15 (13), T Elliott: 30 (51), J Koster: 16 (22), A Atherton: 14 (23)*, J McCormick: 7 (22)*
The Sydenham Allstars achieved the target of 91 in 27 overs, securing a dramatic 2-wicket win and breaking their losing streak. This victory was a testament to the team’s resilience under pressure.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/e913050e
Division 5 Tamils XI– LOST
Match report courtesy of Chidambaram Palaniappan
We played against OBC at Centennial 2. After winning the toss, OBC elected to field first. Our batting started strong, with only one wicket down for 90 runs in the first 20 overs. Arun Ravindranathan played another brilliant knock, scoring 62 runs, with solid support from Arun Velusamy, who added 41 runs. Both players maintained composure, built a solid partnership, and provided a strong platform for the innings. Towards the end, John Immanuel’s crucial knock of 38* propelled our total to 198/6, with valuable contributions from Jagannath Radhakrishnan, who chipped in with 16 runs.
Our bowling began well, dismissing one of their openers cheaply, followed by another quick wicket. Scoring wasn’t easy for OBC, and they were 70/2 at the break. However, a couple of their batters swung freely and managed to add 60 runs in the next 10 overs. With approximately 60 runs needed off the last 10 overs, their captain focused on rotating the strike, even as wickets fell from the other end. The game became intense, with OBC needing a run a ball in the last five overs.
The match went down to the wire, with OBC requiring two runs off the last two balls. A leg bye to fine leg sealed their victory on the penultimate ball. Except for the extras, the bowlers did a decent job. Niranjan Mani claimed 3 wickets for 42 runs in his 8 overs, while Arun Ravindranathan bowled brilliantly to take 3 wickets for just 26 runs. Ashok and Chidambaram each chipped in with a wicket – it had been a thrilling game fought hard until the very end.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5/game-centre/dec93b3e
Cavaliers Cardinals – BYE
Bye week for the Cardinals
Masters Cardinals – LOST
Match report courtesy of Chris O’Connell
Sydenham took on Sumner at Barnett Park in lovely conditions down at Barnett Park. Due to the struggling numbers, both sides included some youngsters. The Sumner innings got off to a flyer at one end, with Vann taking it to O’Connell. At the other end we had the long-awaited return of Clem Gibbens who got into his work admirably and had the early wickets of the other opener Beveridge and JC with a sharp catch in the slips. Vik joined Vann and a very quick scoring partnership of 124 before junior Wild. Vann continued to score at a good rate although the bowling was a lot better after drinks by the Cardinal attack. Vann was eventually out with his second hundred in 3 weeks aff 80 balls for 112.
Vann was dismissed at the team score of 194. Positive batting continued and the return of Clem. Who at one point was sitting on a hat trick. He finished with the excellent figures of 4-37 so close to getting a rare five for. The total was very good 259/7 off 40 overs.
A good start from the Cardinals after Wild was bowled early in the piece. McKay and Walker came together and played positively. Walker was looking good until a misunderstanding saw him run out for 32. The run rate was steadily climbing with the Cardinals 79/3 at drinks which was well behind where they needed to be. The Summer bowling was tight and difficult to get a way and we lost crucial wickets with O’Connell running out of partners and Cardinals running out of overs. A youngster playing for Sumner Taylor Collins finished with excellent figures of 4/37. The Cardinals were dismissed well short on 188 which was 71 runs short.
Man of the Match for us was Clem Gibbens for his excellent bowling and four wicket bag. It was an enjoyable day of cricket played in good spirits. Sumner were the better side on the day and deserved the victory.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters/game-centre/dd9a151f
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