Wanderers Cricket - Round 5 Wrap

November 15th / 16th, 2025.

The summer of cricket is heating up - it's Ashes week!

No doubt cricket fans across the country are well aware that Australia's first test in the mens' Ashes series - versus arch-rival England - kicks off in Perth on Friday, at 1:20pm AEST - prime time viewing for those on the east coast for the weekend. How good??

Whilst this series promises to be electric (as always!), the electricity started a few days early with a lightning storm passing across Sydney's inner west on Saturday afternoon, do doubt ruining a few games of junior (and senior) cricket! Read on below for our weekly reports of the matches that were able to be completed!

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Around The Grounds: Highlights & Match Reports

Performance of the Round

Flynn Sawers (U12 White) - 52* off 44 balls, 12x fours. Flynn has appeared in the weekly LW highlights list every week since the start of this season, but this week he's taken his batting one step further with his first career half century - congratulations Flynn! Honour Roll

Highlights

• Gus Blackley (U17 Black) - 105 (off 52), 6x fours, 9x sixes Honour Roll

• Kai Guelfi (U17 Black) - 3 for 21 (off 3); 1x run-out

• Aabir Das (U17 Black) - 3 for 33 (off 5.4)

• Bede Russell (U17 Black) - 48 (off 31); 3x fours, 4x sixes; 2 for 33 (6 overs); 1x catch

• Dara O'Driscoll (U17 White) - 51* (off 63), 2x fours Honour Roll

• Emily Moore (U13 Girls) - 25* (off 54), 4x fours

• James Ayre (U13 Black) - 43 (off 34), 7x fours

• Bowie Shemmell (U15 White) - 30 (off 51), 4x fours

• Ronav Auti (U15 Black) - 40* (off 30), 5x fours, 1x six

• Nevaan Singh (U15 Black) - 39* (off 26), 7x fours; 1 for 14 (off 4)

• Kurtis Mead (U13 White) - 41 (off 40), 7x fours

• Oliver Stoddart (U13 White) - 31 (off 25), 6x fours

• Archer Hudson (U13 White) - 3 for 19 (off 4)

• John O'Connell (U12 Red) - 31* (off 40), 3x fours; 1 for 15 (off 4)

• Archie Buckley (U11 Red) - 34 (off 18), 7x fours

• Finn Gadsby (U11 White) - 36 (off 30), 6x fours; 2 for 21 (off 42); 1x catch

• Reuban Garber (U10 White) - 4 for 3 (off 2) Honour Roll

Match Reports

U8 Black - LWCC (202) def. RHH Pirates Pearls (69)

U8s Black for the win! Remaining undefeated - 202 v 69.

Great performance! Probably the most boundaries (fours & sixes) and wickets when bowling of any game so far.

Seeing them like beach balls!

U9 Black - LWCC (50) def. by Iron Cove Siberian Tigers (101)

The U9s Blacks had a great game against the Iron Cove Siberian Tigers on Saturday.

Despite the Tigers prevailing 101-50, the Blacks delivered a strong performance as they continue to build their skills in their first season of cricket. The Blacks fielded first and took one wicket, a cracking ball by Jack. And then Ethan (13 runs) and Donald (12 runs) had a great knock with the bat. Well done to the team!

U10 Black - LWCC (143) def. RHH Pirates Black Beards (133)

U10 Black had another strong win this weekend against Ryde Hunters Hill Pirates. Leichhardt won the toss and chose to bowl first. Luca H took the first wicket of the game with a run out off his own bowling. Soon after, Xavier H claimed his first wicket with an excellent delivery that knocked over the middle stump. Leon H picked up another wicket to add to his tally, and four balls later Frank J claimed one of his own. Luca H then produced his second run out off his own bowling, showing real skill. Xavier H collected his second wicket, and Jake W followed with two more in the next over. Aadhi P bowled very well and was unlucky not to take a wicket, showing clear improvement from last week. Evan H finished the innings by taking the final wicket, wrapping up a great first 20 overs.

Aadhi P and Leon H opened the batting, with Aadhi scoring his career best by playing technical shots and finding the gaps with ease. Rafael M and Luca H then scored 14 and 15, respectively, which lifted the team’s total. After that, Evan H and Frank J strode to the crease and formed a partnership that even Australia’s Test selectors would analyse closely. With the team up by 10 runs, they were given one instruction: "do not get out". I expected they might fall once or twice, but they survived four overs without losing a wicket.

There were standout performances from Luca H, Rafael M and Evan H, but the unanimous player of the match was Aadhi P. A great win for U10 Black, and hopefully many more to come.

U10 Red - LWCC (134) def. RHH Pirates Buccaneers (98)

What a win for the mighty U10 Red!

A big crowd packed into the home of cricket, Blackmore Oval, to watch the much-anticipated top-of-the-table clash between two undefeated teams. And the game absolutely delivered!

Captain Jack T won the toss and chose to bat, leading from the front in a strong and attacking opening partnership with Will, with both boys finding the boundary early. At number three, Luca exploded into action, smashing 24 from just 13 balls, including four boundaries, a brilliant innings that really lifted the team.

Our middle order of Henry, Jack E, and Jude kept the momentum going, playing smart cricket against a very strong Hunters Hill bowling attack. To finish off, Spencer and Lucy ran superbly between the wickets, before Krish launched three boundaries to cap off an excellent team batting performance.

Our bowling start couldn’t have been better. On the first ball of the innings, Spencer bowling their opening batsman for a golden duck! From there, Henry, Krish, Jude, and Lucy kept things incredibly tight, making run scoring difficult for the opposition.

In a huge moment, Will fired in a brilliant direct hit run out from the square-leg boundary and later followed up with a wicket of his own to put us firmly on top at the break.

The second half of the innings was just as strong. Jack T, Luca, and Jack E all picked up wickets, with Will, now wicket-keeping, taking a sharp catch behind the stumps.

From batting to bowling to fielding, this was the most complete team performance of the season, played against a very skilled opposition. Every player contributed, and the energy in the field was outstanding.

This week, Player-of-the-Mach could have gone to several players, but was awarded to Will for his brilliant all-round display: batting, bowling, fielding, and wicket-keeping. Fantastic effort!

Well played team!

U11 Derby - LWCC Red (153) def. LWCC White (135)

Red

U11 White won the toss and elected to field first. In the spirit of the LWCC derby, with only four players, the Reds provided three additional fielders to the Whites.

Jeremy (7) and Rohan (11) opened the batting straight away looking to get runs. Their eagerness was undone on one occasion when Sam, fielding for the Whites, scooped up a ball in the filed and made a direct hit with his throw!

Spencer (12) and Finn (15) were in next and increased the run rate, looking to get boundaries where possible. Finn was caught and bowled by the Whites best bowler, only to take revenge with the next ball, a full toss dispatched for four! Archie F continued to demonstrate the spirit the game was played in by taking a great one hand catch in the glove behind the wicket for the Whites. With three batsmen remaining the Reds looked to unleash “Biggs Ball”, Archie F (18) hitting a ball straight back down the wicket dropping just short of a six! Finishing with his highest score so far. Next was Sam (21) demonstrating a new sweep and flick of the wrist action, attacking every ball and as ever running between the wickets! Last up was Archie B, who must have been hoping selectors were watching for the opening game of the Ashes in Perth, 34 runs off 18 ball, strike rate of 189, 7 boundaries, took the Reds into the break with 129 runs on the board.

The bowling has improved across the board this season, with wickets coming from different players each week. Sam took the honours of the figures this week with 2 wickets and economy rate of 3.0. Jeremy got his wicket with the first ball of his over and was unlucky not to repeat the feat with the 2nd ball. Finn got 2, one a perfect fast delivery onto middle stump. Spencer showed great mental strength in being hit for two fours in a row only to pick up a wicket with the third ball! The Whites started to get close with a couple of overs remaining, but the Reds kept it tight, Archie B finishing with a maiden to see out the game.

U11 Gold - LWCC (94) def. by Concord Briars Maroon (194)

Coming up against the top team in the U11s division, this was always going to be a tough task for the ‘Mighty Gold’s’ and although a loss, the game was not as ‘downhill’ as the Arthur Walker Reserve pitch is.

Being our home game, Rory P (captain for the match) lost the ‘toss’ and we were sent into bowl.

The Briar openers took full advantage of our straight-line bowling and our slowness to respond in the field, this meant ‘the extras’ kept flowing for the Briars. Rory P, Gus CN and Joe G all bowled well but some big hits meant that the openers got the Briars off to sound start.

Dorian A, Ben T and Ben H also chimed in with some neat deliveries, but it was until the seventh over that Reef R bamboozled the Briars batsman and he edged to our Player of the Match Jack B, at wicket keeper.

Jack B took a great catch and even stumped the batsman at the same time to ensure the batsman was well and truly out! Jack B chimed in again to snag another batsman out of his crease for our second wicket off the bowling of captain Rory P. Harvey B joined the action with an outstanding and brave catch off the bowling of Ben H, right out on the boundary… great stuff!

Harvey was not finished as he took another great catch, this time off his own bowling to have the Briars looking slightly less cocky and starting to wonder if they had underestimated us by our slow start.

It was Dorian’s turn with the keeper gloves, and he helped round out our innings in the field with an excellent run out off the bowling off Joe G. All in all, the fielding improved after a sloppy start and good to see both keepers targeting the batsman for runouts and stumpings. Keep it up boys!

Our turn to bat and the Briars bowlers opened with their fastest bowler, having us 2-0 after the first over…

Although Jack B was bowled out on the very first delivery – he got his revenge in the 4th over with a well hit boundary for four runs. Rory P also handled the pace, and sliced a nice boundary for four more runs. Ben T and Harvey B adjusted well to the speed of the bowling with Ben T also smacking one away to the boundary fence… nice batting!

Reef R and Ben H showed some stoic batting and some defensive block shots that frustrated their attack. Gus CN came to the crease and showed eagerness to run, and risk run outs from overthrows – this helped Gus to top score with 11 runs for his 13 balls faced.

Joe G and Dorian were both steady at the crease, but the tight/pace bowling meant we could not get the run rate to flow and as we lost 9 wickets in our innings, meaning that the overall score flattered the Briars team.

The Golds faced the fastest bowling so far in their cricketing careers and each player performed well, hopefully learning so much about themselves from the experience of playing a team littered with Rep players.

Well done Gold – we will get them next time!

U12 Black - LWCC (32) def. by Concord Briars Green (3-34)

After a heavy defeat to an impressive Concord Briars outfit last week, the U12 Blacks brushed themselves off to face yet another strong Briars outfit on Saturday.

Undaunted by the challenge, captain Dilhan won the toss and had no hesitation batting first and faced the first ball himself. He and Noah saw off the first two overs but then a wicket per over for the next three overs, with the Briars taking every chance in the field and Caleb copping an absolute peach of and in-swinger. Overall, the bowling was just too good, with the faster bowlers getting good amounts of movement and a spinner that bamboozled everyone with his turn and variation. Runs were hard to come by and it became more about survival, with Louis battling bravely through the second half of the innings with a smile on his face the whole time.

Despite only a small total to defend, the team came out with enthusiasm and had early success with Felix effecting a run out of his own bowling in the first over and Toby (1-6) and Noah (1-13) getting early wickets that threatened to shake things up. If a couple of dropped catches had stuck, it could have got really interesting, but the Briars steadied the ship and reached the total for only three wickets down.

Despite the loss, the team kept their heads up and are now through a “difficult” part of the draw, so everyone is hoping for some improved results next week.

U12 Derby - LWCC Red (6-127) def. LWCC White (124)

Red

Winning the toss and electing to field. Leo L got us on the front foot with an early wicket with a nick to Keeper Emmett H in the first over. A smart run-out by Dylan C and we had them at 2-5 in the third. Wickets dried up for a bit and John O skittled the stumps in the 14th Over. In his second spell Leo L took his second wicket with a clean bowl. A team hat-trick off Kiran C. Firstly a run-out by Dylan C, a catch to Henry R, then Kiran completed the team hat-trick with a clean bowled. Oscar R bowled the last batter, and we had 124 to chase.

A typical conservative opening batting innings from Oscar R got him to his retirement. John O and Emmett H getting to retirement with some sweet hitting. John O came back from retirement to greet Ben S in the middle. Both were not out with Ben taking charge of the winning over with a two and a boundary for 15*. Daniel F is new to our club, and he has shown that he has passion for his club and teammates. He sacrificed a camping trip with the scouts knowing that we would have been a player short a few weeks back, and he played today so we were not short, and he was clearly uncomfortable fielding after his injury last week. We offered to rest him, but he said he would carry on. A brave boy indeed.

White

This game see-sawed all afternoon - but not always in our favour!

We had a tough outing this week against the Wanderers U12 Red. They came out switched on with tight bowling and sharp fielding, putting us under pressure early. To the boys’ credit, we fought back after drinks to set a defendable total. But when we returned for the second innings, our focus slipped, and Red took control. A strong late surge brought us back into the contest with three quick wickets, but unfortunately the momentum shift came a little too late.

White captain, Sebastian called “flats”… it was "hills", and Red chose to bowl first.

Batting

Freddie and Sebastian opened our innings, but Red’s discipline with the ball made scoring difficult. Freddie was bowled in the 1st over and Sebastian was run out soon after in the 3rd. We were suddenly 2-5. Benji and Flynn then steadied things beautifully, both retiring not out and getting us to a more promising 2-49.

Jack and Owen continued the recovery until Jack was bowled in the 14th over. At 3-70 at drinks, we felt back in the contest with wickets in hand. After the break, Paddy joined Owen before being bowled at 4-80 in the 18th over.

Xander came in with positive intent, hitting a boundary before being run out as the batters tried to cross on a dropped catch. Lincoln was then caught first ball, followed by Benji bowled the next ball - three wickets in three balls put us suddenly on the ropes at 7-84 in the 21st over.

Flynn returned to join Owen and the pair showed real maturity, pushing us towards a competitive total. Owen was eventually bowled in the 26th over, but not before helping guide us to 8-124. A huge congratulations to Flynn, who brought up his first 50, scoring 52 off 44 balls*, including 12 boundaries. A fantastic innings under pressure!

Bowling

The boys took the field a bit flat and distracted after the first innings confrontations. Even so, we started strongly with Lincoln taking a wicket in the 1st over to have Reds 1-2 early.

But some loose bowling and scrappy fielding allowed Red to rebuild, with their next two batters retiring not out. Lincoln struck again at 2-56 in the 10th over, but more fielding lapses allowed Red to reach 2-81 at drinks. A quick chat at the break seemed to spark the boys. The energy lifted, the bowling tightened, and suddenly momentum swung.

• Freddie bowled a key wicket on the last ball of the 17th over - 3-97.

• Benji Roy struck soon after - 4-97.

• In the 19th, Lincoln created a run out off his own bowling - 5-97.

• In the 21st, Jack and Sebastian combined for another run out - 6-108.

We were right back in it, with real belief and great intensity across the field. Unfortunately, the late surge wasn’t quite enough, and Red passed our score in the 23rd over.

Well done to White for fighting hard and staying in the game despite a challenging day. Congratulations to Red on the win. We reset now and look forward to taking on Briars this week. Go Wanderers!

U13 Red - LWCC (43) def. by Concord Briars Maroon (1-44)

It ain’t easy being Red (at Greenlees)…

Batting first the Reds put on 41 very fast runs at Greenlees in an electric display against a Shelbyville outfit just as confident as the last and including on captain Noah’s assessment the ‘Abductor’ (of wickets) or the ‘Annihilator’ (of Reds batsmen). The shot making and quick singles running was actually quite impressive, the only problem (in a conventional sense) was the frequent wickets. The idea of a short game though wasn’t all that hard to digest give some solid ice block selections for James’ birthday (HB!) and several late games after bowling first.

Bowling the democratic plan was to challenge Shelbyville’s reps players with one over spells. The pace attack ripped in, Ollie S’s runout attempts were noted :) and then the fun really started when Noah came onto bowl. The discerning among you will recall there is an important wicket taking streak at play (some say 16 games) and that has manifested in two caught and bowled efforts over the past two games. The music kept playing as Noah struck out the Concord rep with a lightning fast catch off his 4th ball - the excited ‘Streak Streak Streak’ celebrations making the glasses rattle at Briars. Then all out, with three slips and two leg slips, and James’ hopping imitation of a famous Indian opening until a lucky six in the seventh over off Noah ended the affair. How good’s an early finish? :) See you all at training, next week to take on some Pirates at Callan.

U13 White - LWCC (148) def. by RHH Pirates Swashbucklers (6-110*)

*revised due to rain/lightning delay

Batting first, our openers set a cracking pace and the batters that followed chipped in with handy runs. Two of our retirees were able to return to the crease to give us a chance of seeing out the 30 overs. While we were bowled out in 26.4 overs, a total 148 was competitive.

An electrical storm and rain shower halted proceedings for about 50 minutes but both teams were keen to play on and get a result. A reduced innings of 22 overs and revised target of 110 were set.

The Pirates placed their big hitter at the top of the innings. He sent the ball flying for a couple of overs before consistent line and length removed his leg stump.

It was game on. After 11 overs we had the Pirates at 4-65. A glimmer of hope. The subsequent 10 overs included the very tight bowling that was needed. The last over was due and the game was evenly poised. The Pirates needed four runs to win. A well struck on-drive got past the fielders and that was it – victory to the Pirates.

This was an excellent game of kids’ cricket played in the right spirit. For the second week in a row, we have outplayed the opposition in many aspects of the game, and we can take away many positives. Our strike rate while batting, our bowling economy and fielding are areas everyone in the team can continue to work on.

U13 Girls - LWCC (84) vs Summer Hill (0-20) - match drawn

We lost the toss and were sent in to bat under gloomy skies at the picturesque Ashfield Park against Summer Hill.

Summer Hill bowled well, but Emily carried her bat to finish with 25 not out showing her class and grit. Karthika provided great support in making 13 with those two facing 86 balls between them. That meant we posted a reasonable score. The Summer Hill catching was outstanding, with three high quality “grabs”.

We only got to bowl six overs before the lightning and rain arrived. But Sofia, Karthika and Juno bowled very tightly and that meant that Summer Hill only scored 20 runs.

Once again our team spirit shone through with all the girls putting in their best effort and having loads of fun.

U13 Black - LWCC (8-136) vs South Sydney JCC Cobras (4-153)

A top of the table clash that lived up to expectations. Winning the toss and putting the top of the table Cobras into bat, the U13 Black withstood an early onslaught with Flynn and Bradley combining to dismiss both opening batters. From there the boys slowed the run rate with Harry and Alfie chipping in with wickets to restrict the total to 4-153.

The run chase started well with James (43), Harry (19) and Eamon (28*) all reaching retirement. A few wickets after drinks slowed the run rate but we were within striking distance as James, Harry and Eamon each returned to the crease. Needing 21 off the last 3 overs and one wicket in hand, the boys hit out and were unlucky to go down by 13 runs.

A great game enjoyed by a big crowd of parents, grandparents and siblings. How else would you want to spend a Sunday!

Big shout out to James for being player of the match – valiant in trying to get us over the line at the end.

U15 Derby - LWCC Black (0-114) def. LWCC White (6-113)

White

Another trip down to Callan Park and the two Wanderers teams set up for a social afternoon of cricket for spectators and players alike.

Whites won the toss and elected to bat, and started out well against the Blacks opening bowlers. For the first six overs Max F and Darcy (6) put up a solid defence, picking off the loose deliveries, putting on 17 for the first wicket.

Anton came out and started well alongside Max F and for another six overs they ticked the scoreboard along until Max (17) popped up a catch to end a solid innings. Bowie (30) and Anton (15) batted on like troopers, keeping the run rate up to create an excellent 10 over, 44 run partnership.

Jack F started strongly but fell to a sharp caught and bowled from Xavier. Hartley (21*) came to the crease and batted with Jack (3), Yoris (1) and Charlie (0*) to complete all 30 overs of the Whites’ innings setting a total of 113 runs.

Whether it was the break for the storm or something on the charcuterie board, three of the Whites managed to injure themselves in the nets(!) which somewhat scuppered Darcy’s well laid plans for the bowling attack.

Both Darcy and Yoris bowled tidy spells in tough conditions, Bowie nearly picked up a C&B and Hartley’s change to spin fell just short of picking up a wicket - but it was a batters wicket with slippery conditions under foot.

All in all, it was a valiant effort in the field but the Blacks’ batting attack were strong, finding gaps and capitalising on anything short or wide and started racing towards the target.

There were a few chances to pick up a couple of wickets but when these went begging, their batters pounced on their second chance and the Blacks cruised home in just over ten overs.

Coach’s Wins for the Whites: I saw you all batting confidently against a bunch of reps bowlers; I witnessed a great third wicket partnership of 44 runs; you amassed our highest team total this season and batted for all 30 overs. We will build on these positives at training on Wednesday and next Saturday’s game! Go Whites!

Black

With one eye on the weather radars of choice, the first Leichhardt U15 derby of the season took place on the shores of Iron Cove.

The Black’s bowling innings featured pleasing contributions from the entire team. Linus (1-19) took an early wicket. As well as being tidy behind the stumps, our wicketkeepers Ronav (0-4) and Flynn (0-4) were both economical, as were Conor (0-6) and Austin (1-5). The spin of Lachlan made sure we got through our overs in the allotted time. Nevaan, Ronav, Austin, and Xavier held their chances (the latter two both particularly sharp), and George (1-16) continued being a wicket-taking juggernaut.

The heavens opened during the innings break, a development that was not entirely unfortunate due to both teams being social and bringing food and beverages from the low-brow and child-friendly to the considerably more high-brow.

Just like the members in the Lord’s long room (though in a considerably less febrile environment than an Ashes test) the players begrudgingly headed back out when after the storm passed. The opening pair of Ronav (40*) and Nevaan (39*), with a late cameo by Xavier (10*), played like they wanted to hot-foot it to Drummoyne Oval for the WBBL or to see the closing acts at the St. Anmore Music Festival, to chase down the total, no Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculations required to the relief of the scorers.

U17 Black - LWCC (224) def. Concord Briars Gold (193)

U17 Black have run out of superlatives to describe Gus’s batting, so perhaps the best tribute is to say that yesterday one of the parents had to be despatched to the parking area at Callan Park, to warn an unsuspecting motorist that they were about to park their car in the hitting zone. One of Gus’s nine sixes went even further, with that ball now at the bottom of Iron Cove. Gus’s innings was his second century, and fourth score of over 50, in his four innings this season. Pleasingly, this time he received good support from his teammates, with Bede falling just one shot short of a what would have been a richly deserved 50 and Frazer continuing his excellent season.

With a substantial, but not unattainable, target of 224 to defend, captain Kai led from the front and marshalled his bowling resources skilfully. Ethan (0-11 from 4 overs) and Bede (2-33 from 6) built the pressure from the harbour end, with Finn also contributing a vital wicket. At the other end, it was Kai and Aabir, with three wickets each, who caused the most destruction. The team found the knack of dismissing a batter just at the points where Concord looked like accelerating the run rate. It’s so pleasing to see this talented group of players continue to come together as a team and achieve an important victory at one of our favourite grounds.

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For all coaches & managers, we would love to receive highlights and brief match reports after your matches, which we will publish in the weekly newsletter and on our News page. (Please submit these by Monday night each week). We'd love to hear from all teams! We're particularly keen on hearing about special achievements, whether it's a standout performance, acts of sportsmanship or general good stories about your games of cricket!

The Honour Roll will also be celebrated for the season for individual achievements. This year, we have changed our requirement for junior bowlers to 4+ wickets in an innings (instead of 5+ wickets for last season). This is to reflect the more limited overs junior bowlers can bowl, plus the lower number of wickets available (in S2 & S3 formats).

• 50+ runs in an innings with the bat

• 4+ wickets in an innings with the ball, or a hat trick

• 3+ dismissals in the field: any combination of catches, run outs or stumpings

Please send details to us at leichhardtcricket@gmail.com highlighting any individual achievements that meet this criteria!

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Chris Hudson

LWCC President

We are Leichhardt Wanderers Through and Through!