Jake Wilson: The King of Swing
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club | May 21, 2025
When left-arm swing bowler Jake Wilson had the last Hawkesbury batsman caught in round eight of the 2012-13 season to give him innings figures of 5-11, he marched into the Randwick Petersham record books. Not only did that wicket give him 100 in 1st Grade but he achieved the milestone quicker than the two bowlers who had reached the century mark before him. While both Andrew Harrison and James Byrne brought up their “bowlers ton” in four and a half seasons, Jake did it in just two and a half. His 100 wickets came up in his 55th game for Randwick Petersham from a total of 542.4 overs.
Jake Keiran Wilson was born at Darlinghurst on 6 December 1981. A product of Port Hacking High School, Jake developed his game with St George, rising to 2nd Grade where he had a number of impressive performances in taking 147 wickets. In 2010, the 28-year-old joined Randwick Petersham and was immediately selected in 1st Grade. And while his debut performance of 0-23 off five overs and a duck against Easts at Kensington Oval, hardly gave rise to any great enthusiasm, it was the beginning of a 1st Grade playing career which in just three seasons, would see him named in the inaugural Sydney Cricket Association 1st Grade Merit XII.
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The disappointment of Jake’s debut match cut little mustard with him, as the very next day, he took 3-30 off nine overs against Sydney at Drummoyne to help win a tight limited overs match. The following Saturday, he took his first “five for” when he finished
with 5-31 off 10 overs against Fairfield-Liverpool in a limited overs match at Rosedale Oval, which ended in a tied result—167 each. Next game, he was instrumental in Sutherland collapsing from 0-95 to 8-106 when he took 3-4 alongside Nathan Price’s 4-51, to ensure a two wickets win. Wilson’s 5-42 versus Wests at Pratten Park shortly after, gave the team a much needed outright win, helping catapult it into the 1st Grade Belvidere Cup Grand Final. And while that match resulted in a disappointing loss to Sydney University, it took little away from Jake Wilson’s outstanding debut season of 39 1st Grade wickets.
Over the following two summers, Wilson continued to enhance his craft and by the end of 2012-13, he was recognised as one of the finest swing bowlers in the Sydney 1st Grade competition. His 41 wickets in each of those summers placed him in the top echelon of wicket-takers and one of the most consistent in the game. In 2011-12 he took at least one wicket in 22 of the 25 innings in which he bowled.
Wilson missed five games through injury in 2011-12, but in his return match against Campbelltown at Coogee, took career-best figures of 7-44, to give his team an outright victory. His match figures were 8-55. He also played a big part in the team winning the 1st Grade Limited Overs and Twenty 20 competitions. He took 4-20 off 10 overs in the Limited Overs semi-final and 1-27 off 10 in the Grand Final, while in the Twenty20 Cup, he returned 4-13 in the qualifying final and 2-22 in the semi.
In 2012-13, Jake again led the attack, averaging just 15.83 for each of 41 wickets, which was the fourth highest aggregate in the competition. In a run of three successive matches that summer, he took 5-11 against Hawkesbury, 4-34 v Gordon and 5-36 against Uni. of NSW. His efforts ensured his team a place in the Belvidere Cup Grand Final for the second successive year. His then career total of 121 1st Grade wickets, placed him third on the club’s overall tally list.
Wilson had no claims to batting fame, although he had turned in some handy knocks at the bottom of the order. His best effort however, was higher up the list, with 42 as night-watchman against North Sydney at Coogee in a losing game in 2011-12. His most valued performance was against Sydney University in 2012-13, when he scored 15 in 83 minutes batting 11, to put on 43 for the last wicket with Nick Warren in a match which eventually was won by one run.
Season 2013-14 saw Jake Wilson go from strength to strength and confirm his fast-growing reputation as one of the top bowlers in Sydney 1st Grade cricket. And despite missing two games through injury, he had his best season with 44 wickets. In his first game back, he took the first six wickets against Sutherland, to finish with 6-67. He followed that up with 5-24 against Hawkesbury, which included only the club’s third hat-trick in 1st Grade. The next game, he took 5-78 against Sydney University and a few weeks later, demolished Wests with a 6-28 performance. His 4-30 against Mosman in the qualifying final was also an effort which ensured a semi-final spot for his team. However, it was the match against Gordon where Jake’s two wickets took him to 150 in 1st Grade. It had taken him 77 matches and he recorded the feat while bowling his 850th over. With another 15 wickets after that, Jake Wilson finished the season with a club career tally of 165 1st Grade scalps. And to top it off, for the second successive year, the left-arm swing bowler was named in the Sydney Cricket Association’s 1st Grade Merit XII.
Wilson showed that his batting was also developing, as twice during the season he broke the club record for the 10th wicket partnership. In round 1 against Northern District, he and Daniel Sams put on 85 for the last wicket to break the previous mark of 73 between Eddie Otto and Burt Cockley against Eastern Suburbs in 2008-09. Jake scored 30* on that occasion but in the qualifying final, he remained 7* after facing 43 balls in a last wicket partnership of 93 with Jake Scicluna, who scored 119 to set a new mark.
Season 2014-15 was a grave disappointment for the swing bowler, breaking a finger. In round 2 against Hawkesbury, he took 3-30 off 16 overs while in the fifth game, he returned 3-28 off 15. However, in round 6 v St George, the injured digit put paid to his
season and he sat out the remainder of the summer. With 12 wickets plus another two in Twenty20 Cup, he took his overall 1st Grade total with the club to 188, a dozen ahead of Adam Semple.
History repeated itself in 2015-16, with Jake again breaking a finger and being forced to watch from the sidelines for a good part of the season. He had played just two 1st Grade and two Twenty20 Cup matches, taking a wicket in each innings. And while he missed the remaining T20 games leading up to yet another premiership in that competition, he returned in round 7 to take 1-30 off 13 accurate overs against Sutherland. The following match he recorded his season’s best figures of 3-42 against Penrith.
On 6 February 2016, Jake had another major milestone when he had Ian Moran caught for 92 in the match against Easts at Petersham Oval. That gave him 200 1st Grade wickets. However, the time he had off nursing his injury enabled his skipper Adam Semple to get to that mark first, taking his 200th wicket just one week earlier. Jake finished the season with 201 wickets and took his 200th wicket in 1,182.4 overs. Unfortunately, that was Jake Wilson’s last season with Randwick Petersham and he joined Sutherland, the following summer.
Interestingly, while Jake remains the joint holder of the Randwick Petersham 1st Grade 10th wicket partnership record of 93, he went one step further after joining Sutherland. In 2015-16, Jake and Kyle Brockley put on a 119 against Bankstown to set a new 10th wicket partnership for the Sharks, which still stands.
Jake played four seasons with Sutherland. When he retired in 2020, he did so with a career record of 304 1st Grade wickets and 755 runs from 185 matches. With Randwick Petersham, he played 112 matches, scored 213 runs and took 201 wickets at the impressive average of 18.66.
Lyall Gardner
Randwick Petersham Cricket Historian
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