Penrith Cricket Club 1996/97 - 5th grade bring home the bacon
Penrith Cricket Club | July 18, 2025
What a great victory for the Fifth Grade team, and what a great victory for the Club's youth policy. Coupled with the Green Shield triumph, the season's performance by the young cricketers in the club has been nothing short of outstanding. The aim of the Fifth Grade has always been to transition junior players into senior cricket and develop skills for later years. To ultimately win the final against a much more experienced team demonstrated clearly the rapid progress that the team made. In fact, five of the players that competed in the final were playing their first year of grade cricket. One such player, Ryan McDermott was only playing his second year of cricket ever.
As is the case with most successful teams, our strength was a very solid bowling attack. The fast bowling trio of Glenn Bradley, Ryan McDermott and David Johnson were without peer in the competition. In Glenn Bradley, the Club has had one of its best fast bowling prospects for many years. Of the 29 wickets Glenn took, 21 were either bowled or LBW. His ability to dismiss the openers and the tailenders is a captain's dream. His opening partner, Ryan (Billy) McDermott improved tremendously with each game. He has the ability to swing the ball late at good pace and was the perfect foil for Glenn. David Johnson joined the team in mid-season and soon displayed ability with both bat and ball. It was however his efforts with the ball, particularly during the final series that made the greatest impact. David consistently produced devastating spells when the team needed them most. His performance in the semi-final and final contributed greatly to our team's success.
Two other players displayed all round talents during the season. Mark Comber supported the pacemen with some consistent seam bowling with his 3/25 in the final proving a decisive spell. He also provided some solidarity to the middle order with 302 runs @ 37.75. Mark's contributions to our success was worth much more than his stats suggest. A great man to have in the team. Matthew Halse shouldered much of the responsibility in the spin bowling department. His 38 wickets @ 10.47 was an outstanding performance. His batting matured as the season progressed and he finished with 321 runs @ 24.69. He has surely played no better innings than his 83 in the final. Three other spin bowlers made significant contributions throughout the season. Liam Zammit, who completed the season in third, continued his rapid development. Evan Stanford and Neil Martin both showed promise at various stages. Unfortunately, the balance of the team towards the end of the season could not ensure their inclusion in the team during the finals series.
Whilst not our strong point, the batting was more than adequate. One positive aspect was our ability to chase runs and although we never had to chase large targets, we always did it comfortably. Adam Park, who was promoted to the round in round 10, never looked back. Adam proved the most consistent batsman during the later part of the season and showed great maturity in many of his digs. His defiant innings of 68 against Easts on a difficult pitch was a match winning performance.
Daniel Whiley was also promoted to the team mid season to open the batting. This was Daniel's initial taste of grade cricket and he showed some promising signs. With some minor refinements to his technique, Daniel will become a solid grade cricketer. Rod Evans provided the experience to the batting. His efforts at the vital stages of the season were of enormous value. However, no innings was more valuable than his 48 in the final, and his partnership of 115 with Matthew Halse was a major factor in our victory. As he did in the Green Shield team, Luke Morrissey played some important innings for the team. His ability to bat under pressure and succeed when the team most needs it, is a great asset. Luke's keeping improves with each game and he is fast developing into a very competent keeper/batsman. Nathan Saville filled the number 3 spot on a number of occasions throughout the season and did an admirable job. His 84 against Manly was an innings of class. Nathan is another of our promising youngsters and I feel he has the temperament to succeed in higher grades.
Michael Myerscough, Troy Swain, Ashlee Johnson and Josh Lockett all made valuable contributions to the team. They all have the ability to succeed in grade cricket and will be better for their experience of the season. To win a grade premiership is a great effort. To win a lower-grade premiership with a large turnover of players (24) is something special. It was achieved because we were a very good team. A team that enjoyed each other's company, each other's success and coped with each other's failures. They had the desire to do well and the ability to keep going when the odds were against them. They were supported by a loyal bunch of supporters, parents and friends and a club that catered to our every whim. To each and every one of you, my sincere thanks.
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