Emergence of a Future Captain in a Winning Campaign: 2009/2010
Penrith Cricket Club | September 29, 2025
A quote from the youngest (Ryan Gibson): "Blakey, it's taken you over 50 games in PG'd to win this comp, I've won it in 5 games."
Right off the bat, I'm going to say, this season the boys deserved to win this competition. The achieved victory was a culmination of a few seasons' work/preparation. Led beautifully through 2 different skippers over the past 2 seasons, the lads this season slowly warmed into the comp, before blowing away 3 strong teams in the Finals. The win was certainly a win for the boys; however, the Selectors deserve special mention here as well. The balance of the side was perfect, with many players able to hold the bat well or bowl some handy overs, not to mention the variety in the attack. This proved too much for all comers. Our fielding throughout the year was top draw, very slick across the turf, grabbing any chance remotely in the air. It's very rare in sport to say the Finals will be the easy part, but the boys gave Easts, Sydney Uni and St George in the Final no chance of winning, through sheer patience, pressure, their ability and skill. Easy to say now, but the only time the coach and manager were worried throughout the Finals was when we lost the toss in the GF; however, the 2 bookends (Max McNamara and 16-year-old Patty Cummins) quickly put the Coach and Manager's mind at ease.
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Here's a quick run of the games - round one T20 was washed out against a decent-looking Hawkesbury side. Round 2s T20 against Uni NSW saw Josh Jones claim 4 wickets in the middle period after some solid new ball bowling from Max and Patty. Chasing 117, we achieved 5 down with Jordan Silk (41) and 20s to Jarryd Blake and Tim Sutton (skipper). Round 3's T20 saw us bat first against Blacktown in very hot conditions (thankfully, the boys are fit). Posting 139, Sutton (43) was the top scorer. Josh Clarke picked up 2 wickets with the team affecting 4 run outs and stopping Blacktown from being all out for 125.
Round 4 and back to the 50-over comp saw us come up against last year's Finalist (who also knocked us out of the comp), however, the table was turned on this occasion, with the Panthers posting 251. Sutton, Blake and T Cummins 60 odd each. Max, Patty C and Benny Betros picked up 3 wickets each to leave the Stags (Gordon) 17 runs short.
Round 5 at Waitara, 12 days before Xmas, wasn't welcomed by the coach and manager, who were now slightly tired despite not taking the field. 500 odd runs came from the track only a few weeks beforehand, so we were keen to bat first. Toss accomplished, Silk and Blake set a new record 1st wicket partnership of 234 runs, taking the visitors to 5 for 290 from the 50 overs. Silk and Blake ended with 125 and 111, respectively. The ND's boys were never in the hunt - all out for 190 with 15-year-old Ryan Gibson causing a brilliant run-out plus picking up 4 wickets.
Balmain headed to Howell Oval for round 6 to see an ordinary performance from the locals, all out inside the 50 overs for 183 - stand out with the bat was Max (says a lot about the performance). Thankfully, the Tigers came up against a newfound, inspired fast bowler in Maxy, who took a hat-trick early to cripple the run chase. Balmain all out for 127.
Round 7 Randwick/Petersham - rain interrupted this day. A Jarryd Blake 100 guided Penrith to 260 in 35 overs, Randy/Petes could only manage 130 in reply.
Quarter Final at Howell saw a strong on paper Easts side dismantled with superb fast bowling by McNamara (5 for) and P Cummins (3 for), Easts all out for 84 early in the day, which was easily chased, 1 for 84.
The Semi-Final - Sydney Uni won the toss with McNamara again taking 5 wickets to restrict the students to 188. Blake (91 not out) and T Cummins (72 not out) again guided us home 1 down with plenty of momentum.
The GF was an away trip to Hurstville: Sutton lost the toss and before you could blink, the Dragons were 3 for 13, then quickly 5 for 41, limping along. They eventually put up 146 runs from their 50 overs. The future Australian Captain (Patty) was simply outstanding, which put the wind up the Dragons' batting order. With what was to come in the future, Patty really let himself go bowling like the wind to claim 3 quick wickets. This was well backed up by the rest of the lads with the ball and in the field. 146 runs could have been a tricky score to chase if early wickets had happened, and Finals generally have a twist or two. After being 2 for 22, Silk (58) and Sutton (35) put together a partnership of 80 before falling within 5 runs of each other with 40 runs still to get however, Pete Betros and Josh Clarke finished the Dragons off with some fine cool head batting to see the Panthers 21s team go nuts, plus the many supporters who ventured down for the day. A great win and very well deserved.
Winner of the Poidevin Gray Player of the Series Award: Max McNamara was dominant with the ball. His year was highlighted with some wonderful performances: 5/19 v Easts (QF), 5/21 v Sydney Uni (Semi), A hat-trick v Balmain with match figures of 4/28
Clip from BeaconPoint Cricket with Chris Rogers - The First 20 balls
