Penrith Cricket Club 5th Grade Premiers 2013-14
Penrith Cricket Club | April 09, 2026
By Chris Withers
To be Minor Premiers is one thing, to be Minor Premiers/Premiers is another. The 2013/14 season turned out to be the best year of cricket I have been involved in, winning 15 out of 18 games in the year.
It has been an absolute honour to captain the 5th Grade to a Premiership this season.
The start to the season was a worrying sign after losing to Blacktown quite convincingly.
The boys then turned it around and went on to win 7 games on the trot, not dropping any more games before the Christmas break.
Returning from the Christmas period proved that we gained cobwebs over the break, losing to Randwick terribly. Once again, the boys didn't enjoy losing, going on to win 6 on the trot leading into the Semi- finals.
We finished the season 1st on the ladder - 16 points clear of 2nd.
During the season, there were some individual performances to mention.
- Ryan Hackney's emergence in round 2 with 65, opening the batting.
- Tyran Liddiard's 53 not out against Hawkesbury
- Sagi Pradhan's 93 against Fairfield-Liverpool and 101 against UNSW, which proved a match-winning innings
- Brendan Sweeney's 5-37 also against Fairfield-Liverpool
- Luke Hodges 91 against North Sydney
- Paul Williams 5-21 against North Sydney
Going into the Semi-finals the team morale was awesome, and the vibe was positive.
Unfortunately, our Quarter-final was disappointing, resulting in a loss to Randwick for a second time this season. We managed to put the performance behind us and look to the do or die Final against Sutherland.
With the first day of our Semi-final against Sutherland a wash-out and losing the toss on the second day and batting, the odds were against the Cats. Being bowled out for 75, the boys in the shed only knew one thing. That was to win.
The aggression and hunger we brought to the field proved to be the difference in what was to be one of the best bowling and fielding performances of the year. Bowling Sutherland out for 48 and taking us to the Grand Final.
Arriving at Manly Oval on a beautiful Saturday morning provided what looked like a very hard and flat wicket. Losing the toss, we were sent into the field, proving to be a great toss to lose.
We brought the aggression with us from the Shire in another great showcase of bowling and fielding to knock over Manly for 51.
In reply, we passed their total of 51 four down and went on to win the Premiership. A big congratulations to Paul Williams for his man of the match performance in the Final with 90 not out.
There are also many other great efforts off the field that need to be mentioned.
Firstly, a big thank you to Glenn and Kellie Liddiard, Peter Hackney and Elizabeth Dowd for their amount of help and support during the season - I can’t thank you enough.
Another major part of the year is selections. So a massive thank you to Mathew Thompson and Barry Coad for the dedication and work you put in throughout the year.
To Steve Small and the coaching staff, thank you for helping the players week in and week out.
To Ross and Cheryl Graham and the Committee, for the amount of hard work they produce behind closed doors, it’s very much appreciated.
To Brian Cameron and Trevor Wholohan for the efforts in curating Rance Oval and helping around the ground, we appreciate your efforts.
Lastly, to the Penrith Cricket Club for letting me captain this amazing bunch of blokes for the second time, thank you. I have had such a great journey and look forward to winning another Premiership next season.
Finals Recap
Qualifying Final Penrith 10/121 (J.Dowd 30; P.Williams 19) & 10/137 (P.Williams 34; B.Sweeney 22)
Randwick Petersham 10/170 (L.Hodges 3/35; C.Withers 3/54)& 3/92 (T.Finemore 1/3; L. Hodges 1/8)
Result: Outright Loss
Semi-Final Penrith 10/75 (C.Withers 23; T.Finemore 11) & 7/80 (S.Pradhan 39*; P.Williams 17)
Sutherland 10/48 (D.Short 4/12; C.Withers 3/6)
Result: Win
Final Penrith 10/217 (P.Williams 90*; J.Dowd 40)
Manly-Warringah 10/51 (T.Finemore 3/8; C.Withers 3/17) & 0/28 (C.Withers 0/4; T.Finemore 0/10)
Result: Win
Brought to you by Kingsgrove Sport
