Sutherland DCC 1995-96 1st Grade Finals Series

Sutherland District Cricket Club | June 18, 2025

A happy group after the Belvidere Cup presentation:

Back row: Harry Peters (Deputy President), Tom Iceton (Committeeman), Stuart MacGill, Geoff Barron, Darren Mitchell, Jason Holley, Darrell Mann, Glenn McGrath, Barry Davison (Ass’t Coach), David Givney (Secretary), Julia Coote (Scorer), Steve Rixon (Coach).

Front row: Daniel Godkin, Stuart Clark, Linton Ball, Rodney Davison, Matthew O’Brien, Phil Weatherall, Tony Clark.

(From SDCC 1st Grade team report by Rodney Davison in annual report)

After a disappointing loss to Sydney University in Round 12, which we thought had all but destroyed our season, we achieved four outright wins in our last five games with two of these outright victories coming in the Semi-Final and in the Final. We were also only three wickets short of another outright victory against Fairfield in Round 14. The second half of the season saw us come from 10th place at the Christmas break to a point where we received the Belvidere Cup and Diamond Draft Cup on 8th April, 1996. We may have not played like the best side in the competition in the early rounds, but by season’s end we had developed into a champion team which fully deserved to win the competition.

Semi-Final vs St.George at Hurstville Oval (30/3/96 & 31/3/96)

We were quietly confident as we prepared for this match against the minor premiers. We had been playing very well and the return of Glenn McGrath was a further boost. Losing the toss did not really deter us – Stuart Clark produced a devastating spell to take 3 wickets in his first two overs and, with Glenn also bowling with plenty of fire and persistence, we had St.George on the ropes. We eventually dismissed them for 128 with Stuart MacGill claiming the last three wickets for no runs in his 9th and 10th overs. Our aim was to bat for as long as possible to prevent St.George from getting back into the game and things looked good as Phil Weatherall and Rod Davison had taken us to a comfortable 3/76. However, some applied pressure saw us crash to be 9/124. A couple of confident blows from Glenn McGrath took us to within one run of their score and, in a most amazing moment, Brad McNamara delivered a head-high full toss that hit Glenn on the helmet. The subsequent “no-ball” call took us to the lead, much to the delight of a very nervous Sutherland contingent.

From then on, St.George were forced to play catch up cricket. We maintained our composure in the field and dismissed St.George for 140 in their second innings. Stuart Clark completed a good double by taking 5-28 whilst Tony Clark chipped in with 3-37. Despite a few anxious moments when we were 4/67, we eventually scored the necessary runs four wickets down to reach the Final. Rodney Davison had defied the bowlers for over three and a half hours to score 51 not out whilst Jason Holley batted magnificently to produce a positive innings of 46 not out that took the initiative away from the hard toiling St.George bowlers. Celebrations were sweet but there was a grim determination within the camp to ensure that our season of success was not yet finished. The big one was still to come!

Final vs Bankstown at Bankstown Oval (6/4/96, 7/4/96 & 8//96)

Our preparations for this all important match were impressive, with our main focus being directed towards enjoying this upcoming occasion and maintaining the approach that had got us to this point. We were determined not to be overawed by the Waugh factor that dominated the pre-match publicity and intended to play positive cricket throughout the match. As it turned out, most things went right for us from the moment Matthew O’Brien produced an inspirational run out to claim our first wicket. After Stuart Clark had removed Dean Waugh, Glenn McGrath intensified our hopes in dismissing both Steve and Mark Waugh caught behind. He finished with 5-28 and the powerful Bankstown line-up was dismissed for only 154.

Sutherland’s innings started positively with Matthew O’Brien and Rodney Davison putting on 44 runs in the first 7 overs. Although Davison and Tony Clark were quickly dismissed at this point, Darren Mitchell joined O’Brien to form a critical partnership of 96 runs to set up our victory. Jason Holley joined O’Brien later in the innings to improve our situation further. Our total finished on 277, 123 runs ahead of Bankstown. In Bankstown’s innings, we were able to frustrate them into a score of 176. We then polished off the necessary 53 runs for victory with three wickets down.

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