Arun Harinath made his first grade debut on Sunday for his Club Randwick Petersham and held his head high in a one-sided affair.

Batting at number three in round seven of the Sydney grade one-day competition, Harinath was the second top scorer with 19 in the Randy Petes’ disappointing total of 90. Their opponents, Gordon achieved the 91 run victory target easily, using just 18 overs and losing two wickets.

Harinath also made a handy contribution the day before too, with 25 out of his side’s 183-3 dec against Western Suburbs. After winning a vital toss, Randwick Petersham sent their opponents into bat on a wet pitch and steamrolled them for just 71. They then set about firstly gaining first innings points, which they did comfortably and after their declaration that gave them a first innings lead of 112, they currently have Wests at 7-0 in their second innings.

Tim Murtagh’s consistent summer has suffered its first setback yesterday after the young paceman suffered a side strain while bowling in his side’s one-day match with Sutherland. The severity of his injury is not yet known but he thinks it is a similar problem to what he suffered early last season.

“It doesn’t feel too bad at the moment. I’ve just been told to ice it and rest for the time being. I’ll be seeing a physiotherapist later this week for treatment so hopefully I’ll have a better idea of when I’ll be back to full fitness then,” he said.

Murtagh’s Eastern Suburbs team lost narrowly to Sutherland yesterday when their opponents reached the 229 victory target in the very last over with seven wickets down. Daniel Rixon, the son of former Surrey coach, Steve Rixon, was at the crease on 24 when the winning runs were hit. The Sutherland coach, Trent Woodhill was also the Surrey video analyst last season so it was the Sutherland team, who not only took the competition points but also won the bragging rights at least until the next time the two teams meet.

Despite the loss, Murtagh contributed well with the bat and made his highest score for the season with a valuable 33 from 37 balls batting at the end of the Eastern Suburbs innings. Woodhill, who also played first grade cricket for both Sutherland and Bankstown said, “We all know what a good death bowler Murts (Tim Murtagh) is, so him unable to bowl at the end was a real bonus for us. It may have been the difference.”

Neil Saker also put in a good performance yesterday despite being on the wrong side of the ledger. Playing against the University of New South Wales (UNSW), his side made a mediocre score of 159 from their 50 overs. Batting at 10, Saker made 24, which gave his team something to bowl at if they could manage early wickets. Saker then got things going by dismissing one of the openers without scoring but from that point on, UNSW were always in control, passing the Blacktown total for the loss of just four wickets. Saker finished with figures of 1-19 from six tidy overs.

Graham Thorpe was also on the injury list this week after his troublesome lower back caused him further problems. Thorpe was forced to miss this week’s matches with the problem but he’s hoping to be fit in time for his club’s next competition match.

The MCC are now recruiting for both a Membership Office Clerk and a Membership Assistant, for more information, please contact County

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