Sydney University student Jack Richards delivered his finest performance when he posted a half century and then took five wickets as Old Boys manhandled City United in a one-dayer at Riverside 1.
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Richards belted 63 off 64 balls, including 10 fours, as Old Boys reached 9-262 off 40 overs after winning the toss and batting on Saturday.
City’s opening bowler Tait Jordan snared 4-30 off eight overs.
Old Boys then routed City United for 142 in the 33rd over, with Richards capturing 5-32 off eight overs and Will Chesterfield 4-21 off 6.4 overs.
It is Richards’ best effort with the bat and the ball – surpassing the 51 he scored for Old Boys in a War Veterans Cup semi-final defeat of New England in 2014 and the 5-60 he took against North Tamworth in round four last season.
The City clash was only his fourth game of the season. He said he had benefited from two cricket training sessions a week at Sydney Uni since starting his economics degree this year.
“It’s definitely improved my cricket a lot … It’s satisfying to put in a bit of hard work and get some results,” he said.
Old Boys captain Ben Middlebrook said: “He [Richards] batted really well and pushed the score from a reasonable one to a really difficult run chase for City. He also bowled well and got the rewards with a five-wicket haul.”
Richards came in with Old Boys at 5-162 from 22 overs, after Aaron Hazlewood blasted 12 fours and four sixes in a 51-ball 87.
City had a strong start through openers Brad Smith (54) and Noah Pitt (24), reaching 65 before Pitt fell to Richards and a steady flow of wickets followed. Troy Hearfield scored 43.
Old Boys bagged double bonus points to leapfrog West Tamworth and South Tamworth on the one-day ladder and stretch their overall lead to 10.61 points over North Tamworth.
