After many years in the wilderness the Newington 1^st XI began the season with a brilliant display in the GPS Twenty20 competition. The preliminary rounds were contested on Saturday October 13 at St Josephs. We had a 5 wicket loss against Riverview, a nerve jangling last over win against St Josephs and a comprehensive result against Sydney Boys High. This was enough to advance to the finals day and our semi-final opponent was the powerful Scots team. The boys executed a near perfect game to outplay their opponents with skill and clever cricket. A 4 wicket win meant we were to face Riverview in the final. They were undefeated from their first four games and were coming off a strong semi-final win vs Grammar. We started very well but had a mid-innings stutter to finish with 117. This proved to be about 20 short as Riverview made the runs 6 wickets down in the 18^th over.

A very credible result finishing 2^nd in the GPS and a great lead in to the season proper. Our play was characterised by excellent skills, clear thinking under pressure and a strong team belief and ethic. We look forward to the start of the regular season against Shore on Saturday November 3.

Matthew Nicholson
MiC Cricket