Adelaide Uni to host T20 national championships

Adelaide University Cricket Club (AUCC) will host the National Premier T20 Championships starting Tuesday 3 March.

The T20 cricket champions of each state and territory across the country (with two each from both NSW and Victoria) will compete over two days with matches at the Club’s home ground at Adelaide University Oval, War Memorial Drive, and at Karen Rolton Oval, at Gladys Elphick Park (Narnungga Park 25).

Matches over Tuesday 3 March and Wednesday 4 March will begin at 10 am and 2.30 pm, with the final played at Karen Rolton Oval at 2.30 pm, Wednesday 4 March.

A number of Australian Test and one-day international players, plus a large number of players regularly seen in the Big Bash League will be participating, including Jake Weatherald (Strikers), Nick Winter (Strikers) and Joe Mennie (Renegades) for AUCC. Usman Khawaja (Valley Districts, QLD), Ashton Turner and Shaun Marsh (both Fremantle Cricket Club, WA) are also named to play.

“The Adelaide University Cricket Club is not only excited to see our players compete against the best T20 cricketers from around the country, but also proud to host and share our historic grounds and facilities with visiting teams and the broader cricketing community,” says Club President and University of Adelaide law graduate Stephen Dickinson.

The AUCC qualified to enter the National Premier T20 Championships as hosts by winning the 2019/2020 South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) West End T20 Cup competition in January. They won all matches in the SA competition, including beating East Torrens in the final. 

"We aim to offer all of our students a quality experience, and that includes the opportunity to participate in the many wonderful clubs and societies that make up that broader University of Adelaide education."Professor Pascale Quester, University of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic)

University of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Pascale Quester says: “The University of Adelaide is tremendously proud of its sporting clubs and their long history of excellence.

“University is not just about academic studies. We aim to offer all of our students a quality experience, and that includes the opportunity to participate in the many wonderful clubs and societies that make up that broader University of Adelaide education.”

The AUCC was founded in 1907 and admitted to the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) in 1908. Over the years it has won four SACA Premierships in 1925/26, 1992/93, 1994/95 and 1997/98.

“The Adelaide University Cricket Club (AUCC) has a proud history of excellence in representing the University of Adelaide, the third-oldest university in Australia, and an institution that competes on the national and international stage,” says Club Chairman and University of Adelaide Arts (Honours) graduate Lachlan Coleman.

“Thus, it is only fitting that the AUCC now has an opportunity to challenge for a national T20 competition title, and we will do so knowing that we have the passionate support of the whole University of Adelaide community.”

The club currently fields 14 competitive teams, including two women’s teams across SACA Premier Cricket, Adelaide Turf Cricket Association, SA Veterans and SACA Super Cricket.

The Club’s first grade squad currently includes four South Australian Redbacks players: Joe Mennie, Nick Winter, Jake Weatherald and Will Bosisto.

Currently, at this stage of the 2019-2020 season heading into the final rounds, AUCC teams sit at the top of the ladder in Men’s 1st, 2nd and 4th Premier grades and in finals positions in six other grades. Already this season the club has seen four Premierships in the 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th grade T20 competitions and in the SA Vets Over 60s.