Ryan’s ready to rip in

At just 18 years of age and having recently completed his HSC, Narrabri cricketer Ryan Meppem left his home town and arrived in Sydney where he would link up with Sydney Premier Cricket side Gordon Cricket Club.

Three seasons and 108 wickets later the 20-year-old off-spinner, who is also quite handy with the bat, feels like he is only just getting started.

Meppem’s game has reached new heights since his arrival in Sydney and he is now eager to play as many first grade games as possible when the 2020-21 season rolls around.

The talented spinner made his first grade debut in November 2017 which was his only top grade match that season, then in the 2018-19 campaign he played two more first grade games.

During the past season Meppem played six first grade games and competed in all of the club’s Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup first grade games.

The 20-year-old is a competitive athlete who is always eager to rise to new levels.

He told The Courier that in the 2020-21 season he wanted to play as many games in the top grade as he could.

“The three seasons have been really good, it’s been a great experience,” Meppem said of his time at Gordon.

“I feel like I’ve learnt a lot of stuff along the way. My game has progressed well, there’s great coaching there so I feel like I’ve progressed well with my bowling, I’m really happy with how it’s going.

“I’ll be back at Gordon next season which is good and hopefully I can cement my spot in first grade and do well, just build on last season and take as many wickets as I can in first grade.”

Meppem said that he has also developed as a person off the field, transitioning from a share house with clubmates into his own residence at Lane Cove where he now lives with his girlfriend Lara, and scoring a full time job with Virgin Active Health Club in Frenchs Forest.

On the field the 2019-20 campaign was well and truly a breakthrough one for the Narrabri cricketer.

Meppem took 33 wickets in his first season at Gordon then 30 in his second, but in the latest campaign he finished as the club’s leading wicket taker with 45 wickets in 30 games.

In 249.2 overs across all formats and competitions, Meppem bowled 32 maidens and conceded just 983 runs at an average of 21.84 and an economy of 3.94.

He had best bowling figures of 5-106 as he claimed his first five-wicket-haul in NSW Premier Cricket in a thumping second grade win back in October last year.

At Chatswood Oval, opposition side Randwick Petersham batted first in that game and made 308 runs from 86.4 overs.

Meppem bowled 31 of those overs and spun his way to his season-best figures.

The Gordon top order then got the job done, with the side losing just two wickets as it secured an eight-wicket victory.

Another highlight during the 2019-20 season for Meppem was his club’s Poidevin-Gray Shield campaign.

The Poidevin-Gray Shield is an under-21 competition and the past season was the Narrabri cricketer’s last chance to play in that arena for Gordon given he will be too old next season.

Gordon played in the Sixers conference and topped the 10-team table after going through the six-round regular season undefeated.

Gordon won its conference semi-final quite convincingly against Mosman to win its seventh straight game in that competition but lost the conference final against UTS North Sydney, falling just short of a spot in the grand final which UTSNS went on to lose against Thunder Conference team Fairfield-Liverpool.

Meppem’s last season in Narrabri was the 2015-16 campaign when he played for Golf Club. He then played for Tamworth District Cricket Association club South Tamworth during the 2016-17 season. Next season will be his fourth in Sydney Premier Cricket.