UNSW Sydney and Queensland Universities Purple win National T20 Cricket Championships

UNSW Sydney win Men’s Championship after 8 year wait

What a week it was in the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay Region! We had five clear days of competition, and UNSW Sydney (UNSW) have won the 2025 UniSport Nationals T20 Cricket Men’s Championships for the first time since 2017 after beating University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in the gold medal match. 

In the final, UNSW smashed their way to a total of 5/182 and received the gold medal as winners. A captain’s knock of 44 from opening bat, Ethan Jamieson, paved the way. Oliver Patterson was the pick of the UTS bowlers, finishing with 2/26 off his 4 overs. UTS batted valiantly but ultimately fell short, finishing on 9/142. Ethan Kooner and Nirav Prasan (both UNSW) took multiple wickets as UTS lost batsmen at crucial moments in the testing chase. UTS received the silver medal as runners-up of the competition. 

In the bronze medal match, Macquarie University (MQU) batted first and set an imposing target of 6/171. Lachlan Roughley (MQU) played a brilliant hand in their innings with 63 not out from just 38 balls. The University of Western Australia (UWA) could not muster the run rate needed and ended up being bowled out for just 119. Top wicket taker for the competition, Vansh Bhatia (MQU), was ultra-economical in his 4 overs, taking crucial wickets and finishing with 3/14. MQU received the bronze medal as winners of the play-off. 

UniSport also recognised some individual performers with prizes. Ben Middlemas (UWA) was the week’s top run scorer with 347 runs. Vansh Bhatia (MQU) the top wicket taker with 21 wickets. Daniel Skipwith ensured the ball got plenty of air-time, smashing 25 6s. A double hattrick was also recognised in a match played earlier in the week, taken by UTS bowler Oliver Patterson. 

“We came here with confidence,” UNSW Men’s Co-Captain Akshay Prasan said after the match, “but also knowing there were a lot of other great teams here.”  

“We had a great week, we ended up going through undefeated and finishing up with the win this morning,” Parsan added. “My favourite thing about the competition is that it is a great week to meet people from all across the country, awesome to get to know people on and off the field and the spirit that the cricket has been played in across the week has been great to see.”

The National Men’s T20 Cricket Championship forms a part of the selection criteria for the combined Australian Universities cricket teams in 2025. The Australian Universities team that travelled to India in late 2024, played six T20 matches and a 45-over match during a 12-day tour, and will now face a return tour against a combined Indian Universities team later this year. 

Inaugural Women’s T20 Cricket Competition Sees Queensland Purples Win

The inaugural Women’s National T20 Cricket Championship saw three combined university teams head to the Caboolture Cricket Club for three days of competition in fantastic dry and sunny conditions.   

UniSport and our member universities saw the need to take a proactive approach to kick starting a women’s competition. With students from universities across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria combining to fill three composite teams, a Queensland Maroon, Queensland Purple and a New South Wales/Victorian side. Ten universities were represented by players across the three teams, which saw a combination of T15 matches on the first two days, and a T20 semi-final and gold medal final match on the last day.  

Matches on the two opening days were all close affairs with each team getting at least one win. Queensland Universities Maroon collected 3 wins and earned themselves a place in the Gold Medal match. The battle for the remaining place in the final unfold on the oval. The NSW/VIC Universities team put everything on the line, but the steady opening partnership for Queensland Universities purple of Trinity Doyle, University of Southern Queensland (76) and Eloise Schabe, Griffith University (52) helped secure them the win. 

The Gold Medal match between the two Queensland university sides was a spirited match with QLD Purple chasing down QLD Maroon’s 4/164 (20) with 4/165 (18.3), to be named the 2025 T20 Cricket Women’s Champions. Lead by captain Darcey Johnson who top scored with 76 for the match and Trinity Doyle with a 65. 

Reflecting on her team’s performance, QLD Purple Captain, Darcey Johnson (Queensland University of Technology) said, “It’s a great feeling to have captained the winning side this year. I’m proud of how the girls played. We started with zero from two games on the first day and ended up winning the tournament, so couldn’t be happier with how the girls turned up. They didn’t stop trying and I think those efforts showed in our results.” 

“In the inaugural women’s T20 cricket competition, it was great to see participation from Victoria and New South Wales universities,” Johnson continued, “as well as having enough for two Queensland university sides. Hopefully in the future, we’ll be able to get individual university teams, but I absolutely loved the event this year.”  
 
“This is an event for girls of all skill levels to get involved in. We had people that have never played cricket before playing alongside girls that have played for years,” Johnson said summing up the competition, “so if you’re thinking about it, just sign up and give it a crack. You’ll make loads of new friends, meet people from different states, and it’s a great experience.” 

A key highlight of the inaugural competition was that balance of experienced and developing female cricketers, getting an opportunity to showcase their skills and represent their university at a Nationals competition. The student athletes were fantastic representatives of their universities, and cricket and this event gave them an opportunity meet students from across the country who share their passion for cricket. 

The three team captains; Tarah Staines (UniSC), Darcy Johnson (QUT) and Claire McGurk (MQU) led their team extremely well across the week and selected a best and fairest winner for each team. 

QLD Purple: Trinity Doyle (UniSQ) 

NSW/VIC: Elizabeth Cormack (ACU) 

QLD Maroon: Emma Taylor (Bond) 

Congratulations to all the teams who took part in the National T20 Cricket Championships in 2025. With new competitions, new teams and even new champions, 2025 has laid the foundations for an exciting future of university T20 cricket. See you all in 2026. 

If you are interested in representing your university in this prestigious competition, reach out to your university team manager on our contact page of the unisport.com.au website. 

About UniSport 

UniSport Australia (UniSport) is the peak body for university sport in Australia. 42 universities are members of UniSport, representing a population of over one million students. UniSport’s ambition is to become an integral partner of Australian universities to deliver an outstanding student experience at our national intervarsity sports competitions. UniSport is also committed to advocate on the value of sport on student experience.      

More information on UniSport: www.unisport.com.au 

For more information please contact UniSport through our website.