4 Pines Player of the week – Sam Alexander
A great 2nd grade debut for Sam, picking up 5/50, making it his third 5 wicket haul this year, a remarkable achievement in just 8 rounds. His left arm finger spinners were sent down in a well varied mix of flight and guile and he went a long way to stopping Parramatta getting a big score, getting rid of the well set middle order in quick succession when he came on.
Always at training, putting nets up, bowling and getting stuck in to whatever needs to be done, Sam is enjoying a great start to the year. Well done mate!
Sam Alexander – another haul
This was obviously quite a bit less than we should have scored, however we felt this would be competitive if we bowled and fielded well. Michael Visser broke through early to dismiss their opener, however a 2nd wicket partnership ensued. The turning point of the match was Ahillen Beadle dismissing their other opening bat Bertus just as he was starting to get going, thanks to a wonderful outfield catch from Cam Merchant.
We kept applying the pressure from here and as the run rate rose the wickets fell quite regularly as Parramatta were bowled out for 174. The wickets ended up being shared amongst the bowlers with Babula, Visser, Diserens taking two each and Beadle taking four.
Overall a good fighting victory. Hopefully we continue the momentum after Christmas.
Jack Ritchie
Batting was looking tough for the Manly boys with a howling wind and partnerships forming but not moving on. It wasn’t until Jordan Daly and Ryan Bulger came together and lifted the run rate, taking their partnership past the 100 run mark before Ryan was out , continuing his expansive stroke play.
In the end we finished short in what was a disappointing way to finish a game that was in the balance throughout. Big congratulations to Sam Alexander for his contribution with the ball, an outstanding debut for 2’s.
Merry Christmas to all,
We arrived at Merrylands Oval to find a similar looking wicket to what we are used to at Grahams, just not as hard. Upon losing the toss we were asked to bat. We lost wickets early, all 10 actually. We were dismissed for 106 in the 33rd over. Only Ronnie with 34 and Nick MT who played the perfect support role for Ronnie, 2no showed the toughness required to score runs on the seaming wicket. We lost 5 of our first 6 wickets either caught behind or in the cordon. Well bowled to Parramatta, putting he ball in the right areas and taking their chances. We unfortunately were not up t the challenge.
With 106 on the board we believed we could win, but we knew early wickets were the key. Nick MT and Danny Reynolds opened up ad both struggled to find the length we needed. Ronnie replaced Danny and took 3 wickets in a good spell, finding the right length that the conditions required. He finished with 3/56 off 9. Craig Little took the only other wicket, finishing wit 1/25 of 8. We fielded well and took our chances but we were 100 runs short of where we needed to be with the bat. Something all 11 of us are responsible for and need to improve on after Christmas.
We were completely outplayed in all aspects of the game today. A real wake up call for the second half of the season.
Merry Christmas to everyone. Enjoy the holidays.
Genie
4th Grade – Manly 9/245 (M.Cole 63, M. Alexander 44, J.Petersen 40) beat Parramatta 5/217 (W.Evans 3/24)
Grahames once again looked like it had something in it for the bowlers but not enough to bowl first if we won the toss, which we were lucky enough to do. Parramatta bowled well early, getting balls past the edge with Bill (8) falling earlyish, and Rowan (26) not quite getting into the rhythm of past innings. Sam Hole (6) got out soon after, caught in the gully to make it 2/30. Matt Cole (63) was having internal fights all day…..tonsils were flaring up and was in some discomfort for the day, he also looked like he wanted to belt the team into a good spot. When Rowan edged to 1st slip to make it 3/64 we were in a spot of bother. Drinks came in a timely manner so Matt could be told to calm down and he and Matt Alexander (44) constructed a really well made 100 run partnership. Matt A started slowly and just when he looked set to get a big one he hacked away into the breeze and got out with 14 overs remaining. A bit more self confidence with the bat and this bloke will be a true allrounder up the grades. Josh Petersen (40) and Matt C then put on another 45 runs to get us to 200 with 7 to go. Josh was hitting the ball well, especially to the on side. Unselfish contributions from the lower order ensured we got a competitive score with Dylan Marshall once again getting not out (11 runs).
Ben Kittlety (2/48 from 9) was unlucky not to get an early one with an edge not going to hand and Brad also put balls in the right spot but Parramata waited on the bad ball and helped themselves to a healthy start. Ben then changed ends and snared a great C&B to have them 1/50 from 12. Jacob Graham (0/47 from 10) bowled well into the breeze and stemmed the flow and he and Evans (3/24 from 7) got the required rate back up to over 6. Dylan (0/35 from 7) and Hole (0/35 from 10) then bowled superb spells going for no more than 3 an over during the critical 25 – 40 over period. Just at the end of their spells they had a go with 19 coming from Dylan’s last over. He bowled much better than this, as did Sam Hole – both deserved wickets and their partnership together went a long way to us winning the game. Like Bankstown last week there was not much energy shown by the chasing side and Manly cruised to another good win. Personally I would prefer to be all out for 180 chasing 245 then to finish 5/217.
This puts us equal 2nd. Hope you have a great break and see you in the New Year.
Wazza
5th Grade – Manly 6/119 (R.Trewartha 27) beat Parramatta 118 (T.Nicholl 3/20, Z.Trewartha 3/37, T.Kelly 2/27)
Even with a small chase it was going to be hard work for the manly side on a wicket that was still a minefield, and a solid start was what we needed. Joel Mason and Tommy “don’t post nude selfies on instagram” Kaye opened up for us with Maso getting off to a great start (23 off 9) and putting the third ball of our innings in the trees with a towering six. At that stage we felt as though we could be on top after one of their players asked us very kindly to finish that game as quick as we could. After two quick wickets we were all of a sudden 2/26 when Ross Trewartha came to the crease looking good for a solid and very well made 27, Zach was loving watching his old man out in the middle showing him great support yelling out “go dad!” as often as he could. Tom Kaye (18) held the innings together as batsman came and went, Toby Poole (9), Will Outred unlucky with an unplayable ball for a golden, it was a tough afternoon for Will as it was clearly noticeable how much he was missing Hamish, keep your chin up champ, he will be back soon.
In the end the manly boys got there 6 wickets down with Jake Carden and Zach seeing us home for a bonus point win and a great finish to the year.
Tom Kelly
PGs Manly 8/177 (T.Beatty 44, S.Webber 36, M.Pugh 32) lost to Northern Districts 196
