It was a tough weekend for the top grades against the Eastern Suburbs Dolphins on Saturday. 1st grade have already suffering a first innings loss at Waverley Oval, but with a day to play next week some hard work could bring 2nd innings points into play. In 2nd grade a defiant last wicket stand took the visitors to an imposing 323 at close of play despite earlier having Easts 9/189, while 3rd grade were also put on the back foot after being reduced to 3/5 and ending the day at 6/68 after bowling Easts out for 157 courtesy of an impressive 5fa from Uncle Mick Counsell. Skipper Nick McLachlan (28*) and Zach Trewartha (5*) remain at the crease.
4th Grade are 0/19 after rolling the visitors at Grahames Reserve for 167 thanks to a brilliant bowling display from Joel Davies (7-31), while Josh Wigney also chipped in with 2 wickets. 5th Grade had a dominant day with the bat, amassing 322 thanks to a commanding 72 to Jack Melchiore and repeat half-centuries to Oscar Lucius and Ollie Melville.
On another positive note, all of Manly’s Junior rep teams from u/11s through to u/16s registered wins in their rep fixtures on Sunday. While also on Sunday 1st Grade were able to turn things around with a strong 39-run win over the North Sydney/UTS Bears at North Sydney Oval thanks to Chris Green (64) and Jack Edwards (a 6-ball 23) with the bat while the wickets were shared with 2 apiece to Sam Gainsford, Ryan Hadley and the Edwards brothers.
We won the toss expecting a tough first hour… it turned out to be a very tough first two hours.
All out for 91 by 12:30 due to an extremely strong bowling performance from the Easts opening bowler, Rowe, taking 7 wickets by standing the seam up beautifully and utilizing the conditions.
With 70 overs to bowl after lunch we bowled really well, sticking to our plans and managed to have them 8-180 overnight. Greenie and Mickey were the standouts with the ball but everyone who bowled was effective and performed well.
With 96 overs left in this game we firmly believe that we can turn the result around and come away with the 6 points.
Ahillen Beadle
Good morning, evening and night to the fans of 2nd XI,
2’s loss the toss this weekend and Eastern Suburbs selected to bat first on a flat wicket.
Eastern Suburbs started off well then took a very sharp U-turn with some less-than-average shots on display. Continuing on this road they continued to lose wickets at a regular pace throughout the day at 9-189. Wicket were shared around the team with Jake Carden taking 3 and Taylor Beatty, Andrew Hicks and Elliott Herd all taking 2 wickets.
Tragedy struck half way through the game in what puts everything into perspective. A young man was hit by a van coming up Sydney road on his bike, Taylor Beatty the team doctor was quickly on site to do his part. The game was stopped as a chopper was called upon, which landed on a length upon arrival. This was a first for most involved and serves as a reminder to be safe, wear a helmet and keep your eyes peeled.
What happened next was simply last wicket terror….. to what seems like a reoccurring problem for 2’s. With Remond (batting 9) putting on a display of timing to making a 116* and Skelly number 11 making 50. To be fair they batted very well on a very flat pitch and only the players on the field were wishing they were somewhere else.
Eastern Suburbs ended up with 323 for the day all out leaving Manly with a big total to chase on day 2.
Thank you to Willy boy for transporting the helmets on and off the field for the duration of the in a majestical fashion.
Elliot Herd
The Manly Boys rolled in bang on time for their 3rd Grade clash with Eastern Suburbs, some delays on the bridge and some poor navigation wasn’t an issue. The pitch looked flat, the sun was out – a perfect day for batting. So we of course lost the toss and were forced to bowl.
Their openers lived dangerously edging and bunting their way to a solid start before Counsell made the first break through. The pitch varied in bounce and provided a small challenge for the batsmen early. Eastern Suburbs were chugging along nicely after the first session at 1-50 before a dreadful cordial mix and some stern words from skipper Mclachlan brought about a few quick wickets. Isaiah sliding one onto the outside edge and Counsell obliterating some stumps was exactly what the doctor ordered.
The day rolled on and the boys didn’t let up Griffin and Counsell bowling very well backed up by Brad Wilson, Lachie T and Isaiah Vumbaca. Steady wickets and a fine bowling display to rip apart the tail big Micky Counsell stormed to his first 5fa of the season and Manly were able to bowl out Easts for 157.
Going into bat the boys new the key was a solid start on a pitch that was now keeping very low with some variable bounce and a some demons. Enough to keep Easts interested. One particular umpire continued to struggle as he had all day and this was no exception as Ned Hole was given caught down legside when it was clearly off his hip. However no disputing 4 of the next 5 dismissals as the ball kept low and demolished the stumps of Matt Brewster, Jordan Daly, Griffin Lea and Isaiah Vumbaca. Amidst all this Jacob O’sullivan somehow knicked off?
Struggling big time at 6-30 the skipper and our long haired ginger man Zach combined to grind and slash their way to 6-68 at the end of the days play giving the boys a sniff at pulling off a come from behind win on day 2.
Notable performances: Counsell 5fa and Mclahclan 30 odd not out.
Jordan Daly
The Manly team started its innings confidently with a fabulous boundary to Robyn Medley, but after two overs they had lost both openers and consequently were facing an uphill battle against a varied bowling attack. Zara Shipp and Mia Waddington combined well for the highest partnership of the innings, but once Zara was unfortunately run out wickets again fell steadily and Manly were unable to regain momentum. A tenacious last wicket partnership between the Waddington sisters kept a glimmer of hope alive for Manly, but it was ended by a mix-up running between the wickets.
The team fell disappointingly short this time, but there were noticeable improvements in the all-round bowling and fielding effort.
3- Kristie Crawford
2- Mia Waddington
1- Zara Shipp
Fielding- Nat Jonkers