Business end of season looms after Saturday success and Sunday struggles – Weekend Wrap 18th/19th February 2023

Ds won the toss and decided to have a bat on what looked like a rather dead wicket at Asquith. After a wicketless 8 overs or so it looked like we may be in for a long day in the heat. Hads, who was on a restriction of 10 overs due to his 2nd XI game on Tuesday, got us started with a wicket in his 4th over. From here, we took wickets quickly, the pitch was going up and down and we were able to get the ball moving in the air consistently. Foz came on and ripped through their top order with his very fast out-swingers, ultimately ending with a 5 wicket haul. The only thing that topped this was his wicket celebrations (picture yasir shah).

Mickey bowled tremendously as well, taking 3 wickets. Look out for his half run up in future games, very promising for his English summer.  Jack was also back bowling after a small stint on the sidelines with a side strain and looked ominous with his designated 6 overs.

We ended up bowling NDs out for 51, and looked to chase it quickly to set us up for a look at outright on Sunday. Foz and AB started well with great intent before AB came off from a head knock. We passed their total quickly, 3 down, before Jay and Ryan batted out the rest of the afternoon before the incoming storm stopped play, ending up on 3-125.

Unfortunately the covers came off in the storm on Saturday night which soaked the pitch and made it unplayable come Sunday. Very disappointing given we were in such a great position for an outright win. However, with the other results we now sit top of the table with 2 rounds to go.

Big thank you must go to Jay especially who drove out to Asquith at 8pm on Saturday night to put the covers back on and also inspect the pitch in the morning so the majority of us didn’t have to drive out. Thank you to hads and Ollie as well (sorry if I missed anyone).

Special note: No play on Sunday allowed Mickey to play golf and win the comp at Long Reef with 41 points on his farewell tour. Well done Michael.

3 Points – Joel Foster
2 Points – Michael Edwards
1 Point – Jay Lenton

Ryan Farrell

anly second grade strolled into a  beautiful and quintessential Manly Oval morning, with grass on the wicket and a group of players ready to continue the hot momentum from the previous weeks performances.

Jamo decided to have a roll, and we started solidly – having the northern district boys 3 for not many in the early part of the game. Some solid middle session bowling led into a destructive end to the 50 overs, not allowing the tail to wag, and restricting a strong ND’s side to 137. Special mention to Roop’s 3fa, Jamo’s crucial 3 poles and Tommy’s usual reliable poles / economy.

The batting started off not exactly how we wanted, But an incredibly gritty and well fought partnership between Cam Merchant and Ned Hole, saw a large chunk of the total eaten away. Ned was unbelievable with 61 and Cam, with an aggressive and well constructed 36. With a little struggle finishing off the job, the Tah’s eventually chased the runs with 12 overs spare.

This took us to the top of the ladder and rounded off what was an exceptional week for the Waratahs !!

Go Manly!

3 Points – Ned Hole
2 Points – Cameron Merchant
1 Point – Roop Dhillon

Isaiah Vumbaca

anly’s 3rd grade side recorded an impressive 52-run victory against Northern Districts in round 13, thanks to a superb bowling performance on a typically flat and hard wicket at Grahams. The win sees Manly move a full game clear at the top of the table, with the team looking to cement a home final and a minor premiership.

Blessed with the presence of Lachlan Charles back in the side after dabbling in Japanese culture for a few weeks, the side remained otherwise unchanged from it’s last-start thumping of Sydney.

Confusion surrounding a rare away game at Grahams the excuse for Zach Trewartha, who many believe simply forgot it was Saturday, whilst Webber, Boulton and Daly also flirted with the penalties of a late. Further to this, a shoe-less Coach Vumbaca double booked his mafioso rendezvous with Bow Legged Bob during the ground fielding warm up and Sam Webber showed signs of CTE as he threw at a stump during touch football. All of these faux pas forgiven, as the opposition were yet to arrive or appear from the sheds. 1-0 to the ‘Tahs

Captain Hole won the toss and elected to bat first, with a clear plan to take our time to get in, play straight and earn the right to play our shots. Unfortunately, Manly found themselves at 2 for diddly squat, with wickets falling early on. However, a counter-attacking partnership between a particularly young Boulton and equally particularly middle-aged Daly helped to steer some momentum back in our direction, putting some runs on the board and setting up a platform for a competitive total.

Despite some wickets falling around him, Jordan Daly continued to push the scoreboard forward with some expansive stroke play, while Sam Webber’s run-a-ball 40-odd helped to steady the ship and dig Manly out of trouble. Matt Sunshine also cemented his position as captain of the one-bounce club, with some of the biggest shots you’ve ever seen not go for six. Unfortunately our plan to play straight, only needing 3 an over from the 35th to get to 200 didn’t quite go to plan as we lost four wickets for one run to end the innings. Whilst not ideal output from the tail, many would argue 9, 10, 11 shouldn’t be required for this role in a team looking to take home a trophy. Lachlan Trewartha was stranded a mere 100 runs shy of his maiden 3rd grade century.

Lunch was a fixed menu at just two items; A Sam Hole Spray or fresh granola and glass. Despite Ellis Raymond continually requesting Chicken Wrap, most of the team settled for a well deserved spray, whilst Counsell took a gamble and had a serving of each. If anyone knows a orthodontist or a lawyer (Isaiah Vumbaca?) please reach out. On an unrelated note, Boy Charlton pool serves a cracking Granola and Yoghurt – 5 stars.

With a subpar total to defend, Manly needed a strong bowling performance, and they got just that. Northern Districts started positively with the bat, being 0-23 off 3 overs, but back-to-back maidens from Counsell and Wigney stalled that momentum and helped to put the pressure back on the opposition. WinViz took the afternoon off once the first wicket fell to Counsell, thanks to a performance anxiety-riddled Sam Hole at short leg. Cricket is a funny game, and Grahams is a funny pitch.

As the pressure continued from the openers and runs became harder to come by, young Boulton(s) entered the attack and showed everyone just how big his feet are. At the other end, Matt Sunshine took the ball looking like he was about to knock on your door and ask if you’ve heard the good news of our loads and saviour Jesus Christ. Unfortunately for ND’s, Brother Matt bowled full, fast and straight (eventually). With 3 wickets in quick succession in a season plagued with 4fa’s that keep Matt up at night (No not another, every week.. EVERY WEEK!) matt found himself with 4. Uh oh. Thankfully the curse was broken as the ND’s quick decided to charge his first ball (at 6-70) and fell victim to a trademark Sunshine Yorker. Handshakes all round.

As Trewartha, Boulton(s), Wigney and Counsell rotated around Brother Matt, Captain Insano resisted the temptation to give himself a bowl “just to have a look”. Young Andy B took the last two wickets back to back to secure the win.

The win was an exceptional bowling display, with all our bowlers offering no respite and refusing to give an inch. On what was a 200+ par pitch, this was one of our best displays all season as we move towards finals cricket.

3’s now move a full game clear at the top of the table, as we look ahead to the next fixture and our preferred format of two-day cricket. We’ll be looking to go big against the students and cement our place at the top of the league.

Go Manly!

3 Points – Andrew Boulton
2 Points – Jordan Daly
1 Point – Matt Sunshine

he 4s Boys arrived to Story Park against last years club champions winners Northern Districts hungry to continue the winning momentum leading into finals in the search to win back to back premierships.

Skipper Rochford lost the toss and we were sent in the field for the first half of the day. Dunnachie and Rochford were unlucky in their opening spells with edges regularly finding the boundary to no avail of a wicket.

Kerr and Williams continued to bowl with accuracy and pace with Kerr collecting the first wicket caught by Cooper at gully with the score 1-45 after 11.

The rangers continued to put away the bad ball with experienced batters at the crease patiently accumulating runs with the score 1-73 after 16 at drinks.

Manly showed great fight back in the middle session with Kerr grabbing another wicket with a great catch at fine leg (nearly back stop for part time keeper Riggers) and K Mendel holding onto a sharp chance off Cummings in his first over.

Cummings 3-32 off his 10 and Noack 5 overs 0-17 halted the rangers momentum at 4-136 after 34 overs.

Unfortunately in the final session the rangers targeted the short boundary and showcased the advantage of having wickets in hand in the back 10 with Kerr being the  pick of the bowlers with 4-66 off 9 with the Rangers ending 8-233 after 50 overs.

Parkinson opened the batting with Mendel and got the boys off to a flying batting with positive intent and giving Manly early momentum before he got out for a stylish 28 off 23 balls.

The Manly boys then had a devastating collapse loosing 5-28 with the score 5-65.

Kerr (41) and Rigg (64) combined for a 108 partnership to swing the momentum back to the Tahs punishing the loose delivery and continuously rotating strike.

With a tense finish prospecting there was a 45 minute delay as lightning was spotted with Manly 18 runs ahead on DLS.

Unfortunately 2 quick wickets after the assumption swung the game back to the rangers entering in form batsman George Cummings (25*) and skipper rochford (14*)  to the crease with Manly requiring 30 more runs with only 2 wickets remaining.

Both the boys batted with patience and calmness to see the boys to a thrilling 2 wickets victory in the final 3 overs finishing 8-239 off 47.5 overs continuing the grades momentum sitting pretty 19 points above second place on the ladder.

3 Points – Lachie Kerr
2 Points – George Cumming
1 Point – Nick Rigg

Josh Cooper

ifth grade arrived at Mike Pawley oval on Saturday morning with a big job to do. A win against Northern District would see them climb to second place on the table in the back end of the season.

We lost the toss and were asked to field first on a very humid day. We started brilliantly with Josh Lawson and James Waddington both making the ball talk and taking wickets in their opening spells to put the visitors on the back foot early. ND’s toiled hard through the middle overs and managed to put together a few partnerships but the manly boys managed to find a breakthrough every time the opposition started to get comfortable. Wickets continued to fall as Northern District were ultimately bowled out for 141 in the 46th over, Josh Lawson finishing with outstanding figures of 4-20 off his 7 overs and the rest of the wickets being shared between the bowlers.

With 142 runs required and half the job done the boys walked out to bat but things didn’t go to plan in the early stages of the second innings as Northern Districts managed to pick up a few early wickets to make the game very interesting.

Jayden Kennedy batted beautifully and managed to find the rope on multiple occasions to get some momentum into the Manly innings before being dismissed for 28. Wickets continued to fall and the team were desperate for someone to stand up and get the boys home. Ollie Melville came in to bat at 5 with the middle and lower order batting around him as he played an innings of composure and patience, defending the good ones and dispatching the bowlers when they missed their lines or lengths. Ollie finished on 49 not out and managed to control the innings and steer the boys home to a 3 wicket win. A massive win for the Manly boys as we hope for very strong end to the regular season.

3 Points – Josh Lawson
2 Points – Ollie Melville
1 Point – Jayden Kennedy

Liam Dinan

TBC

ampbelltown forfeited to match due to a lack of players.

This week the Brewer girls arrived nice and early at Grahams for a must win match against Campbelltown-Camden.

It was a great effort from the parents and the girls carrying out some much-needed ground maintenance on the sidescreen and pitch to get it in shape for play after heavy storms the night before. Caitlin unfortunately lost the toss and we were made to bowl first. Great opening spells from both Darcey and Lara set the standard of consistency and led the way for us to take wickets at regular intervals. The first wicket came from a plum lbw from Lara, in the 4^th over. Not long after, a brilliant delivery from up and coming leg spinner, Kaya, removed Campbelltown’s second opener and Manly were buzzing with enthusiasm. A few batters on the opposition held their ground, but soon the girls lifted the energy again and put the pressure back, Darcey getting the breakthrough wicket with a nick to Ash the keeper. Regular breakthroughs from Kaya and a flurry of wickets from Ari in a stunning second spell lifted our spirits and desire to win. However, a few missed opportunities towards the back end of our bowling innings allowed for a star century from a member of the opposition and ultimately resulted in the girls having to chase a total of 197 at the end of the 50 overs.

Despite the heat having increased throughout the day, after lunch we were ready to attack the total of 197. Caitlin and Hannah opened the batting for us and got us off to solid start, before their partnership unfortunately breaking as Caitlin departed due to a good ball. Charlotte and Jaz supported Hannah very well in her innings, the two playing a multitude of nice shots before both unfortunately being caught out. Hannah however produced a great cameo of 24 runs off 40 balls, hitting 4 fours and putting the pressure right back on the bowlers. Despite some great intent and shots from the middle order, the girls couldn’t seem to pick the gaps, which led to frustration and some premeditated shots to a slow wicket and well-placed field. After multiple successive wickets, our chances seemed rather slim at 8 down, until Kaya (57 off 59) and Jaime (23 off 57 ) put on a tremendous show, producing over an 80 run partnership that really brought us back into the game. Both girls played some stunning shots with Kaya hitting 11 boundaries and Jaime hitting 4. It was great to see the lower order putting on an outstanding performance and achieve some of their personal best scores. Unfortunately, in the wake of a controversial ‘runout’, Jaime was dismissed, and our final wicket fell soon after, just 22 runs short of the win.

Overall, a great effort from the girls, but frustrating that we couldn’t secure the win, coming within 30 runs of winning a high run chase for second week in a row. Still many positives to take away from today. Also, special mention to Hannah who pushed through despite illness all day!

3 Points – Kaya Punter
2 Points – Jaime Loh
1 Point – Hannah Moss

Ashleigh Karcher