WHAT started out as a normal day’s cricket at Graham Reserve in Balgowlah on Saturday ended up with two Manly players smashing a longstanding club record.
Fourth grade openers Luke Edgell and Billy D’Arcy combined to score the club’s highest first wicket partnership of 273 runs in the game against Campbelltown Camden over nearly five hours.
They broke the Manly first-wicket record set by Richard Fry and Greg Bush in a first grade game against North Sydney in the 1990-91 season.
Manly were chasing 274 to win the game when the duo came to the crease.
In the 70 overs they were together Edgell hit 152 runs while D’Arcy hit his maiden ton and ended up 114 not out.
After Edgell was dismissed one run shy of Campbelltown’s total, D’Arcy sealed the victory by belting a four.
Edgell said batting for that long could be physically and mentally draining.
“The best thing is that you get to switch off between overs and you get to switch off between balls,” he said.
“You can talk to each other the whole time, you have a few jokes in the middle and then get back to the task at hand. When you’re communicating and working together you feel you want to be there for the other bloke as well as yourself.”
Edgell, who has played grade cricket for 10 years, described the stand as a career highlight.
“Not from my personal achievement but more so that I got to see a Manly junior score his first 100 and be at the crease with him,” he said.
And it was a moment that D’Arcy will never forget.
“I was pretty stoked to bat all day with Luke — he’s a legend,” D’Arcy said.
“Physically, I was wrecked at the end.
“And then someone said it was a club record across all grades, which was awesome.”
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