Dominant Club Performance Headlined by Twin Tons and Televised Tahs – Weekend Wrap 6/7 Feb 2021

A fter a great recovery last week by the Skip and Gainsy, the boys were hoping for some better weather so that we could continue to improve our position on the ladder. 120 overs were allocated for the day with just over half the overs missed last week. With Gainsy on 77* overnight, there were certainly some nerves around the dressing shed as he approached his maiden 1^st Grade century.

After an hour’s delay due to rain, the boys eventually made their way out, and to the delight of many, Wests brought on their leg-spinner who proceeded to bowl the same line and length as last week, escorting Gainsy to the 90’s very efficiently. Wests swiftly reverted to their seamers who both bowled well, making the hairs on David Gainsford head disappear further. After a nervous few overs with Wests’ quicks hitting their lengths, Gainsy brought up a very well-earned century to the delight of his family and all the boys in the pavilion. Gains fell shortly after bringing up his ton leaving his partnership with Jay 2 runs shy of the club’s highest 6^th wicket partnership. After Gainsy departed, Jay continued to dominate as he finished with his highest score for the club – 156*.

With 304 on the board, trying conditions and Wests requiring a result to stay in touch with the 6, we were confident our bowlers would back up the efforts of Jay and Gains and get the job done. Hadley and Kaye opened-up, moving the ball around and maximising the bowler-friendly conditions. 1-40 quickly became 3-40 as Hadley and Herd picked up crucial wickets just before the tea break, Herd dismissing danger man Clarke with an absolute seed caught well by Ryan ‘buckets’ Farrell at 1^st slip.

Wickets continued to fall after tea as the boys didn’t miss their lengths. Hadley, Carden and Gainsford all bowled beautifully, picking up a wicket each as Elliot chipped away at the other end bowling 25 straight with great control. Some strong resistance from Wests lower order made for a tense last hour as 8-107 became 8-175 as we began to run short of time. After plenty of near chances, Hadley finally got a well-deserved breakthrough, dismissing the #9 for 44. Herdy fittingly picked up the final wicket with another seed, handing the Manly boys a very well-deserved win.

3 points – Jay Lenton

2 points – Sam Gainsford

1 point – Elliot Herd

Tom Kaye

2 ‘s always excites, just pure tough cricket with twists and turns and weird stuff.

T he mighty main grade made the trek out bright and early to Punchbowl Oval for a 120-over marathon last weekend, and thankfully found a pitch that had actually been prepared this time around (it’s amazing what can be done when you bother to put the covers down).

After a considerable quorum of the team had imbibed at the golf day the previous day, we were glad that everyone made it to the ground on time & relatively hangover free – with one notable exception.. I think we might all have to chip in and buy Sam Webber an alarm clock for next week!

After an energetic warm up, the skipper promptly lost the toss and we were asked to have a bat first amidst some low cloud & the constant threat of rain. The 2 Webber’s (Max and Sam) did well to blunt most of the new ball which was doing a bit, until Max got one which popped up & took a glove. Sam was at his dogged best, although was quite perturbed by the extremely slow outfield & the number of 3’s he was having to run. He found an ally in Tim Doonan who started to up the ante after the first drinks break and made an effortless 40 before nicking one to slip.

At 3/95 at lunch, we were confident that we would be able to push on to a 180+ score and be able to declare with enough time to bowl Wests out, however no one could have predicted what happened next.  With a dry ball & a rock hard seam on a still damp-ish deck, the Wests bowlers started to hit some good areas and made life hard for our middle & lower order who weren’t quite able to absorb the pressure.. all of a sudden we had lost 6/20 and it was only thanks to a tough dig from the skipper that we were able to creep our way to a sub-par 130.

With our tail firmly between our legs, we headed out into the field knowing that some early poles would put the pressure back on Wests who had only won 2 games all year. Big Mick was bowling some absolute thunderbolts downwind on a greasy deck, roughing up the openers and finally being rewarded with a glove down leg & an absolute blinder of a catch from Schwebbs – proving his class behind the stumps no matter how he was feeling.

However from there, Wests consolidated, prodding and edging their way to 1/50 at tea and had us on the ropes. Some calm words from the skipper about sticking to our plans and believing in our ability as a fielding group saw us come out with a renewed focus, and the introduction of spin proved to be the masterstroke, with Lachie Trewartha spinning a web and dismissing both of the set batsmen shortly after tea. He bowled in great partnership with Alex Bain whose figures of 1/15 off 10 straight overs don’t tell the true story of how well he bowled, creating multiple chances which didn’t quite stick.. However after tea we had taken 5/23 off 18 overs and wrestled the momentum firmly back into our favour.

Wests still only needed to score at around 1.5 an over though and kept nudging their way closer and closer, until RBP came back on and nicked off the one batsman showing any intent. Wigney also bowled well into the wind from the other end, getting one to nip back and trap their skipper plumb in front, putting us just 2 wickets from victory & 30 runs still to play with. But to Wests’ credit, they hung in there & kept creeping along as we entered the final hour, before Lachie T came back on and enticed their #10 to run past one and give him his 5th wicket – 5/24 off 15 overs if you don’t mind. The game was getting tenser and tenser, with all results still possible, until RBP found the #11’s edge which was gobbled up by Schwebbs to complete one of the most successful Pepsi’s ever, and a win to the good guys by just 11 runs in the end!

Big thanks must go to Roy (for both waking up & bringing Schwebbs to the ground) and Rossco who were out there with us all day riding every single delivery, and also to the umpires for persevering throughout the drizzle at various times during the day – thankfully it always blew over and we didn’t lose any time from the game, which proved quite pivotal at the end of the day. Onwards and upwards for the Mighty 3’s who have now jumped up into 3rd spot on the ladder & look forward to continuing the momentum with another road trip out to Merrylands next weekend.

3 points – Lachie Trewartha
2 points- Alex Bain
1 point – Sam Webber

Dom Wheeler

A fter a late finding of the team kit in the Grahams sheds and an executive decision from Skid to can the pre-match touch game due to an abnormally high injury risk with many legends of the club turning back the clock, fourth grade returned to the field with Wests one wicket remaining.

The young tail didn’t last long with Ollie Melville claiming his fourth wicket for the match in his second over. Chasing 162, Rowan Hamman and Justin Cox opened the manly innings, with Hammo seeing off their opening fast bowler without facing as he spiked himself mid-action. That forced the opposition captain to commit the crime of bowling an experienced spinner with the new ball, to which he was punished with the odd short rubbish. After Coxy was bowled for 11, Jake Osborne was brought to the crease, getting off the mark with a maximum lofted over mid-wicket. Hammo falling lbw for a very solid 28 meant it was time for the sandy outfield to weather multiple covers trips as rain delays were followed by an unfortunate decision to call drinks.

After the break, a quick stay from Alec Duly welcomed Mickey Edwards, standing 3 feet above the young keeper and producing 2 boundaries to start his innings. His mind still in his crosswords early, Mickey stuck it out with a valuable 24, allowing Jake to raise the bat and captain Andrew Lindsay to test the boundaries against a bowling attack consisting of spinners and more spinners. Both men finished not-out, with Jake on 63 and Billy on 25, claiming the points 4 down after 45 overs.

Points TBC

James Waddington

W ith the first weekend washed out, rain forecast for Saturday and 1 point splitting the two sides it was going to be an important clash with the winner keeping in touch with the top 6 teams.

Western Suburbs won the toss and elected to bowl on a soft wicket with plenty in it for the bowlers. Even with the opposition bowlers giving nothing early on, our boys played positive cricket putting away the rare bad ball and taking plenty of body blows. Manly lost regular wickets before Evan Dunnachie got the score boarding moving with an aggressive 34 runs. A number of small partnership kept the scoreboard ticking over for Manly with the rain threatening to stop play regularly. A last-wicket stand between Raja Ganeshraj and Liam Dinan of 32 took the total to 144.

Western Suburbs needing 145 off 44 overs were put under pressure from the outset with tight bowling and great fielding. The early wicket was the call for Manly with Evan Dunnachie (3 over 2/11) doing the damage thanks to a sharp catch by Simon Waddington in the slips. Manly continue to press with their spinners with Raja Ganeshraj taking another 2 wickets (7 overs 2/11). Western Suburbs 6/77 and needing over 7 runs an over, enticed a much-needed wicket from Simon Waddington which opened the door for Manly. With time now against both sides and Wests pushing for the win, Roop was brought on for one last time, answering the captains call Roop took 2 wickets (7 overs 2/5) before the umpires called time and the game finished in a frustrating draw for both sides.

3 Points – Evan Dunnachie

2 Points – Roop Dhillon

1 Point – Raja Ganeshraj

Roop Dhillon

A fter a cracking win Saturday, the boys were up and about ready for a big day against a strong Fairfield outfit. Both sides welcomed back big bash players and a Sydney Cricket first, Kayo livestream. Jay lost the toss and we were sent in on a decent-looking wicket.

After a big night celebrating the Sixer’s back to back titles, Jack Edwards joined Benny Bryant at the top of the order. The pair toiled through some quality fast bowling from NSW quick Hatcher. The boys set us up well for the day, putting on 140 for the first wicket. Benny departed for a well-made 48 as Jack and Ollie continued to rotate the strike and punish any loose deliveries. Ollie fell for 23 and Jack soon followed for a hard-earned 92. Jay and Farrell continued to push the scoreboard along as the pair put on an important 50 run stand in quick time. Farrell fell for 20 as Jay continued his red-hot form smashing 55 from 39, guiding us to a very strong score of 284. 

Early wickets were going to be key and the openers got off to a great start. Tom picked up the first with a good catch from Farrell at 1. From there it was the Ryan Hadley show. Hads backed up from a 20 over stint Saturday, bowling at high pace with great control as he took the life out of the Fairfield top order. With the score at 5-23, the Lions were out for the count. Some good batting from their middle order saw a 77 run 6^th wicket stand. Jakey Carden got the needed breakthrough, dismissing Uppal for 52 as Farrell took yet another great catch. Hads came back into the attack and picked up a very well deserved 5fa. Jakey finished off the tail, bashing a good length and reaping the rewards. Fairfield were bowled out in the 28^th for 128.

A very dominant performance from the boys capping off an excellent weekend. A big thank you to all the volunteers for their efforts on Sunday with the ground setup and the support on the hill all afternoon. See you all down at Manly Oval next Sunday as we take on Randwick in the Semi-Final.

Up the Tahs!!

Tom Kaye

A beautiful summers day greeted our second-grade girls at Grahams Reserve last Sunday to play Northern Districts. After our weekly pre-game warm-up, Captain Mikaela Turik won the toss and elected to bowl. 10 o’clock came around and Manly was ready to begin the bowling attack.

Annabel Hutt and Sienna James opened with a pace and spin combination. Annie bowled to the left and right-handed batters beautifully and finished her spell with 1/15 off 5 overs. After Northern Districts’ first wicket had fallen. Manly had more chances that unfortunately just didn’t make it into our girl’s hands. Charley Camburn also bowled well  (⅛ off 3), lifting our morale. Not too much time passed before Natalie Jonkers made another breakthrough leaving ND’s 3 for 42 off 14. However, Manly’s energy again dropped with one of Northern Districts’ batters, CK McGuirk, looking confident at the crease.

Northern Districts scored another 30 runs before our spinners began to put pressure onto the opposition. Zara Shipp was the next to cause damage, taking 2 quick wickets. Zara’s spell yielded an impressive 2/15 off 5 overs. Unfortunately, Northern Districts kept on coming, and Manly just couldn’t seem to find their mojo, losing our energy once again. It wasn’t until Sienna James came back to the crease, along with Claire Waddington, taking 3 wickets between them, that we gained the confidence to finish them off. (Sienna James 2/34 off 7 overs) (Claire Waddington 1/34 off 6 overs). Kristie Crawford took a late wicket and the innings came to an end when Mia Waddington took Northen Districts’ last wicket at 155. (K Crawford ¼ off 1) (M Waddington ⅛ off 2). Congratulations to Northern Districts’ Claire McGuirk, who scored 67 runs.

After lunch Neave Bullen and Zara Shipp went out to begin the chase, unfortunately, we lost early wickets with Zara offering resistance with a well made 13. Mikaela then took on the challenge but unfortunately had little support as we continued to lose wickets. Mikaela was the 8th wicket to fall, scoring 28. A late flurry from Mia Waddington looked promising but the innings concluded on 75.

Hannah Woolf

B REWERS REPORTS