Dry Weekend has Waratahs putting Wickets and Runs on the Board – Weekend Wrap 15/16 October 2022

F

inally some cricket !

First grade made our way to Ryan Hadley’s stomping ground of Joe McAleer oval. A very strong bowling lineup saw Lenton win the toss and elect to bowl first. Not much luck went our way early with Hads and Mickey causing several plays and misses until Hads got the first breakthrough with a caught behind in the tenth over. From there, wickets flowed consistently through the patience of Carden, J Edwards and once again Hadley. All 4 quicks bowled superly all day, unfortunately, Mickey didn’t get any rewards but Hadley and Jack both picked up 3, Carden 2 and J Davies picking up the last two wickets to finish the innings.

Bowling Blacktown out for 109 was an extremely good effort but the runs still had to be scored. Foster and Beadle got us off to a very steady start putting on 40 before Foster was dismissed for 15. Beadle followed shortly after for 22 leaving Jack and Ollie at the crease. The two reconsolidated after the two quick wickets before starting to up the ante in an attempt to get the runs that day and secure first innings points. Ollie took it to the spinners hitting several boundaries before reaching 50 off just 45 balls. Jack departed for 19 at 3/123 and we decided to bat for another 3 overs before declaring at 4/139 leading by 30 runs with 8 overs left in the day. O Davies finishing with 56 not out.

The last 8 overs of the day were very similar to the first innings with lots of plays and misses so close to taking a few to close the day but luckless once again.

Great to get back on the field for the first time this season and to get off to a start like that tops it off. Hoping to take home all 10 points next weekend.

Joel Davies

W

ith a day of sun on the forecast and the opportunity to play at Manly Oval the 2’s boys were in good spirits early. Only improved by a rare toss win from returning skipper Jamieson.

A solid start saw the boys reach 1/100, unfortunately lost O’Sullivan just after lunch for a hard fort 37 In what were tricky conditions early. Brewster and Daly kept on grinding away throughout the day to make life hard for Blacktown. With a nice mixture of stroke play and strike rotation the pair put on another hundred or so before Brewster was out just before tea for 157. Daly carried on after tea and was assisted beautifully by Vumbaca who together upped the anti to give the boys a defendable target. Daly ended on a well compiled 84* and Vumbaca with an efficient and well assisted 54.

Declaring on 5-347, Manly planned on a couple wickets to take into next week and sent Blacktown in for 8 overs, ending 1-21 with a wicket to Seward late in the day.

Capped a good days cricket for Manly with the boys looking to kick on next week and take 6 points. Haway the Lads.

Go Manly.

Matt Brewster

A

 leisurely start for the main grade as the 12.15pm starts returned. Just a short trip down 5 motorways to the atmospheric Whalan Reserve to face Blacktown on a rare day of sunshine England, sorry Sydney. Randwick looked like a terrible place to be.

A damp outfield combined with a highway of a track left Captain Hole in a conundrum over the toss but fortunately he called incorrectly and we were put into bat. Brynn and Hole strode to the crease looking for a solid start and it didn’t take long for the runs to flow. Seemingly playing two different forms of cricket, Brynn picked off from last season dispatching the ball to all corners of Western Sydney while Hole nudged and nurdled.

Brynn was first to reach 50 with imperious striking (Hole 17*) as Manly punished some varied bowling from the Blacktown spinners. If the excitement on the pitch wasn’t enough the locals performing wheelies on dirt bikes and a RX race track provided a comforting soundtrack to the batting masterclass unfolding in front of the joyous crowd.

Almost as rare as the sunshine, Sam Hole’s recently enlarged biceps helped him muscle his first six of his career as Manly piled on the runs.

A brief tea break saw Sam Webber depart on a quest in the Batmobile to forage for some food, returning with beige gold from a highly rated chicken shop. Much discussion ensued to where chicken and chips sat on the Diesel to High Octane scale. Probably somewhere near Friday schooners.

Brynn departed for a magnificent 115 and Hole for 50 odd, with Zach soon after trying to push the scoring rate on. This brought the great Raymundo and Bolts to the crease who picked up where Brynn had left off and the runs continued to flow with some sumptuous strokes .

Bolton planting his size 14s down the track to dispatch the ball to all parts with Ellis caressing it over cover repeatedly continuing his record of seemingly never getting less than 30.

The sublime start saw Charles auditioning for the rural fire service as he slid down to 8 to bring the innings home with a magnificent 5 not out.

The positive batting got us to 300 in good time and the bison Sam Hole called the lads in to have a trundle against a weary Blacktown batting line up.

With an hour to bowl at the deflated Blacktown, Hicks returned from his sabbatical to show his class with a ridiculous spell taking 4 wickets to put the Tahs right in control going into week 2.

All that was left was to remortgage the house to pay the tolls home and pray it doesn’t rain next week.

Big thanks to Noah (and Roy) for their help.

Neal Prowse

C

aptain Rochford came back into the side and brought some lovely weather with him. He won the toss and on a flat fry Grahams, elected to bowl. With rain forecasted next week, he wanted to give the 4s boys the best opportunity of gaining some early season points.

Opening bowlers, Evan Dunnachie and Hayden Williams, bowled tight, following captains orders and gave themselves the opportunity for early wickets. Hayden broke through with raw pace, cartwheeling middle stump and an LBW of the other opener. First change brought Fraser Noack and Jake Hutchings on and more wickets fell. Jake taking two in his first over, one first ball. Fraser picked up two too, with safe hands behind the stumps in Dom Wheeler and Oscar Lucius. Spinners, Lachie Trewartha and George Cumming, tied Blacktown up through the middle overs, with Lachie finishing with 0/1 off 5. Hayden came back on and polished off the tail and finishing with his maiden 5 wicket haul for Manly, ending up with 5/26 off 13.3 in an excellent display of fast bowling. Blacktown were bowled out for 93 off 45.3 overs.

In pursuit of these runs before the close of play, batters Dom Wheeler and Jake Hutchings were clinical when they got themselves in and capitalised on the poor balls. In no time they passed the target, about 17 overs. Under instruction they batted until the 20th over where they took to the Blacktown bowlers, Dom hit a near perfect 51* (except for a dirty jack to cow corner) and Jake ended up on 48. We finished on 2-117 when Roch called in the boys, leaving 10 overs left in the day.

Blacktown brought changes to their order for the second innings, yet Evan managed to continue the fall of Blacktown wickets for the day. Dom was picked out in first slip for a textbook opening bowlers wicket. They were 1/18 with one over left in the day. Captain Roch turned to the experienced Parko to try to bring a late wicket. Five balls were bowled without wicket and it seemed that the last over was going to be seen out for a maiden. This was until a Jaffa was bowled, the batsman’s pad was hit, appeals from everyone around were launched and after deep thought the umpire’s finger was raised. A perfect ending to a clinical day of cricket.

All in all, the Manly 4s boys took first innings points away and look to take all 10 next weekend. Once again a big congrats to Hayden Williams on his maiden 5-fa, plenty more to come.

George Cumming

W

ith a dominant Saturday display from the other grades to set our standards high, Whalan Reserve hosted what would be fifth grades first match since mid-February, and some players first experience of the joys of two-day cricket.

The scramble for players to give up their Sunday increased the number of debutants to four, welcoming Kapoor, Lindgard, Kuchel and Nick Rigg to the club. Returning captain Riley won the first mental battle of the day, convincing the opposition captain that batting first would be the ideal choice, as we looked to skittle them early for a possible rain affected day 2.

The perfect start was provided by Josh Lawson with a wicket on the first ball of the day, and despite a pitiful touch performance even with a man advantage, the bowlers got into their stride early, quickly having the young Blacktown side 5/3 after the first 10 overs, courtesy of the bowling partnership between Lawson and Waddington.

This momentum was carried through the innings with wickets to Halloran, Lingard and Kuchel to bowl out Blacktown within 2 sessions for 38, special mention to a Keelan Mendal screamer diving to his right on the boundary.

After tea, Mendal and Dunlop dominated the Mounties seamers, passing their first innings total before drinks. Both wickets were taken, however, in quick succession after the 50 partnership, triggering a steady collapse held together by the debutants Nick Rigg and Reuban Kapoor, who both fell in their 20s. The last wicket signaled the end of the days play with a total of 119 and a lead of 81, setting us up for a chance at outright next week.

James Waddington

W

ith the first round having been a wash out Manly Womens 1s faced Northern District for their first game of the season. On a lovely day down at manly oval mik won the toss and elected to bat. Our openers Sas and Zara headed out to face NDs opening bowlers Sienna Eve and Stella Campbell!

Unfortunately it was not the batting innings we had hoped for as our top 4 all posted scores in single figures. Mik and Charlie provided a glimmer of hope with some nice strokes but in the end we were bowled out for just 65.

With a low total to defend we knew we had to take all 10 ND wickets to get the win. Opening duo Sophie Morris and Laura Judson kept it tight with Sophie being denied a first ball wicket. Sophie later broke through with an LBW shortly followed by Annabel with the wicket of the other opener.

After 10 overs we had kept NDs to just 31 runs and our spirits were high. Another 3 wickets fell, one to Horley and one to Mclerie and a brilliant run out from Camburn.

Unfortunately it just wasn’t enough as NDs chased it down in the 19th over. We showed good fighting spirit down to the end but overall a disappointing start to the season after all the pre season efforts the girls and coaches have put in.

3 Points – Sophie Morris
2 Points – Charley Camburn 
1 Point – Mikaela Turik

Annabel Hutt

2

nd Grade were finally able to get their season started this week against Northern Districts. We lost the toss and were sent in to bat. Kristie and Emily opened the batting and got us off to a strong start, with Kristie scoring a 4 on the first ball of the innings. Shortly after, Emily was caught at cover, which brought Eliza to the crease. These two put on a critical partnership and increased our run rate. While trying to increase the run rate, Kristie was dismissed on 29 and Eliza on 35. Renee and Mia put on some crucial runs to keep increasing our total before both being dismissed. To finish off our innings, Emma, Sophie, and Steph came in and, with some quick singles, brought our total to 103. A total that was defendable, but we would have to bowl and field well.

After a short break, we energetically took to the field. Sophie was chosen to take the first over and kept it tight, with only 1 run being able to be scored off her. The next over, Molly took the ball against her old club and with only her third ball, the ball hit the top of off and the bails went flying, with only the next ball, Molly had her second wicket with a plum LBW. In the fifth over, Steph took a sharp catch behind the stumps to give Sophie her first manly wicket. The next wicket fell 10 balls later, with the ball being hit back at Molly, who took the catch after a juggling effort. At this stage, ND’s were 4/9 and Manly were right on top. Emma and Eliza were brought on next, with Kristie pulling off a run out after a mix up between batters. At the start of the 10th over, Emma picked up a wicket in both her first and second ball, with the bails being sent flying both times. Eliza then joined the wickets with a sharp caught and bowled the next over. With the pressure still being applied, Mia and Sarah came on to bowl, both keeping the runs limited. In the 14th over, Mia’s first wicket of the season came with a LBW. Sarah then finished ND’s off next over with another LBW. An amazing bowling and fielding performance saw ND’s all out for only 28 runs. A very impressive start to the season and good momentum heading into the rest of our games.

1 Point – Molly Kidd
1 Point – Sophie Morris
1 Point – Emma Thatcher
1 Point – Kristie Crawford
1 Point – Eliza Henry
1 Point – Stephanie Hughes

Brooke Frew

W

aking up to the first sunny day of the year, everything was looking good for us to follow up last week with another win. Up against universities we lost the toss and where put into bat first, so everything was still going smoothly.

After yet another inspirational speech by our coach Matty and our bellies full of fortune cookies, Annabelle and Emma where sent out to bat. The picturesque day not at all foreshadowing what was about to happen. After a career high appearance from Annabelle who retired on 30 and help from the 21 sundries and some blitz batting from Sallie at the end, we ended the innings with 86 on the board.

After diving into the lunch spread at half time and taking a quick reset, we were back to the pitch to defend our total although still confident that we could come out on top this week. After an expensive 18 run first over, things were looking a bit shaky, with the golf course getting a taste of some sixes. But after that the likes of Jamie, Sophia and Sallie had the batters on the back foot, keeping the team to just 50 odd runs from the next 19 overs!!!! Although it took a while to get our first wicket the bowlers kept the dot balls rolling in and after the first wicket fell they were quick coming, with all other batters staying in the single digits.

This games was a reminder that anything can happen in cricket and getting behind your team is all that you need to turn a game completely around. Following the saying of Matty, keep a suffocating mentality in the field and things will fall into place.

Looking forward to the game next week apart from the drive to Bankstown and here’s to making it three in a row.

3 Points – Annabelle Gilbert
2 Points – Sally Molyneux
1 Point – Sophia Chick

Annabelle Gilbert

B

rewers showed up bright and early to play against North Sydney.

After covers and a competitive game of touch, Caitlin went out to do the toss flipping the coin with perfection to secure the win – after choosing to bat top 4 padded up aiming for a total of 100+.

Thanks to the spectacular batting from Hannah (36 off 29) and a stable innings from Caitlin we were able to secure a defendable 97.

Going into the field with confidence the girls prepared for a tough fielding innings. Beautiful opening bowling from Darcey and Arabella left NS with only 10 from the first 4 overs. Over 6 brought about the first wicket bowled by Liv and caught by Hannah running back.

NS worked hard over the middle overs pushing themselves over the run rate. A strong fight back from Manly took the chase late into the game, especially the bowling from Arabella and Jazzy and hard run out by Charlotte (assist Caitlin) brought it down to the last 2 overs.

Unfortunately a nick of jazzy’s bowling gave them 4 and they required 1 run off 1.5 overs. A great fight from the girls, sadly the result didn’t go our way.

3 Points – Hannah Moss
2 Points – Arabella Handley
1 Point – Caitlin du Preez

Caitlin du Preez