In a pulsating weekend of cricket, or 1st 2nd, 3rd and 5th grade teams all tasted victory, some of them last minute, to qualify for the decider. Unfortunately our minor premiership winning 4th grade side went down by 60 runs to Sydney, but can hold their heads high after a quality season.
It was always going to be a heart stoping weekend. All 5 teams playing Semi-Final cricket has been done once in the clubs history, in 1988-89. This was a time when the 20 team competition culminated in a 4 team finals series. We were Club Champions that year as well as 1st Grade Premiers. Let’s hope that the trend continues
We don’t believe that any other club has had all teams in the semi-finals before, certainly not twice. What a great effort. But, as ever with this season, none of the teams were satisfied with just this. We want to win competitions, every player’s goal.
1st grade took advantage of finishing number 1 by batting out the game and not giving Sutherland a sniff. Adam Crosthwaite was again outstanding, hitting his 2nd double century for the club with 200* in our total of 5 for 434 before the game was called off at lunch. Jack Ritchie was the unsung hero with a typically gritty 87, seeing off the threat of the new ball and putting on 168 with Crossy. Jay Lenton batted well for his 55, while Steve O’Keefe and Tim Cruickshank also contributed with 35 and 32# respectively.
2nd Grade had an enthralling game, winning by 16 runs against the ever tough Bankstown. Mitchell Pugh with a fantastic 95 and Taylor Beatty with 61 were the mainstays of the Waratahs innings. They came together at 5 for 104 and in a spot of bother, and proceeded to put on 108 for the 6th wicket. Bankstown were always in the hunt, even when languishing at 4 for 40 and then 7 for 102. Their lower order put together a rear guard action to be 7 for 181 and then 8 for 227. The game was in the balance until Justin Cox, freak fielder that he is, took an amazing catch at point to turn the game. Taylor Beatty bowled the number 11 next over and victory was ours.
3rds did it easy, amassing 289 before bowling out Sydney University for 124. Ryan Farrell showed he is a 1st grader of the not too distant future with 91, holding the innings together after a 74 run opening stand. The lower order fired with Bariol (23), Grant (20) and McCallum-Toomey (12) helping the Tahs get to 289 early on the 2nd morning. With the ball, we never allowed Sydney University to get into the game. Consistent wickets all throughout the day saw Sydney University dismissed for 129, with Jake Carden ripping through the middle and lower order to take his first 5 wicket haul for the club with 6 for 20 off 12 quality overs.
4th grade bowed out of the competition with a 60 run loss to Sydney in what was a disappointing end to the season. However, Josh Petersen and the boys had a fantastic year and can hold their heads high. Joe Graham was the star with the ball with 3 for 29 as the Waratahs fought back from 1 for 100 to dismiss Sydney for 179. Our batting has been a worry for the last few games, and again it didn’t fire. If you look through the scorecard, scores of 17, 10, 21, 19 and 31 from our top 5 batsmen show that we were in the game, but ultimately not good enough, falling for 120
Finally, 5th grade had a pulsating win by 2 wickets, chasing 155 2 down with Isaiah Vumbaca again showing his talent with an unbeaten 50 to steer Manly home. The mighty 5’s were on fire with the ball on Saturday morning, having Penrith 5 for 17 and then 6 for 60 at tea. However, a typically fighting innings from the Penrith skipper with 60 saw them reach a defendable 60. We lost Max Burgess early but D’Arcy and Boyer got us to 74 before a run out and a clump of wickets saw us fall to 7 for 104. Vumbaca and Kittlety showed the way, and with the game never in doubt, put on 30 to get us past the Penrith total, and then another 40 runs last wicket partnership getting us past the 200 mark before the game was stopped.
And so it is. 4 Grand Finals out of 5 grades. Details of where each grade will be playing will be announced shortly, but we look forward to having everyone there to support the boys. It’s a historical season so far, but no one remembers who came second. Go Manly!
4 Pines P
layer of the Week – Adam Crosthwaite
layer of the Week – Adam CrosthwaiteIt’s not every day that a player gets 200 but is not assured of winning the 4 Pines player of the week award. There were some outstanding, match winning performances across the board that made the decision difficult. Mitchell Pugh’s 229 ball 95 in 2nd grade was a match winning performance of concentration and skill. Jake Carden helped role Sydney Uni in 3rd Grade with a masterful 6 for 20 off 12 quality overs of pace bowling, showing his undoubted talent. And then there was Isaiah Vumbaca who once again rescued 5th grade with a mature half century to win them the game.
But we just can’t go passed Crossy. His concentration across an 8 hour stay at the crease was phenomenal. He peppered mid-on and mid-off all day (well actually all 2 days), not once playing across the line. The Manly Oval outfield was unusually slow due to the footy season being just around the corner, so there was a lot of 2’s and 3’s that would usually go to the boundary.
He faced 379 balls for his 201, including 20 fours and 2 maximums. It shows how good patience was. This innings brought his season aggregate to 1,443 runs across all 3 formats, an amazing number. The SCA don’t count T20 matches as official one-day matches and therefore does not contribute to his final total. But his 1,213 runs across the 2 day competition and one day competition has him only 20 runs shy of Phil Wells as the top run scorer in 1st grade for the season. They both face off at number 3 this Saturday in what should be a cracker of a contest.
1st Grade – Manly 5 for 434 (A. Crosthwaite 201*, J. Ritchie 87, J Lenton 55, S. O’Keefe 35, T. Cruickshank 32*) Drew with Sutherland
2nd Grade – Manly 243 (M. Pugh 95, T. Beatty 61, L. Edgell 26) defeated Bankstown 227 (M. Visser 4/54, D. Marshall 3/29, M. Pugh 2/38)
3rd Grade – Manly 289 (R. Farrell 91, A. Gummer 40, J Rawlings 32, J. Daly 27) defeated Sydney University 125 (J. Carden 6/20, T. Kaye 2/15, N. McCallum-Toomey 2/41)
4th Grade – Manly 120 (Z. Trewartha 31) defeated by Sydney 179 (J. Graham 3/29, W Outred 2/29)
5th Grade – Manly 202 (I. Vumbaca 50*, B. D’Arcy 31, J. Boyer 31) defeated Penrith 155 (B. Kittlety 3/33, M Burgess 3/17, R Bishop-Perrett 2/21)
