Five Wicket Hauls and a Beadle Ton the Shining Lights during Stormy Weekend – Weekend Wrap 12th/13th February 2022

Agreen, reasonably quick wicket greeted the Manly first grade side for their first red ball clash of the season against Gordon. Skipper Jay Lenton won the toss and with a cracking bowling attack, sent the Stags in.

This game saw the return of Sixers and Manly favourite Steve O’Keefe and his energy was felt immediately. After some wise words from Juicy, we got to work. Westy started well, dismissing their opener for early doors, before some consolidation from the Gordon side. Westy swung around, and quickly removed 2 more wickets to give him his third and Manly looked in a dominant position.

We then saw the introduction of Ping, GOAT, Glue into the attack. Immediately he picked up 3, then 4 quick wickets toiling away with his medium pacers at an economical rate. He was introduced later back into the attack to snag the last wicket  giving him his 2nd first grade five wicket haul. The boys had bowled Gordon out for 133 with a fair bit of time left in the first days play.

Ben Bryant on his return to the side started beautifully, dropping runs into gaps, punishing bad bowling when he saw fit and it was great to see. AB at the other continued his good form and remained not out over night after taking a decent chunk out of the first innings score.

We returned the next day and wobbled a little, losing 3-18, but veteran Cam Merchant steadied the ship with a class innings. After lunch, AB brought up his 2nd hundred for the year, a classy knock from the team of the decade player.

Skipper Lenton declared with a 66 run lead and looked to quickly bowl out Gordon in the 2nd innings for maximum points. Gordon played there shots and some dubious shouts got turned down but eventually again it was Greg West that made the early breakthrough. He then dismissed the no.3 to have Gordon 2-48, until Hadley chimed in to take them to 3 down. The Stags middle order were stubborn, but after much toiling we’re dismissed to give Manly a good chance of 10 points.

West brought up his 5th in 2 consecutive balls, before Hadley got the last wicket to leave a chase of 78 off 11 overs for outright victory.

Lenton went to the top of the order with first innings start AB, and got straight to work smashing the ball to all parts. He was dismissed for 44 but the job was just about done, with Ryan Farrell smacking his first ball for 6 to bring up the winning runs.

A great weekend for the boys, we caught well, bowled well and batted well. A great performance contributed to by many. We march to the finals looking better than ever.

3 Points – Greg West
2 Points – Jake Carden
1 Point – Ahillen Beadle

Ryan Hadley

We arrived at Chatswood oval on Saturday with a 3 vs 4 contest. After checking out the deck and seeing a 45 metre boundary square of the wicket skipper Jamieson thought batting first would be a great idea. We lost the toss and still managed to be batting first.

With a fast bumpy outfield and a short boundary we knew 260+ was par. We didn’t start well with Matt Brewster nicking off early in the innings. Our other opening batsman Ned Hole was joined at the crease by Logan Weston. The two put the foot down with a mixture of Neds noodling and cutting, and Logan’s hard hitting cowboying. They both arrived at drinks with the score around 100 at the 17 over mark. The plan was to be around 180 at the 30 over mark, which would set us up for 300+.

Logan was unfortunately dismissed soon after drinks for a well played 52. Jacob O’Sullivan came in and continued the form of Ned and Logan. Batting with freedom and composure, Ned and Sully climbed into the Gordon attack taking the score to 190 before Ned was caught for a well earned 80. Sam Gainsford joined Sully but was soon dismissed trying to take the game on. Isaiah then came to the crease and Sully turned the cowboy switch on. Belting the Gordon attack all around the park. Sully and Izzy took the score to 4-269 after 44 overs, with Sully 93 before the rain came.

With a lot of rain mixed in with terrible drainage at Chatswood Oval, we were unfortunately not able to get back on. Disappointing when we were a shoe in for 300+ and a very precious 6 points at this time of year.

Onwards and upwards! Onto Penrith next week!

3 Points – Jacob O’Sullivan
2 Points – Ned Hole
1 Point – Logan Weston

Zach Trewartha

The 3rd grade boys pulled up to Graham’s Reserve with our season in the balance and searching for a much needed victory against a top 6 placed Gordon side.

Skipper Sam Hole lost the toss and manly were sent into bat. Losing 2 quick wickets in our openers, brought Jordan Daly and Neal Prowse to the wicket. After a solid consolidation period the two picked up the run rate whilst hitting consistent boundaries. The game-changing partnership of 133 runs shifted the momentum towards the home side. After the great innings and platform set by Jordan Daly (66) and Neal Prowse (57) it allowed the middle and lower order to run up Manly’s score to a competitive 9/218 off our 50 overs.

An early pole from Alex Bain had the boys up and about as the required rate continued to climb. Manly’s pace attack continued to strangle Gordon of runs and pressure began to pile up. Spin twins Roop Dhillon and Lachlan Trewartha continuing the squeeze whilst taking 2 wickets each, coupled with a direct hit run out from Lachlan Coyte had Manly well on top. The finisher Alex Bain wiping out the tail picking up 4 wickets to ice the match, rolling Gordon for 134 and completing a much deserved and long awaited 5 wicket haul in the main grade. Simultaneously surpassing the 150 wicket milestone for the club.

3 Points – Alex Bain
2 Points – Jordan Daly
1 Point – Neal Prowse

Ellis Raymond

D

raw with very little play

The 5s boys had our round 13 clash against Gordon on a slightly waterlogged Mike Pawley Oval. Riley won the toss and elected to bat. The openers Riley and Hayden put on 41. Riley was dismissed for 17 before Hayden departed for 37. Jake Hutchings and Ollie Melville were the only two other noteable scores with 14 and 13 respectively. In the 43rd over Manly was bowled out for 125.

The boys came out hungry to make a real contest of the game. Josh Lawson and James Waddington opened with the ball putting on early pressure, Josh with 2-12 off his first 6 and James 0-11 off his 8. Simon Waddington followed with another wicket having the Gordon batting lineup under pressure. Gordon built a strong 4th wicket partnership before it being broken by Ollie Melville. Josh picked up one more at the end before Gordon chasing the runs with 10 overs to go.

3 Points – Josh Lawson
2 Points – Ollie Melville
1 Point – Hayden Calvert

Josh Lawson

The Manly women’s 1st were up against Northern Districts this week. With the weather looking somewhat ominous Manly lost the toss, and were but in to bat. Some steady line and lengths from Northern Districts opening bowlers put the pressure on our top order. After losing our 5 wicket for a mere 20 runs it was up to middle/lower order to salvage some sort of score. Some cracking shots from Laura (10) Kristie (21) steered us to a somewhat defendable score of 76.

The northern districts top order was just too strong for our bowlers. However a bit of excitement thanks to Kristie who bowled some great lengths got our only wicket of the day, thanks to a brilliant catch on debut by sharp young keeper Steph. Even with some incredible fielding efforts forcing Northern districts to play some risky shots. They finished at 1-77 after 20 overs. Manly Women’s 1st will be looking to rebuild for our next game against Parramatta at Manly oval.

3 Points – Kristie Crawford
2 Points – Stephanie Hughes
1 Point – Annabel Hutt

Niahm Bullen

An early start was on everyone’s mind as the sun was out…yet the pitch had different ideas. A wet patch on the deck had us starting late yet it didn’t deter our opening bowlers from getting quick and early wickets. A diving, down low catch from Kate off her own bowling saw the opening batsmen out for 1 run, the key batsmen for the opposition out cheaply after, as another; snicked, caught behind saw the 3rd wicket fall. Nat clean bowling the stumps over as Ellen’s sudden field placement change created a catch the next ball off her bowling. Jaz bowled tightly to get a cleanly bowled wicket shortly after and another catch by Kate off Ellens bowling to get their opening batsmen out. It took a while to get a few more wickets but Michelle finished nicely with 4 wickets to her name and outstanding fielding by all team members kept the pressure on Northern Districts, restricting them to 114 runs.

We kept their total low and had our eye on a great batting innings. A few partnerships were formed and we kept up to the 2nd top team the whole way through with a tight game on our hands at the end. The pressure ended up getting to our team but we held a good fight to the end, only coming 3 runs short from their total.

3 Points – Kate Salmon
2 Points – Michelle Cox
1 Point – Chloe Osborne

Ellen Hall

Arriving at Balgowlah Oval on Saturday everyone was excited for the day of cricket ahead although with rain clouds looming overhead it did add an ominous tone as we came in to play the second placed team of Gordon, guaranteeing a fun but challenging game to come.

Skipper Renee lost the toss and Gordon sent us into bat first, slightly confusing as we know how good Gordon have been with the bat. With the momentum of our previous 3 wins behind us we were happy to go either way.

With Mia N and Emma sent out to open the bat, we looked in good nick with both players showing brilliant performances with the bat over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, that was not the case, a brilliant caught and bowled in the first over saw Emma out, followed quickly by most of the other batters in our team, the bowling of Gordon proving too difficult for us, with many unable to get into the double figures. Shout out to the skipper Renee with a lovely 23 off 59 (also the highest score of the match), to set us up with an imposing score of 57 off 30 odd overs.

After digging into lunch, with the spread showcasing the baking talents of many in the team, with hot favourites being Helen’s cheesy twists, even better than Baker’s Delight.

With our bellies full, we walked into our bowling innings still optimistic for what was to come, you never know, we have bowled teams out for less. With Sallie and Sarah opening the bowling, it looked very doable with their precise and targeted bowling from each end restricting them to only one an over, for the first 6! The runs picked up slightly as the opening batters began to settle, before Mia came in a picked up 2 quick wickets making them 2-29 off 11. With the rain rolling in, we continued to play on, thankfully it didn’t last for too long. Bowling on, the first wicket for Annabelle came to level up the score for 3-57, with Gordon batting on to earn some bonus points, and hopefully some for us aswell. Although the game had been won, we were still happy to get the experience out in the centre and having fun playing a sport that we all love. Keeping on going, we will soon find out that chatter really does get the batter. With Helen bullying a batter down the crease with her bowling, to get her first wicket!! Followed quickly by 3 more wickets from Annabelle, with stellar catches from Liv, Sallie and Helen. Showing our class in the field, putting their bodies on the line to get the wickets. Putting them at 7-75. Keeping up the momentum from these wickets we kept up the bowling and fielding tight, with Renee rotating the bowling getting everyone to have a turn with the ball, giving us the valuable experience with the ball in hand. Next in comes Didi, her bowling breaking through to also get her first wicket!! With another brilliant catch from Sallie. Dotting up the runs, and only 2 wickets left, everyone started to get into it. Annabelle came into her 5th over, looking for her 5th wicket, was it possible? On the 3rd ball, Sallie again showed her fielding talents getting a direct hit run out from the short third man area, left cleanly by Liv. And on the last ball of the over, the batter was bowled, giving Annabelle her first 5fa! very neat.

Overall, a great fielding performance from the team, limiting the extras to under 20! Definitely the happiest a team has been to lose, with Ross being uncharacteristically unready with the stats. Showing us that if we can bring it back with the bat, we can easily take on any team that comes our way. Aswell as highlighting the importance of working as a team and getting behind each other, even when it does look the best. A big thankyou to Liv, for helping us out and stepping up as the keeper, as well as to Mia.

Onto next week against Sydney where hopefully we can get a win! But first onto bowling for some team bonding!

3 Points – Annabelle Gilbert
1 Point – Mia Nel
1 Point – Renee Hough
1 Point – Helen Hull

Annabelle Gilbert

Brewer’s made the trip down to Campbelltown this week and were determined to continue the enthusiasm and momentum from the last game.

Mia won the toss we went in to bowl. We started the first innings with Jess Manning opening the bowling with a clean over and Charlotte Ambler taking the first wicket with an outstanding catch by Emily Horstead. Although many sundries were bowled throughout the innings, Ellie James and Jazzy James came on to tighten up the bowling. Ellie took the second wicket and then Jazzy took the next two putting us in a good position. Eliza Henry took the fifth wicket in the 28th over. No more wickets fell in the innings, but Mia Nel and Emily Horstead bowled exceptionally well. In the last ten overs, Campbelltown picked up their run rate, but we managed to keep them to 155 runs. Huge congrats to Emily who took three catches!!

Emily Horsestead (62) and Caitlin Du Preez opened the batting and got off to a steady start before the first wicket fell. Eliza Henry (44) came in, setting up an amazing partnership with Emily and almost getting all the runs to win the match until Emily was dismissed with an amazing score of 62. Ellie James (9) came in and got the final runs in the 39th over. Well done girls on an amazing win!!

3 Points – Emily Horstead
2 Points – Eliza Henry
1 Point – Jazzy James

Charlotte Ambler