Green Shield Report 2013/14 Season
An analysis of the team’s efforts in the competition itself may be assessed by some as one of unrealized potentials & missed opportunities, nethertheless there was lots of excitement, lots of fun, a couple hard fought near misses, & a couple of well earned successes that in the end helped bond a group of boys of different ages & interests into a team that was very proud to represent Manly Warringah DCC in the Green Shield 2013/14.
Round 1: Manly 8/174 def Eastern Suburbs 97
We rocked up all excited and in anticipation for the first Greenies game of the season: Round 1 v Easts at Waverly Oval – renowned as a giving batsmen value for their shots but also having something for the bowlers early on, & is one of the nicest grounds in grade cricket with great facilities for players & spectators alike.
We won the toss and elected to bat on a hard deck with Aiden and Joel to start the campaign off. We started well with Aiden getting 29 in a 35 run opening partnership. Then unfortunately with Joel’s dismissal we had a mini collapse that saw Manly 5/70 at lunch. After we resumed the games play we saw a spectacular knock by Jack Pickering putting on 50. Well done! Showing some resistance in the late middle order, Ned Hole stayed resolute to fight hard for 17 & we eventually reached 8-174 – we thought about 30 under par on this pitch.
We took the field with enthusiasm for the first time of the season. From the start we had them under pressure & tied down with the bowlers bowling some good lines & the field putting on the pressure in close from the start. The slip cordon held their nerve & getting results with Ned Healy getting a snick to Alex & picking up the first wicket of the season. Ned was impressive taking 3/8 for the game off 7 overs including 3 maidens. We kept up the pressure & dominated from that first wicket. Alex (2/14) bowled tight putting pressure on their captain & eventually had him caught behind for 25. Jake (1/19) was successful getting their stubborn opener having him snicking off for 33. Then Issy came into the attack and took them apart. We had them shell-shocked on 6/63 at tea & on resuming Issy finished his spell showing his class potential with superb figures of 3/15 off 10 overs including 5 maidens. After that their tail wagged a bit putting on a few runs before Ned Healy took 2 wickets in 2 balls & we had them bowled out for 97.
A well-deserved team win where everything fell into place our way & showing that pressure from bowling to your field, aggressive field placings & enthusiastic fielding brings positive results. A dominant win to start to the Greenies season had us all smiles but the great entertainment would be after the game with Butch singing Manly Boom Boom and some heavy fines for Sleepy!
Round 2: Northern Districts 6/153 def Manly 152
We arrived at Asquith Oval looking to back up from our first victory we had over Easts. The boys were confident and the toss went our way again & again we had a bat. Moony and Aiden started well before we lost Aiden early. In came Jake to steady the innings till Joel fell for 20 & a 37 run second wicket partnership. From there Jake took control & never looked like getting out. Unfortunately bats 4, 5, & 6, departed quacking & number 7 not causing Dollars to revert to counting on his toes, meant Jake was running out of partners fast & at lunch we were in a similar position as the previous game. Jake continued belting the ball all round the field reaching a well made 50 in 40+ degree heat. After Jake was dismissed for a team top score for the season of 61, our tail put on a few handy runs with our total ending up at 152. Unfortunately we failed to bat out our 60 overs & again we thought we were a little short of where we would have like to have been but optimistic that, after the previous game’s effort, if we were tight in the field, our bowling line up could do the job for us.
We resumed to start our defence in weather that wasn’t getting any cooler. Jake (1/33) took the first wicket ending NDs’ opening stand of 21. Unfortunately the heat was taking its toll & the consistency of the previous game was not there in our bowling with line & length straying & the enthusiasm in the field lagging with some missed chances allowing the batsmen to get set & take control. Tea couldn’t come early enough! We resumed with a positive manner needing to take 8/80 but with NDs being able to reach our score with singles, as against Easts, we needed to be aggressive & tight in the field to take those wickets – saving fours would not do it for us. Unfortunately we weren’t able to implement that, & although we started well with Alex (2/7) picking up two in two balls, from then the game started to drift away with Ned H (1/18) & Issy (1/35) taking the only other wickets & NDs taking the game easily in 45 overs. However, the boys showed that Manly fighting spirit of never giving up in what was, in the end, a disappointing loss.
Round 3: St George 5/137 def Manly 136
It was the First match after the Christmas break, and our first home game. We needed to get off to a winning start. We lost the toss and were sent in to bat on a greenish looking deck at Manly Oval.
The first wicket was lost at 16 which brought In Jakey (Bugle) Carden in his first game as skipper. We were 3/38 before Jake and Joel (Mooney) Wood put on a 57 run partnership. During that partnership Jake brought up his 2nd 50 in a row. The partnership was broken when Jake fell to his usual dismissal LBW for 59. We struggled from there with the only real contribution coming From Ned Healey batting at 9 with 21. We were bowled out for 136, well below par.
We went out to bowl needing quick wickets, but that failed to happen with the opening partnership from St George worth 59. Alex (Shazza) Bain finally brought us the breakthrough and we were on a bit of a roll from there having them 4/96. St George ultimately got the score with only 5 wickets down.
Round 4: Randwick-Petersham 139 def Manly 129
The 4th game of the Green shield Competition and a must win for the Tahs. Carden won the toss and decided to change things up and sent Randy Petes into bat at Manly Oval.
It started off well with the skipper taking an early breakthrough in the second over. The Manly Boys were on top for the whole innings, but the star performer was big Al (Bain) taking 5/20 well backed up by Glyn 2/25. Randy Petes were all out for 139.
Manly went out to bat with Josephine Graham and Jack (slug) Edwards. Jack fell early with just 3, but Bugle and Joe held things together for Manly taking the score to 51 before Joe fell. Jakey threw his wicket away top edging one up in the sky trying to work it down to the fine leg boundary. Things fell pretty quickly from there despite the hard work from Ned (Noodle) Hole remaining not out on 18. We ended up only 10 runs short of a total we should have chased down.
Round 5: Sutherland 257 def Manly 249
Sutherland won the toss and elected to bat first on the usually flat Glen McGrath Oval. The boys started off really well with the ball having the strong Sutherland team 7/117 at the lunch break. Jack Pickering, picked up 3 top order dismissals with his rather disturbing off spinners.
We came back out after lunch knowing that Sutherland still had a very capable batting pair at the crease. Unfortunately the 8th wicket partnership was worth 120, with the opposition skipper scoring a very classy century. We ended up bowling out Sutherland for 257.
As we went out to bat we knew that we could give this total a shake. We didn’t start well with Jack Edwards falling in the second over. Jakey and Joe got the score to 63 with a nice 62 run partnership. Joe unfortunately fell just before tea for 24(62). Nick Hidas joined Jake and they put on another good partnership before Jake fell for 68(101). Nick continued and brought up his 1st 50 then fell soon after for 60(72). The tail batted really well nearly getting us to the total with Joel Wood hitting a classy 34(34).
Not the results the boys wanted but very proud of our batting efforts against the eventual grand finalists.
Round 6: Penrith 4/135 def Manly 134
It was another average performance with the bat by the Manly Boys. The only real contributions were Jake with 31 and Jack Edwards with 26. We struggled all the way through the innings to get 134, once again well below par.
Glyn started us off well but wasn’t able to get the breakthrough that he deserved. We got a couple of quick wickets to have them 2/42 and later on we had them 4/92 and there was still hope, but the Penrith Batsmen got them there with 17 overs to spare and 6 wickets in hand.
Despite the disappointing outcome on the field the game was played with great sportsmanship between the two clubs. Penrith was very much deserved to become the holders of the Wholohan-Gainsford
Round 7: Manly 9/189 def Western Suburbs 188
Manly won the toss and fielded first on another very hot day out West at Blick Oval.
Wests were cruising along at a comfortable run rate the whole innings but fortunately we kept taking wickets to stop the score getting out of control.
Lachie Kerr bowled really well taking 5/26 with Glyn Archer bowling just as well to take 3/26. This, along with Jake’s tight little spell in the middle of 2/5 meant we kept Wests down to a “chasable” score of 188.
With Gainsy taking over the batting side of things for the last match, the instructions were to go out and play your shots. Joe and Rowdy (Abhijeet) got us off to a solid start before Joe got out for 15. We then lost Abhijeet, Jake and Nick all in quick time. Once again it wasn’t looking good for the Manly Boys at 8/132.
We were saved by what was probably the best innings of the competition, which came from Jack Pickering (86*). Jack batted beautifully – taking the singles when Wests tried to get him off strike with Isaiah Vumbaca who played his best Innings of 28. In a last wicket stand Jack and Glyn got us over the line in an exciting chase.
It was a great way to finish a very up and down few weeks.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the coaching staff of Gainsy & Butch, management & support staff of Wrighty & Duncan, & our indomitable scorer, Dollars, for giving up their time, wisdom & support to the Greenies team this season. I’m sure the team would agree with me that most of the time it was a lot of fun & a great experience thanks to the input from these guys.
Joe Graham & Jake Carden
Co-Captains
