The Waratah’s will need to dig deep to continue the great start to the season. Arguably this is the weekend we had to have with Mosman carving out some large scores across the grades. 1st grade are chasing a huge 365, 2nds need a further 303 to win, 3rds are well placed with 10 wickets in hand needing another 184, 4ths did not make the most of their great start but are solidly placed and 5ths, like 1s & 2s need to bat well. This will be a good test for all, especially with the wet weather around this week.
In the T20 on Sunday 1st grade, on the back of a great 71no from 45 balls by Cameron Merchant had a comfortable win against Western Suburbs. PGs had a great win in the 12 over slog as well with Pughy and LG starring.
Please Click Here To View All Photos From 1st Grade This Weekend
4 Pines Player of the week – Rowan Hamman 108
A very tough decsion that’s for sure. I’m leaning towards Rowan who, twice now, has dominated the day’s play. He used great footwork all day,advancing down the pitch to the spinners, he dealt with any loose deliveries consistently and he had a rock solid defence. Well dome Rowan, hope you can find time to play every week!
1st Grade – Mosman 8/364 (D. Babula 2/41, A. Beadle 2/84) v Manly
First grade had a tough day on Saturday with the Whales ending the day on 8-364. After losing the toss on a wicket that was hard but had a fair covering of grass on it, Mosman got away to a solid start with their first wicket falling at 48. Another quickly followed with the score on 54 and we felt we were close to really causing some damage and setting up the game.
Mosman rallied however with their opening batsmen Browne showing patience on a fast paced deck while their skipper Day played his shots and took a few risks. These two put on 107 for the 3rd wicket before Day fell hooking a short ball from Buck. This bought ex test player Jason Krejza to the crease. The Mosman team batted around him for the rest of the day and put on a few solid partnerships to take their score past 350.
The wickets were shared amongst our bowlers with Bucky and the ever consistent Dan Babula being the picks. Babs and AB took two wickets each while McLachlan, Buck and Ritchie all took one each.
We will have to bat well next week to chase down this total, however all our bats are in form so there is no reason why we can’t put another 6 points in the bank.
Plenty of frustration for the boys on the weekend.
We finished on 4-161 which was probably a few runs above par. We knew we would have to start well with the ball as Wests had a few danger players, however with the score on 4-12 after two overs after McLachlan ripped through the middle order the game was as good as ours. We then set about bowling Wests out for as little as possible in order to increase our chances of making the qualifiying finals. All the bowlers did their jobs and Wests ended the 20 overs on 9-111. The wickets were shared around with McLachlan snaring 3, Buck 2 while Beadle, Babula and Ritchie all took 1 each.
We ended up achieving our goal of making the top 8 and in two weeks time will take on Sydney for a spot in the top 4.
2nd Grade – Mosman 313 (L.Grant 3/61, L.Diserens 3/113) v Manly 0/11
Looking to continue our winning ways, 2nd grade (and Mickey Edwards) arrived at Allan Border to take on Mosman. The day started off superbly with the bottom 5 remaining unbeaten in pre game touch. Then, after being told by Mickey Visser that the skipper never loses the toss, Sam did exactly that and we were bowling on what looked a flat deck.
Taylor and Viss opened up for us and bowled great areas in their opening spells without much luck. After a couple of close shouts, Viss got the break through with 20 on the board. Shortly after, LG came into the attack replacing Taylor and took a wicket in his first over after a loose drive from the Mosman opener. 2-30 odd. The home side managed to scrape through to lunch without further damage (2-55).
After the break, Dizzy bowled well in his first spell as he and Taylor built some pressure from both ends. Just as Mosman looked to be gaining momentum, Taylor forced a false shot and grabbed our third wicket. From here, the Whales looked to counter attack and lift the run rate. They moved to 3 for 150. Viss and LG came back into the attack looking to take wickets before the tea break. After Mickey bowled 5 maidens in a row, the breakthrough came from the other end as Luke picked up a couple of quick wickets. This was followed by another pole as Viss picked up a well deserved second. However, the runs continued to flow and Mosman were 6-210 (maybe) at tea.
After the interval, the Mosman 7 and 8 continues to force the run rate upwards and put pressure on our bowlers. It was a hard slog on a good batting deck and a really short boundary. 6-250. After being attacked by the batsman in his earlier spells, Luke. D grabbed a much needed wicket and we looked to be in a strong position. This brought the Mosman number 9 to the crease… And a bit of life to the game. Obviously he didn’t eat much at the tea break because he had plenty of room for a nibble or two when he came to the crease. He must have been feeling a bit fishy… he called Taylor a right arm fast bowler! To his credit, he batted well and we got caught up in the antics a little. He scored 40 not out and with the rest of the tail pushed them over 300. Dizzy took 2 of the last 3 to finish with 3 and Taylor our express opener finished with 2.
We were left to face 5 overs. After being the only player not to engage in a bit of banter on the field, Thickies copped the anger of the Mosman tailender who decided he was going to try and bounce us out. Both the Jarrod’s did a great job in ensuring that we didn’t lose a wicket and moved us to 0-11. It’s going tone a tough task next week but there is a definite confidence that we can get the job done. Go Manly!
LG
3rd Grade – Mosman 222 (N. Toomey 6/57, R Davis 3/54) v Manly 0/39
Atmosphere Park was looking a picture as the blazing sun took the wind out of the top 5 during the touch footy warm up. With good footy form shown by the bowlers, Jeanie was not unhappy to lose the toss and be fielding.
Newly promoted Nick McCallum-Toomey picked up where he left off, nicking off their opener to Jeanie in the first over.
Enter the Mosman-Movember-Wolfman number 3 and he played shots right from the get go. The pitch was pretty good, and the outfield its usual billiard table smoothness, so anything slightly off line was 4 once it got through the ring.
Despite the score racing along at a run a ball, it was only coming from one batsman. With Jeanie and Ronnie replacing the openers, the scoring slowed and the pressure brought 3 wickets to Ronnie including the danger man, who made 77 out of 4-105.
In the lead up to tea, Toomey came back on and grabbed another two wickets (“waiting bowled” and another glide to Lancy in the gully) and we went in bubbling at 6-122.
Looking for early poles after tea, we started strongly with Toomey grabbing a ridiculous caught and bowled (easy game cricket), following up with a snick and then clean bowling their skipper.
At 9 -161, with Sammos turning the screws at the other end, supported by some brilliant fielding from Maxi in close, it seemed a formality that the 10th wicket would come soon.
Alas, cricket comes back to bight you on the bum at the dodgiest times. Digging in on a fairly placid deck, their Number 8 and 11 started defensively to stop the rot, before playing the odd shot or two. The pair added 60 to take the score to Richie’s 222 all out.
Both openers successfully negotiated the 12 overs before stumps, with Maxi in particular benefiting from a few full bungers by their spinner.
At the start of the day we’d take all out 222 and 0-38 in reply, so all in all a good day. Solid batting next week will see us take the 6 points.
Special thanks to Wrighty who after a tough week did his usual great job in re-hydrating the team, bobbing up (unexpectedly to some) in the middle at the fall of each wicket……you blokes don’t know how good you’ve got it !! Great stuff Wrighty !!
Cheers
Roscoe
4th Grade – Manly 249 (R. Hamman 108, M.Cole 30) v Mosman 1/29
Winning the toss on a pretty good wicket, a bit bare in patches but not bad, allowed us to bat first. We got a great start with both Bill (23) and Rowan (108) hitting plenty of boundaries in their 65 opening stand, Bill falling in the 15th over to a contentious caught & bowled. Rowan clearly saw it was not out, 1st slip was muttering under his breath that it wasn’t out, the only one who thought it was out was the bowler who was diving forward in a flurry of arms & legs. No ones word is taken to be the truth except for the bowlers which does seem a bit incongruous, maybe some vested interests getting in the way of a correct decision. Anyway this brings Sam Hole (0) to the crease and he receives a ball that would have got most right hand bats out throughout Sydney, the old inswinging leg cutter that tips off the off bail. Bad luck Sam getting that 2nd ball.
Matt Cole looks to attack early on and he hammers his way to a well made 30 but just as he looks set to dominate he chips one to the outfielder and that puts us at 3/132 from 32. Tom Kelly (19) and Rowan see us through to tea in a commanding 3/175.
To Mosman’s credit they bowled very well after tea, bowling full with one of their bowlers (Khalil 5/65) bowling into the stiff breeze generating some good late inswing. Mosman work their way through our middle and late order with just Josh Petersen (11no) the only one from 6 down making double figures. Angus snicked one, Jacob played a positive but maybe not for the times shot, with a mishit on drive to make us 7/220. Evans chases a rare half tracker and chops on, Danny does a Jacob and Brad Wilson was looking good but was run out leaving us a few short at 249.
Good bowling and fielding though will ensure this is enough. We bowled tightly with Reynolds picking up the opener, well caught by Rowan at 2nd slip but Mosman consolidated to be 1/29 from 17. If we bowl with relentless pressure and field with enthusiasm, we will win. If we don’t, we will lose. Simple stuff.
Fifth grade rocked up to Mike Pawley oval looking to continue to a run of fantastic performances from the previous three rounds. Rolling back the covers we were surprised to find a wet, green wicket that looked as though it could provide some assistance early on to the fielding team. However, after Maso lost the toss and we were sent into the field, any trace of moisture had evaporated and a long hard day in the field was on the cards.
Zach Trewartha (2-55) and Ben Falconer opened the bowling with great energy but mostly without reward until Zach snicked off one of their opening batsmen. The run rate began to build as the other opener started to attack on pitch that allowed wayward bowling to be dispatched. Hamish Ferguson came on to stem the flow of runs and was successful in removing the aggressive opener with a well taken caught and bowled. However, the run rate remained high as Mosman prevented the loss of quick wickets. Will Outred came into the attack and bowled with accuracy and patience, building much needed pressure going into tea with the score at 2-150 after 35 overs.
After a good spread at tea, the intensity in the field lifted whilst Will and Ben continued to build pressure on the Mosman batsmen. Both bowlers were rewarded for their hard work on a wicket that offered very little to bowlers. Will (3-92) took 3 deserved wickets after bowling a remarkable 25 overs straight and Ben (2-59) took 2 late in the day after bowling with great consistency. Jack Murphy, on debut, also took his first wicket for the club after bowling with good pace, further helping to stem the flow of runs. However, despite the improved performance from the bowlers and in the field after tea, the damage on the score board had already been done in the first session.
The score currently stands at 9-314 going into next week. The top order batsmen have a fantastic opportunity next week to build match winning innings that will bring back 6 points for the tah’s!
Liam Tully
PG’s – Manly Warringah 7/113 (Pugh 50) def. Western Suburbs 6/104 (Grant 5-23).
Play was scheduled to start on time but before the first ball was bowled an onslaught of rain hit Manly Oval. After a lengthy delay the game was reduced to 12 overs a side. Western Suburbs won the toss and elected to field.
Pughy and Taylor opened proceedings with the target score of 100 in mind. Pughy showed his class in his sensational knock of 50 playing to his strengths, with a majority of his runs being scored over cover and behind square leg. Throughout his innings he showed controlled batting by playing conventional cricket shots rather than playing out of his comfort zone and hitting shots that aren’t accustomed to him. Arshdeep’s knock was greatly helpful to our end total of 113, by showing off his superior speed and running between wickets.
Even though we did not get an early wicket, all bowlers were quite economical under the unusual circumstances. The pick of the bowlers was Luke Grant who bowled great line and lengths despite his lack of pace to bring up his second 5fa for the club and to top of a brilliant weekend for himself personally.
Our fielding, but in particularly our catching was far superior and a major reason why we picked up a narrow 9 run victory in the rain reduced game.
Go Manly
Ralphy
