Top Grade Shows How It’s Done – Weekend Wrap Round 6

The Styleness Manly-Warringah District Cricket Club had our top grades in both the Men’s and Women’s competitions flying the flag over the weekend during a disappointing weekend for the Waratahs. Logan Weston came back into form with 61 as we made an easy chase tough in 1s, Winning 6 down. He backed it up posting 59 on the Sunday guiding Manly to a comfortable T20 win over Mosman. M2s had a frustrating loss with squandered opportunities costing the Tahs the game, O’Sullivan the pick with 54. M3s had a batting collapse with Jordan Daly showing resolve posting 49 before we were bowled out for 102 chasing 125. M4s were a chance at 4-164 with 20 overs left chasing 259 but we lost 6/19 after getting into a winnable position, John Warn with 70. M5s batted first and struggled posting 182, Ned Healey the best with 49, which was comfortably chased by Bankstown. W2s had a commanding victory over Universities winning by 123 runs, Mia Waddington was strong with the bat posting 47. W3s has a good afternoon with the bat but weren’t able to back up with the ball, Nat Jonkers the star with 29* and 3/28. Our PGs side had another disappointing loss, unable to chase down Mosmans 159 in Sunday’s T20. Regardless, Go Manly!

This week’s 4 Pines Player of the Week is Nat Jonkers for her excellent all-round performance in our women’s 3^rd grade team. Nat produced a well-rounded game on Saturday achieving her highest score in grade cricket and second-best bowling figures. She came to the crease with 10 overs left in the innings and showed off her power-hitting by clearing the fence twice. She also made quite an impact with the ball going at just over 3 runs an over and taking 3 of the 4 wickets in the innings including wickets on consecutive balls. To top it all off she took a great catch in the field too.   

Nat is a local junior who played for Gordon last season but the growing women’s program at Manly has enabled her to move back to the Beaches this year. She is a consistent performer for our women’s 3^rd grade side and has been a great addition to the club. With the bar set, we are excited to see how she performs for the rest of the season!

Playing at the beautiful Bankstown oval 1st grade lost the toss and were sent into bowl. Little did Bankstown know, J.Edwards and M.Visser had tuned into the Wasim Akram bowling masterclass through-out the test match and had now perfected the outswinger in less than 24 hours. “I couldn’t sleep all night, I was so excited to test it out” quote J.Edwards. In true Edwards fashion, his deadly outswinger struck in the first over to dismiss the in-form D.Soloway for a duck. Off to a great start, M.Visser kept the foot on the throttle taking 2 perfect outswinging wickets in quick succession, leaving the home team 3-14 after 5 overs. A small fight back from English player M.Stoneman and N.McAndrews saw the home team get to 3-51 before M.Visser struck again, with M.Stoneman chipping one to S.Gainsford at short cover. Not long after that, S.Gainsford added some magic in the field running out the key wicket of N.McAndrews with a direct hit. As the innings progressed Bankstown never looked comfortable with every bowler hitting their lengths beautifully and excellent energy in the field, making it difficult to score. E.Herd, J.Foster, S.Gainsford all helped to build the pressure, and the mighty veteran S.O’Keefe went in for the kill taking 3 crucial wickets and leaving the home team with a total of 9-175.

J.Edwards and L.Weston made their way out to the middle after a short lunch break. N.McAndrews, still upset from being run out by S.Gainsford, was fired up and bowling sharp with nice carry. Unfortunately J.Edwards received a ball that stayed low from McAndrews, which sent the middle stump to the next post code. J.Edwards being dismissed for 6. J.Lenton made his way out to crease and was looking confident, however Bankstown fast bowler B.Simpson got a ball to rise of a length striking Lenton in the forearm, clearly in pain Lenton chose to continue batting but was this was short lived as he was dismissed by Simpson shortly after, caught behind. With Manly now 2-32 we were in need of a partnership, and a partnership is what we got. A. Beadle aka “Pipes” and L.Weston both batted beautifully, steadying the ship, to take Manly to 2-100, unfortunately the rain came and saw a stoppage in play for 45min. Beadle was dismissed shortly after the game had resumed for a hard fought 32. Weston was dismissed shortly after for a well deserved 61. J.Foster and R.Farrell worked hard at the crease looking to turn the strike as much as possible, but some good death bowling from Bankstown saw them creep back in the game. R.Farrell was dismissed when the score was 147. Needing a further 28 runs for 30 balls, the game was looking close, and someone was going to have to help Foster seal this win. E.Herd made his way to the crease and in true ‘Herdy’ fashion, made a quick fire 10 runs of 5 balls striking a 200. Unfortunately was dismissed trying to hit the ball into next week. S.Gainsford came to the crease needing 18 to win and, with the help of Foster, saw us home. Manly finished 6-178 after 48.2 overs.

3-Weston
2-Visser
1-O’Keefe
Fielding- Gainsford

Griffin Lea

1. Preface.
   After strong demand, lengthy match reports have become the norm across the 2nd & 3rd grade group after Brad Parker pioneered the movement a few weeks back with Jordan Daly providing valiant attempt at replicating said report last week also. Strap in for a season of Adam Zampa channelled rareness from the peninsula’s finest cricketers.
2. Sweet Chilli gets his dragon right, finally.
   After a few sub-par performances (on par with his touch football officiating of late) our beloved, half-day Sweet Chilli finally approached the correct player for his signature 2nd grade welcoming – the dragon. Many spectators were present a few weeks back for the self-proclaimed “best thing out of Toronto” debut (Griffin Lea) where our 2nd Grade manager confused both Ashdeep and Griffin during the signature welcoming, resulting in an unfortunate mix-up. Needless to say Josh was welcomed free of confusion, well done Will!
3. Trent Bridge & The M5.
   Onto the cricket. Saturday was a tale of two wickets. Notably, Trent Bridge has been the home of seam bowling dominance for years, whereas Manly Oval is said to claim the prestigious title in the very near future. If you’re a budding top order batsmen in Sydney wanting to score runs at Manly oval before 12pm, enjoy the regards of green options. After a week of sunshine and a mere 5 ml storm Friday night (enough to see a few questionable Pepsi challenges take place – particularly from our skip) we were sent in on a camouflaged wicket to the remainder of the square. Brewster picked up where he left off at Waitara however was the victim of an absolute “seed” and was dismissed within a few balls. TK joined Neddy as the two negated some tough conditions and some pent up anger from one particular Bankstown bowler. Unsure what was happening upstairs with this bloke, however his actions provided some light to what were some dark looking times down at Manly Oval. Neddy continued on and was supported well from Jacob O’Sullivan and Isaiah Vumbaca in the middle order. At 4-60, Sull & Izzy put on 82 for the 5th wicket, setting the boys up for a defendable total, furthered by some great late innings cowboying from a hungover skip. With 201 on the board, the boys knew we had a strong total that could be defended on the raging seamer that was Manly Oval prior to Bankstown’s innings. Humidity – high, Sunshine – minimal, the group could hear Hicksy licking his lips from miles away with the conditions on hand, despite his absence. Openers Kaye and Jamieson were kindly surprised to see a wicket that was doing “plenty” earlier turn into the M5. Whilst it wasn’t a complete and utter flatty, Bankstown definitely enjoyed the benefits of batting in the afternoon. The boys bowled well throughout their innings as many Bankstown batsmen chanced their arm and reaped the rewards for some positive cricket. A few missed opportunities in the field probably hurt us as a strong Bankstown side made us pay for our errors. Special mention to Josh Seward for taking his first wicket in 2nd Grade with his first delivery.
4. Jamo finally wins the week’s silly suit.
   After a few weeks of questionable behaviour off the field, Jamo’s luck finally ran out on Saturday as he was given the week’s silly suit for the first time this season. This is said to be the first of many for our beloved captain. Well Done Andrew.
5. Conclusion
   Saturday’s loss sees 2nd Grade slip down to 14th on the table. A few big weeks ahead as the 2019 leg of the season draws closer to an end. A few wins heading into the break should see the boys back in the hunt for finals cricket.

3 – Jacob O’Sullivan
2 – Andrew Jamieson
1 – Isaiah Vumbaca
Fielding award – Isaiah Vumbaca

Tom Kaye

1. Thursday
   Planning. Preparation. Execution. The mantra that has driven this great club year upon year was in full show once again on Thursday, with a hearty training session led by skipper McLachlan preparing the cowboys for Saturday. Away from the home turf of Graham’s Reserve, a soon-to-be initiated cowboy Josh Wigney was quietly enjoying his corporate festivities, sipping his 16th Bourbon on behalf of the shareholder without a care in the world. Suddenly, the call came in. He was up. Rather than acknowledge the exciting promotion with a courteous text to king cowboy McLachlan, the young buck sipped his Bourbon, grinned, and went back on his merry way into the night. He was unseen until Saturday 10am…
2. Friday
   TGIF. Nerves wrangled the cowboys on the Friday before the big game, with a number of players looking to calm themselves in a variety of ways. For instance, Young Joel Davies and Michael Counsell bonded over their passion for club-sponsored fried chicken, journeying up to Avalon sharing life stories and obscure cricket related memes Conversely, Will Ackhurst negected his Trapezoids at the gym for the 5th successive week and Hamish Starr dabbled in the dark arts of punting. We really are an eclectic bunch. Somewhere south of the city’s iconic bridge the sides returning intangible cowboy was also attempting to lift the shadow of nerves that wrangle him on a near weekly basis. After 3 lemonade, 2 Coca-Cola’s and a Fanta, stumps were called with the skippers ominous words ringing in his head, “don’t do it Sam”….
3. Saturday
   Game day. Cowboy time. After some late changes to the car pooling arrangements, Sam Webber made the illinformed move to venture West with Jordan Daly. Although Jordan masquerades as a composed, intelligent and punctual young professional, he is fast gaining a reputation for general tardiness and an inability to stick to deadlines. Word has it that this lack of respect for leader imposed timeframes could see him shuffled out in due course, but I digress.Sticking to the theme of employment based stereotypes, the side entered the playing field for a traditional game of white-collar v blue-collar football. In a result that mirrored history across an array of cultural and social contexts, the white-collar bourgeoisie elite dismantled there less qualified compatriots. Another nail in the heart of the global labour movement, and a win for but corporations and the shareholders we know and love.Cricket time. Yes, there was cricket. To summarise, we bowled good. Very good in fact. Josh Wigney recovered from his 3 days MIA to deliver 10 unchanged overs full of fizz that may have ASADA knocking on his door during the week. Michael Counsell fed off his insatiable passion for sponsor-branded fried chicken to also bowl an impressive spell. Hamish Starr was also good. I was impressed by everyone. Skipper McLachlan and Young Joel Davies bowled spin. It was great to watch. Finally, Alex Bain was very moody, eventually taking 2 wickets but doing so with no signs of a smile or satisfaction. The Dogs got 125. We were happy… We batted next. Not great viewing. We lost wickets. Lots of wickets. Jordan Daly finally got to the game and was a shining light amongst the carnage. 49 of the best from the SpongeBob inspired goofy-goober. JD threatened to drag the cowboys to a historic win, however was controversially run out to dent our hopes. Hamish Starr made an impressive 24 but when he departed we ran out of gas, falling for 102.
4. Debrief
   Disappointing. No anger, just disappointment. We probably out played the Dogs for 75% of the day, but sadly fell down badly during the interim. Any who, the morale of the cowboys was not dented by this mild sadness, fully aware that we are still great blokes and live in what can only be described as God’s Country. The post-game analysis quickly descended into fines, which all of a sudden let to more sponsor-related activities. Special mention must go to Neil Prowse for his debut amongst the cowboys. Neil fit in beautifully with his white-collar perspective on the world, and incredible ability to pick the $1.20 winner on the TAB. He also left most of Skipper McLachlan’s case of VB on the M5. Environmentalism hasn’t quite made it to Great Britain it seems.

So many exciting times to come for the cowboys despite the loss. Tune in for more next week.

3 – Jordan Daly
2 – Josh Wigney
1 – Hamish Starr
Fielding award – Hole/Webber

Sam Hole

Tough loss for the 4s boys on the weekend losing the toss have a bowl, We weren’t to disappointed with the loss of the toss seeing that the deck was very green, we started with Ryan Bishop-Perret and Jack Hobson with Jack getting one of the early openers and Ryan bowling tight lines giving himself a great first opening spell we had Lachie Kerr and Lachie Trewartha take over from the openers as well as snagging a wicket each both the Lachies slowed the run rate down a bit and sped through our overs well. Then we gave Jake Osborne a ball to bowl his lethal off spin and to get spinners on from both ends after a couple more overs from Lachie Trewartha and him finishing his spell with 2/28 after 8 we weren’t looking to bad. We then bowled Jake 9 overs and he finished up with 1/48 after 9 we proceeded back with the opening bowlers and quicks with still multiple overs from Jack, Ryan and Lachie to the tail Enders we then bowled out the openers with Ryan finishing on 2/46 off 10, Jack 1/47 and Lachie Kerr 2/58 after 10 at the end of the innings Bankstown reached a total of 259.
With us opening with Billy D’Arcy and Nick Cohen and then losing Billy in the third over with Dom wheeler at the crease we weren’t looking to bad then Nick got dismissed and then Alec duly getting out not long after we had John Warn and Jake Osborne at the crease with warny off to a flying start with hitting some big sixes and some amazing fours with Jake up the other hand doing the same thing and then two playing their natural games we then lost warny and jakey and then not to long after lost Max burgess with Lachie Kerr and Ryan at the crease but not for long soon after Ryan got run out Lachie Trewartha and Jack Hobson were dismissed soon after and left us with a loss.

3 – Jake Osborne
2 – John Warn
1 – Lachie Trewartha
Fielding award – Dom Wheeler

Lachie Trewartha

Manly won the toss and decided to bat on a good deck, James Buchanan and Ky Broome were the openers, they held out until Ky was caught at mid-off off the spinner. Darryl Buchanan then came to the crease to join James and they saw us to the half way point until James Buchanan was bowled for 22. Jack Melchiore joined Darryl Buchanan where shortly after Darryl Buchanan was caught at cow corner for 24. Jack Melchiore followed shortly after being given out for a dubious LBW for 12, Oscar Lucius was bowled by a Yorker for 23, followed by a directed hit which saw Ollie Melville depart for 1. The pick of the batsmen was definitely Ned Healey who was dispatching everything that came his way to all parts of the ground until he was caught for a well-made 46 which included snapping his bat in half. We then lost a couple more quick wickets trying to boost the run rate. A few late boundaries from Jordy Brewster including a last ball six saw us reach a total of 9/182 of the 50 overs.

After the break, Andrew Rochford and Toby Laughton opened the bowling, where Andrew Rochford got the break through on the fourth ball of the innings with a catch at second slip by Jack Melchiore. The second wicket was a peach by Andrew Rochford which saw the batsmen leave it and have it cut back and smash the top of off. After this Bankstown put on a good partnership where we didn’t take our chances as they got to 2/153 where Liam Dinan finally got the breakthrough but by this point the game was pretty much over as they secured a bonus point win, Overall we were short of runs, and we bowled both sides of the wicket which didn’t allow for us to set the right field and didn’t take our chances when they came our way.

3 – Ned Healey
2 – Andrew Rochford
1 – Jack Melchiore
Fielding award – Jack Melchiore

Jack Melchiore