Men Finish Regular Season Strong as Womens 3s bow out of Finals (WW Mens Rd 15 / Womens SF & Rnd 12)

A strong end to the regular season for the men’s sides as the Styleness Waratahs secure 4 Bonus Point victories across the 5 grades.

Our women’s 3rd Grade side unfortunately left their worst batting performance for their Semi-Final, while both our Brewer Shield and U15 Women’s sides both suffered Sunday losses.

Women’s 3rd grade were bundled out for 57 in their T20 Smei Final against Gordon with only @oliviahough (27) getting into double figures. Great debut season from this team though with plenty of fun and success.

1st grade made light work of the Warriors thanks to Michael Visser with 7/28. Jack Edwards then hit 34 off 11 balls at the top to put the result beyond doubt. 2s has a disappointing end to the season with a big loss after being outplayed.

3s warmed up for the finals thanks to a great display from the entire bowling group, then Matt Brewster (80) and Sam Hole (48*) putting on 132 for the first wicket.

4s also secured a finals spot mainly due to a 6 wicket haul from Jesse Moffat , while 5th grade ended the season on a very positive note thanks to Lachlan Trewartha_with 4fa and Andrew Rochford with 3/33.

So the men finish 6th in the Club Champs, a great result considering the challenges with availability in the top grade this year.

Onwards to the finals.

Michael Visser cut a viscous path through the Blacktown batting order on Saturday in taking 7/28 to become this weeks 4 Pines Player of the Week. He helped 1st grade to a dominant bonus point victory over the Warriors.

It was his best ever figures in the top grade and his 2nd best figures ever for the club, just behind his 8/44 against Northern Districts in the 2014/15 2nd Grade Semi-Final against ND’s.

Viss took his wickets in all manners. Bowled, LBW, caught behinds, and even from a bumper. Yes, for the first time in his career, Michael Visser produced a wicket from a bumper. Caught Hadley bowled Visser. There is a first for everything.

Viss has bowled without alot of luck this season so it was great to see him finally get his reward and finish the season on a string note.

After coming off 2 wins, the Manly boys were keen to finish the season on a high with a third consecutive win against fellow cellar dwellers Blacktown.

Skipper Jay Lenton won the toss and decided to bowl first on a wicket which seemed as if it would offer something for the quick bowlers. As per usual it was green but hard, ultimately looking like a good cricket wicket.

M. Edwards struck with a wicket in the first over which put the Manly quicks on a role. However from that point, Michael Visser put on an absolute clinic with the ball, taking a ridiculous 7 for 28 off 8 overs taking Blacktown completely out of the game.

Jack took the last two wickets to finish off the Blacktown innings for 89. 

The Manly boys were pretty keen to get the game over and done with early, and get ourselves an extra bonus point. Jack took the lead by hitting 34 off 11 balls with 3 sixes. If it wasn’t for a great running catch to dismiss him, a quick fire 70 was looking on the cards. He looked in ominous form.

Skipper Jay Lenton then finished not out on 31 off 20 balls to help the boys with a very convincing win, chasing them down in the 12^th over.

Ollie Davies

Last round of the year and 2nd grade were based out in the beautiful setting of Blacktown, only a short drive away from the even more idyllic setting of Manly. The day started out like most Saturdays lately, a few clouds in the sky and a feeling of excitement for the day ahead. For the first time in the season Gainsy managed to win the toss, on a green seamer and chose to get the ball in the bowlers hands. 

Blacktown somehow managed to scramble their way to a respectable total of 202, with a few of there players reaching the half century. Swords and lightsabers were out to play and the ball keep hitting the fence to our surprise. Brad Wilson bowled like a magician, some would say he should be tested for performance enhancers. Jake Carden bowled well for 3 wickets also. Rest were shared, Gainsy got the arm above his shoulders.

With our turn to swipe the swords around there was a feeling of rain in the air and somehow the pitch looked greener than the start of play. However, Max Webber and Elliott Herd decided to swing away at the bananas travelling through the misty air. Without loss at 50 things were looking good, however with the departure of the openers things looked down with losing wickets in quick succession. At 80 for 8 things were looking grim, Brad Wilson the magician was out to play again playing a remarkable 20 to show some hope however, it was not our day. Blacktown with the win.

After play all 11 staggered home after the hours of 11pm. A season that could have been, but was enjoyed by all.

A special thank you to Will Harding for keeping up the good vibes!

Cheers for the support to all.

Elliot Herd

3s came into the game full of confidence and needing a win to secure a home final.

Nicko’s lost the toss and we were asked to bowl on an outrageously flat Graham’s wicket. In a confounding turn of events Blacktown proceeded to puzzle us by showing absolutely no intent throughout their innings. It was very curious in this postmodern era of extravagant one day cricket. After 40 overs they managed to limp to 130 odd. All of the bowlers chipped in with RBP and Izzy bowling a number of consecutive maidens although Isi did manage to get hit for about a quarter of their runs in 2 overs. Nicko’s bowled the tough overs to finish with 3.

In response Brewster (80) and Sam Hole (48*) put on an exhibition, racing to the target within 20 overs. Unfortunately Brewster got out just before the end.

All in all it was an extremely clinical performance from the boys, an emphatic bonus point win and guaranteed a home final. Bring on finals cricket!!!

Andrew Hicks

After a draw last week, fourth grade rocked up on Saturday knowing they had to win this game to have a chance of playing a home final next week.

The pitch was a touch soft and looked like it would offer a bit to the bowlers early, so after a solid warm-up with Loz, Gumms decided to have a bowl having won the toss.

Somerville and Moffat opened up and soon had Blacktown in big trouble, being 7-29 off 16. Sommers applied pressure brilliantly, making the batsmen play at literally every ball he bowled, with Brynn not touching the ball once throughout his first 8 overs.

After one bloke BBQ’d himself, Crombie and the Yak came on and finished off the job, bowling Blacktown out for 65.

Cohen got the innings off to a flying start, pulling the first ball of the innings for 4. Brynn made a quick fire 29 before we lost a few quick wickets. Will and Joel then steadied the ship and saw us home with about 35 overs to spare.

Jesse Moffat

Fresh from a dominant outright win last week, 5s were home again to face last place Blacktown. Needing a bonus point win and 3 other teams to lose, confidence was high, but the odds were low.

Blacktown won the toss and looking to get home early, chose to bat. After big gun Nash snicked off to Hobbo in the 2nd over, we always had their batting line up under control. Despite the occasional/frequent wide, we took consistent wickets and finished them off for 91. Lachie Trewartha with 4fa and Hobbo with 2 early ones continued their great form from last weekend, while Andrew Rochford grabbed 3 for himself and Seward 1.

After two early wickets Seward and Lachie Charles took us to 71 and virtual victory. Josh Seward stood tall and dominant with half a dozen booming drives down the ground, while Lachie ended a consistent season with the most bizarre umpiring decision in grade cricket history.

Greenies boys Ollie and Luscius saw us home after only 19 overs for another massive win.

In the end, 8th place, less than 1 win from 5th was not a bad result given the number of players used. Add to this the performance of Greenies this season, the club can be confident in the quality of juniors coming through the grades.

Ross Trewartha

Before today we had played Gordon at their home ground, Forsyth Park 3 times this season and not yet come away with a victory. Although the short boundaries and poor bowling run ups suit their game better than ours, we were keen to turn the tables this time.

We won the toss and chose to have a bat. We were in a bit of trouble early and never really got going. The shining light however was a season best from Olivia Hough with 27 or 27 balls. Next best was Claire with 9*. Gordon bowled full and straight and took their catches to dismiss us for 57 after 18 overs.

We needed early wickets and Alicia dismissed their leading run scorer forcing a top edge to fly to a great catch to Claire. After that though the experienced Gordon batters took no risks and easily chased done our meagre total.

The third grade season has come to an end but we have stamped ourselves as future contenders by reaching the semis in both the 40 over and T20 comp in their first season. A tremendous effort by all the girls who have improved so much this season.

Simon Waddington

Up against an undefeated Gordon team, the Manly girls arrived relaxed and keen for another days cricket together.  It was our fourth game for the season, and fourth time being sent into bat after losing another toss, it was all beginning to look like a typical Sunday for the u15 Manly girls, but as the morning progressed it became clear that today was far from our last couple of weekends.

Unfortunately we never really settled in with the bat, we continued to lose wickets all through our 18 overs.  Our highest partnership was 11, the next best was single figures.  With the ball, whilst we managed an early breakthrough to have Gordon at 1/9 it wasn’t until Gordon were on 70, well past our target to secure another.  We managed to bowl a few good balls, but  never really found our consistent line and length. In the end we secured 6 wickets as Gordon batted out their 35 overs, 79 runs ahead.  Caitlin du Preez, Mia Nel, Maya Nicey, Sophie Lowry and Eliza Henry all with a wicket each, whist Stephanie Hughes and Eliza Henry combined for a run out.

There were some individual moments that would make the highlights reel, our captain Mia Nel would feature more than anyone, with the bat she was our top scorer and was looking settled before being unfortunately run out,  with the ball Mia bowled a tight line returning figures of 1 for 6 off 5 overs – the best of our bowlers, and not done yet, Mia took an impressive diving catch towards her right at cover to give Eliza her wicket. Caitlin du Preez also took a challenging catch out in the deep that came down from a considerable height that impress all including the coach.

In the end, the Manly girls can hold their head high, the spirit and determination to do well no matter the score was evident to all including our opposition who complimented our team post game for the spirit and enjoyable approach. Talking points post game – their cricketing ability is there, as to their Coach’s belief and confidence, perhaps more today came down to a lack of experience and learning to play the game differently based on the circumstances that we found ourselves in. So that said, perhaps it was an experience that will no doubt improve us, not a bad way to end what was another enjoyable day with our mates as part of the Manly u15’s team.

Anthony Nicey