This weekends Saturday/Sunday round against Northern Districts unfortunately ended with 3 out of the 5 grades not getting on at all over the weekend. 1st grade, 3rd grade and 5th grade were all called off on Friday due to the weeks rain, the council deeming the ground unfit for play. Why the grounds couldn’t be worked on on Saturday so we could play a 120 over game on Sunday is a little bewildering, however we don’t have any control over it.
What we do have control of is how we play on the field, and unfortunately we didn’t play well in 2nd grade, which was a top of the table clash, and 4th grade, losing both games outright to ND’s.
This resulted in zero Club Championship points for the weekend, greatly affecting our 84 point lead. With Sutherland winning 4 from 5, including an outright, we now sit in 2nd place by 10 points in the Club Championship, meaning the club still has alot of work to do in order to come out on top at the end of the season.
4 Pines Brewery Player of the Week – Nick McLachlan and Sam Gainsford
Nick McLachlan has had an outstanding year, re-asserting his status as one of our best young fast bowlers in the club after a tough season last year. Nicko’s bowled 20 fantastic overs, including 11 straight at the end of day 1, to claim 4 for 50 in Second Grade. Nick had a tough time last season after playing 18 months of cricket straight, so a good off season this year has seem him come back fantastically to claim 38 wickets in grade and PGs so far this year.
Meanwhile, Sam Gainsford asserted himself as a quality left arm orthodox bowler by once again picking up a bag full on Saturday, taking 4 for 23 in 4th grades loss to ND’s. Many good judges rate Sammy as more of a batsman, but that hasn’t stopped in taking 3o wickets this year in grade and Green Shield at 18 runs per wicket. Pretty good for someone with one more year of Green Shield to go.
1st Grade vs Northern Districts
No play due to ground being unfit for play.
2nd Grade vs Northern Districts – Manly 104 and 107 lost Outright to ND’s 206 and 0/6
The 2nd grade boys had a tough loss against Northern Districts in what was a first vs second encounter at Manly Oval. With a fair amount of rain throughout the week, the ground was in great condition considering the circumstances. The outfield was dry and the pitch, although a little wet and a little green, was not too bad a cricket wicket.
We had first use of the willow, with Ryan Bonner and Adam Gummer getting us off to a good start at 0 for 30, Dootchman especially hitting the ball well. Gumms went caught down the leg side in an unlucky dismissal, and Smithy went LBW not long after. Scott Patterson came out and looked good until a mix up coming back for the third with Bonner caught Scotty half way down the pitch when the bails were removed. With Bonner losing his wicket the very next ball, the day wasn’t starting well.
The flow of wickets was briefly halted by a good partnership between Lance Stewart and Taylor “Swifty” Beattie, however the tail also showed little resistance and we were bowled out for 104.
ND’s batsman then got away quickly and were 0 for 44 at tea, despite some decent bowling form our fellas. However we were able to make some in-roads into the ND’s top order, with them passing us 4 down and then losing some wickets to be 7 for 120. Some decent lower batting saw then get to 206. Bowling honours went to Nick McLachlan who took 4 for 50, and Ryan Bonner with 3 for 27.
We were then sent back in and at 0 for 29, things were looking good in the second innings. However, we then started to lose wickets regularly to some good ND’s spin bowling. Adam Gummer showed some resistance with 28, however an even worse batting display in the second innings saw us dismissed for 107, leaving ND’s with just 6 runs to get in the second innings for outright victory, which was done comfortably.
A very disappointing effort from the boys considering the importance of the game. Plenty of work to do on our batting during the week.
3rd Grade vs Northern Districts
No play due to ground being unfit for play
4th Grade vs Northern Districts – Manly 56 and 75 lost Outright to ND’s 8/110 (dec) and 0/22
With the weeks rain impacting Graham’s more than Manly Oval, 4th grades game was delayed for an hour due to the deck being a little soft and wet. However, captain Max Burgess decided to bat first after winning the toss, believing that the deck would flatten out later in the day.
However at 7 for 20, the boys were in deep trouble. Some rearguard batting from Ashdeep Virdi and Jacob Graham wasn’t enough to get a competitive score, and we were rolled for 56.
The boys came our fired up and showed that we have the bowling attack to cause some real damage, reducing ND’s to 8 for 110 before they declared. Our bowling and fielding was excellent, Sam Gainsford the star with 4 for 23 (Go wood-duck). With Eddy Burgess losing his wickets before the end of the days play, we were 1 for 10 in our second dig.
Sunday saw the game start on time with Sam Hole and Max Burgess starting off. Unfortunately our batting was very disappointing again and we were bundled out for 75. With 22 to get for an outright win, ND’s passed us 0 down. Well done to Sam Gainsford on taking his best figures for the club, a shining light in an otherwise disappointing effort. Skipper Maxy will have the boys raring to go next week against St George, so no doubt this was just a slight blip in the premiership aspirations.
5th Grade Round 12 vs Northern Districts
No play due to the ground being unfit for play
