Monday News – Rd 14 vs Blacktown – Day 1 & 2

Wow, what an amazing round for the Manly boys in the weekends Saturday / Sunday match against Blacktown. 1st grade had a fantastic win after a heart palpatations, but ended up doing it comfortably thanks to an amazing 103* from Mitch Cleary. 2nd Grade won outright by an innings and 3 runs, while 3rd grade also tasted an outright victory. 4th and 5th grades both had solid wins.

These great performances yielded a massive 156 Club Championship points for the Tahs, propelling us back to number 1 on the prestigious ladder, now sitting 37 points in-front of Sutherland. The last 2 rounds are against last years Club Champions Randwick Petersham, and local rivals Mosman, so there is still a bit of work left to do  if we want to bring home the title.

4 Pines Brewery Player of the Week – Mitch Cleary
There were a couyple of fantastic performances over the weekend, but none better than Mitch Cleary. Beaver has had a solid but inconsistent year so far in his first full year of first grade, however his 103* off 158 balls, including 9 boundaries and 2 maximums was pure genius to watch. The outfield was also quite slow, and many of the boys said his knock was worth closer to 150 considering the conditions. Well done to the mighty Beaver.


Outstanding Performances
Mitch Cleary – 103* (1st Grade)
Cameron Merchant – 54 (1st Grade)
Mitch Coombs – 108 (2nd Grade)
Billy Lindsay – 68 and 4-24 (2nd Grade)
Dylan Marshall – 4-41 (2nd Grade)
Michael Visser – 4 for 28 (3rd Grade)
Tom Kaye – 77 (4th Grade)
Jarrod Rawlings – 58 (5th Grade)
Sam Hole – 6 for 28 (5th Grade)


1st Grade Round 14 vs Blacktown – Manly 6/253 Defeated Balcktown 242
1st Grade had a great win out at Joe McAleer on the weekend. After electing to bowl first, Jimmy Munting picked up a wicket in the first over. However, the other opener Collinson (111) took a liking to several of the Manly bowlers and sent countless balls to the boundary with ease. Wickets fell relatively consistently from the other end, but the Warriors were well on top at 5-220. A late fight back from debutant McLachlan (3-49) and Edgell (2-10) saw Manly dismiss the opposition for 242 in the 69th. With only a short stint left in the day, Manly lost Watkins andCruickshank early to be 2-28 overnight.

Continuing on Sunday, Manly lost night-watchman Corrie Boss quite early, leaving Ritchie and Merchant to build a solid partnership. Cubby was run out for 25, leaving the game in the balance at 4-92. Step up the in-form Mitch Cleary , who took the attack back to Blacktown with an awesome innings of 103* to bring the boys home, and he was well supported by Nappa (53) and Benny ‘Smit-Brah’ Smith (37). The win keeps 1s in contentions for finals with a massive game next week against the strong Randwick Petersham.


2nd Grade Round 14 vs Blacktown – Manly 248 Defeated Balcktown 114 and 131 Outright
2s rocked up to the picturesque Manly Oval on Saturday aiming to back up our dominant performance from last week. Manly looked an absolute treat, with the outfield and deck looking fit for 1st class cricket. With Blacktown sitting at the bottom of the ladder and us nestled in to 1st spot, we went into the match with some not-so-quiet confidence, which seemed to reflect in the Top 6s performance in touch (once again carving up their opposition).

Doochman elected to bowl first as we were looking to roll the Warriors, although we knew we needed to bowl in the right areas as conditions were good for batting. Billy Lindsay (4-24) and Mitch Coombs opened the bowling and started with good pace and carry. Billy picked up 3 quick wickets, and Mattoes came on and hit the deck hard to pick up 2. Blacktown were in serious trouble at 6-31, however they formed a solid partnership, including the big no. 8 taking a liking to leg spin bowling. After he hit some serious bombs onto Raglan St, the Doochman (2-25) out-foxed him with a shorter wider one, and we eventually rolled them for 114 in the 38th.

In reply, Doochie and Gummer opened up, and after bombing a pull shot over long-on, Bonnor shnicked off for 14. Javey came in and the pair scratched around for 10 overs or so before Superbad missed a straight one, and Pughy came and went on debut to leave the Tahs 3-41 at Tea. Gummer wofted at one straight after Tea, then Scotty was cleaned up for 10, and Digits follow soon after, leaving us in real trouble at 6-85. However, finally some grit was showed by Coombsy and Billy, as the pair safely guided us past the total to secure first innings points. Both batsmen then took the attack back to Blacktown, hitting fours and sixes at will, with Coombsy in particular hitting some remarkable shots over cover. Kumar brought up his maiden century for Manly before departing for an entertaining 108, and Test Match Alexander proceeded to block out the rest of the day, leaving us 7-220 with Billy on 58 not.

Sunday brought very similar conditions, and after the top 6 again displayed their dominance, we decided to bat on, looking for some quick runs to give us something extra to bowl at in the second-dig. Things didn’t go exactly to plan, as we were bowled out for 248 with Billy finishing on a well-made 68, but we were still 134 ahead on first innings with 80+ overs left in the day.

Blacktown came out with intent, but Billy picked up an early LBW to remove one opener. The Warriors managed to string together a few partnerships, and were travelling alright at 5-120, but some great bowling from Mattoes (2) and Dylan Marshall(4), as well as 2 run outs meant we rolled them for 131, picking up an outright by an innings and 3 runs. Overall, it was a great performance from the main grade, keeping us on top of the ladder, but some more application needs to be shown heading into next week against RPs at home, as well as the upcoming finals.

Gumms


3rd Grade Round 14 vs Blacktown – Manly 139 and 4/43 Defeated Balcktown 76 and 103 Outright
After a tough loss last weekend to St George, 3rd Grade were keen to make amends with a string showing against last placed Blacktown. However, when turning up to the ground on Saturday via a fantastically driven Manly Car and Truck Rentals mini van, we were greeeted by what could only be described as a bog. The huge amount of water they had recieved over the last 2 months had caused a mud bath on the outside 35% of the ground as well as all the outside of the playing area. As a result, there was no mowing able to be done of the outside of the ground, so we just reduced the size of the field with some well placed witches hats. We also had the issue of some very wet runnup’s but fortunately the wicket went a few morme metres past the stumps than usual, meaning the chance of injury was dramatically reduced and the umpires allowed us to take the field. Winning the toss, Jeanie elected to bowl.

We therefore got on the field on time, and with a wicket first ball, caught by a great diving catch from Reece Hodge, we were on our way. Regular wickets fell to Taylor Beattie, Craig Little, Michael Visser and Ryan Farrell as Blacktown were dismissed for 76. Some excellent fielding and catching was a highlight, with Joel Mason setting the stanbdards with a fantastic display once again. The man is amazing . Anyway, to be fair, it was closer to a 120 score as the outfield was amazingly slow, turning 4’s into 2’s, and sometimes 1’s. It was like a normal Lance Stewart innings.

The batting didn’t start well with Joel Mason and Geoff Isaacs both leaving early. Jeanie hit a few nice maximums in a brief stay, however the rock of the innings was Sam Webber who comiled a well made 42, which was worth more like 60-70 on the slow ground. Sammy recieved good support from Dean Readett with another 30, and we passed the Blacktown score 3 down. Sammy and Dean followed in fairly quick succession, and a presession of wickets leading up to the end of the day left us 8 down for 123 at the end of the day.

A great bus trip home, although the thoughts of visiting sunny Blacktown again the next day meant we all had restless sleeps.

Some more vitage driving from the skipper allowed us to arrive at the ground in time to watch a few overs of 5th grade, before a welcomed visit from Gilly to help with our warnups got us pepped up for a perfect start. Batting on, we added another 16 runs to be dismissed for 139, leaving a 63 run defecit for Blacktown to wipe off. And with one of their players stepping through a nail overnight, we only had 9 wickets to get.

The wickets came less consistently in the 2nd dig, but a great spell from Michael Visser (4/28), some good bowling from debutant Sam Gainsford with 3 wickets, and again some great catching meant we had only 40 to chase for an outright win. We made it hard for ourselves by losing 4 soft wickets, but no outright win is meant to be easy, so we left the ground a happy bunch. Now for Rany-Petes next week.

Maso


4th Grade Round 14 vs Blacktown – Manly 7 dec 234 Defeated Blacktown 132 and 3/120
4s had another dominant win on the weekend, dispatching of Blacktown at Atmosphere Park. Bowling first, Manly rolled the visitors for 132, with the star of the show being local entrepreneur Ashdeep Virdi with a spectacular 6-30. In reply, the Tahs were in trouble early, but skipper Maxy Burgess (47) and young gun Tommy Kaye (77) got them over the line, and the boys then piled on the runs to declare 7-234, giving them a lead of 102 with 50 overs left in the game. 3 quick wickets meant things were looking good for the Manly Boys, however a defiant partnership from Blacktown meant there was no chance of an outright result. Mickey Edwards was not happy about this, so he decided to use his height for once and bowl relentless bumpers, which made for good viewing. It ended with a good first innings victory for the in-form 4th grade, who’ve got a big match-up against RPs on Saturday.


5th Grade Round 14 vs Blacktown – Manly 6 for 113 Defeated Blacktown 110
After a washout on day 1, we finally got some cricket in at a muddy Whalan on Sunday. 120 overs to play and a chance to stay in the hunt for the semis. Losing the toss the boys surprisingly took the field (we were going to bowl anyway) to carry on the good work of the previous week against St George. Pete Lindsay and “Brian” Wilson opened up, but it was a direct hit by SammyHole from backward point that got things going for the Tah’s. Thicky’s then snared 1 at gully off Brian to have Blacktown 2 for 5 and the boys were away and on a roll. Brian picked up another soon after to finish his opening spell (8 overs) with 2 for 10, to once again knock over top order batsmen, as he has done consistently since coming into the team.

The rest of the Blacktown innings was dominated by Sammy Hole. They had no answer to his flighted ortho’s, picking up 6 for 28 off 12 overs of carnage. Arm balls through the gate and mistimed hacks for catches off the tossed up deliveries showed he has many tricks up his sleeve. That’s 10 wickets in 2 games for Sammy and proves the value of a quality spinner in the lower grades. The work at training is paying off in the field, as Billy (2) and Cody took great catches to not let Blacktown back in the game. All out for 110 off 46 overs was a job well done.

In reply, Thickys and Billy set about the chase in good style, working the gaps and rotating the strike. Thicky’s was showing signs of a return to form as the pair put on 40 for the first wicket to set us up nicely. Billy only managed 8, but the partnership was the crucial thing and he played his part well. Rosco, Sammy, Jordan & Cody came and went cheaply to give us a bit of a wobble in the middle, but Thicky’s continued on for a gutsy 58. Great to see the big fella get amongst the runs again, looking to score the whole innings with a noticeably more positive approach. At 5 for 81, Pete Lindsay calmly made short work of the rest of the total. The short boundaries were just a nudge off the middle for Pete as he waited for the bad balls. We passed them 6 down with Pete remaining 29 not out, hitting 2 bombs off their “quick” to seal the deal. Manly 6 for 113 off 31 overs. We then went over to watch the final overs of 3s convincing outright win and join them in the sheds for a combined victory song. A great moment on a red letter day for Manly cricket.

Dave