Saturday was another good day at the office for the Waratahs, with all grades (except 2s) in strong positions heading into day 2 against the Sharks. Sunday’s T20 fixtures saw both 1st Grade and PGs get their T20 campaigns off to a great start, as the both picked up wins against Bankstown.
4 Pines Brewery Player(s) of the Week – Jimmy Munting & Sam Alexander
Coming back into the 1st Grade side from injury, Jimmy Munting bowled beautifully to pick up the figures of 5-72 off his 23 overs. Awesome Munta!
Meanwhile, Sam Alexander relished his promotion to 4th Grade by snaring yet another michelle, repeating his figures from last week of 5-50. He bowled with extreme confidence and precision to pick up a stumping, two caught-behinds and two caught at slip, in what was a masterclass of spin bowling. This makes it 3 five-wicket-hauls from 3 rounds for Sammos, and at this rate the man will have enough champagne to last him a lifetime!
Outstanding Performances
Jimmy Munting 5-72 – 5th Grade
Sam Alexander 5-50 – 4th Grade
Jacob Graham 60 – 5th Grade
Jordan Daly 73 – 5th Grade
Matt Cole 67* – 5th Grade
1st Grade Round 3 vs Sutherland (Day 1)
Sutherland won the toss and elected to bat on a green top.
Ben Martin made an early breakthrough for Manly when he dismissed NSW Blues opener Nick Maddinson in the 3rd over.
Spurred on by this early success the Manly bowlers bowled a good line and length and were well supported by some enthusiastic efforts in the field.
Most successful bowler for the ‘Waratahs’ was James Munting who captured 5 wickets from his 22.3 overs. He was ably supported by his fellow pace bowlers.
Stephen O’Keefe returned to the Manly side today fresh from his recent trip to India where he represented the State in the Champions League T20 Competition. His mere presence brought some extreme enthusiasm to the side as evidenced by the great catches by Jack Ritchie and Mitch Cleary, as well as Corrie Boss’ fielding effort to effect a run out. From Stephen’s 3 bowling spells the Sutherland batsmen were limited to 13 scoring shots from his 17 overs – a terrific performance.
Sutherland were dismissed in the 78th over for 223.
With 16 overs left in the day’s play Manly lost their first wicket when Jack Ritchie was dismissed in the 11th over. Andrew Lindsay, duly promoted in the batting order, together with Nick Watkins had reduced the target by 44 runs when stumps were called.
An extremely good effort from the Manly bowlers against the strong Sutherland side.
Captain Tim Cruickshank fresh from his innings of 143 and 38 in the NSW State 2nd XI v Victoria fixture at Hurstville Oval during this past week was, after the day’s play, informed of his elevation to the NSW Sheffield Shield team for the NSW v Victoria fixture at the SCG next Tuesday – a great reward for a very fine player.
The Observer
2nd Grade Round 3 vs Sutherland (Day 1)
For the second time in a week, vandals set a bin alight on top of the covers at Grahams reserve, meaning there was no possible play for 2nd Grade.
3rd Grade Round 3 vs Sutherland (Day 1)
The Main Grade rocked up to Sutherland Oval looking to make it 3 from 3 to start the season. Welcoming new boy Benny Smith into the side, we got straight into the warm up in the warm conditions of the Shire. The top 5 were surprisingly lack-luster in attack, and the bottom 6 snared their first victory of the season. Shaggas put his standard big hit on for the game and Deano was put in his place.
The oval looked a treat, and Don Burke Burgess was very happy with the lush Buffallo outfield. The deck was ridiculously hard and flat, meaning the conditions would definitely favour the batsmen.
Genie lost the toss on his birthday and we were sent into the field. From the start, it was obvious we were going to have our work cut out, as the ball was coming onto the bat nicely, and even Genie was getting Little-to-no side-ways movement. However, a great bowling partnership from Genie (3-25) and Lance (2-32) had the Sharks in trouble early at 4-39. From there, Sutherland showed a bit more determination and displayed how easily runs could flow on that field. Farrell was getting a lot of purchase from the otherwise flat wicket, with his turn and bounce troubling the batsmen. He picked up one just before tea, leaving the Sharks 6-140.
After the break, the Manly boys picked up wickets at regular intervals, despite some crafty Hacksmanship from Shaggas’ brother, who took a particular liking to Digits’ bowling. Digits had the last laugh though, making the batsmen regret farming the strike from the number 8. Farrell cleaned up the tail, and finished with a well deserved 4-49, meaning we were chasing 189. Special mention to Burgo and Shaggas who picked up 3 catches each.
With 25 overs left to be bowled in the day, Gummer and Issacs got us off to a solid start, before Gummer was caught and bowled for 5. Ben Smith came out and played some fine strokes, with the two lefties putting away any lose deliveries. Benny went for 16 after being adjudged LBW, and Burgess followed soon after for 10. Deano (9*) and Shaggas (30*) faced out the remaining 5 or so overs confidently, leaving us at 3-73 at the end of the day. Still a lot of work to do next week to get the six points, with 117 runs still required and 7 wickets in hand.
Gumms
4th Grade Round 3 vs Sutherland (Day 1)
Turning up to Mike Pawley oval with a few changes in the side the boys were ready to play some good cricket. Losing the toss we were asked to have a bowl, and from ball one we were on the mark. Reece Hodge bowled a good opening spell with no luck, to finish with 0 for 30 off 12 overs. In the twelfth big Mickey Lindsay made a welcomed returned to Manly, picking up a wicket in his second over after a good catch from Reece down at fine leg to get our innings under way. Mick quickly found himself getting a cheeky second in the next over. Mick ended up finishing the day with 10 overs 2 for 24.
Wazza made a welcomed appearance in his second game of 4s and bowled with the ball on a piece of string, with an 8-1 field, Waz finished with 2 for 17 off 9 overs. Although the day belonged to Sam Alexander coming on just after drinks, Sam bowled unchanged from his favourite end, bowling with confidence and patience with an attacking frame of mind, finishing with 5 for 50 off 16.4 overs. An incredible effort from Sam who has picked himself up three 5 wicket hauls from the first three rounds, would love to see when this was last done at Manly in any grade, well done mate and well deserved.
Special mentions have to go to Luke Grant who has put his hand up to be wicketkeeper to help the club out and has done a fabulous job in the opening three rounds, with this round taking two great catches from the bowling of Sam. Also the brilliance of Ash Virdi’s direct hit run out, Ash has done a lot of fielding practice at training, as have so many of the fourth grade boys, and plays like Ash’s is a reward from the hard work. We ended up bowling Sutherland out for 148 from 53.4 overs, leaving us 24 overs left in the days play.
With the loss of the first wicket of Burgess with the score of 30, we lost another quick wicket of Jarrod (21). Sam Hole and Mitch Pugh batted very well to see us to the end of the day at 2 for 55. Although we have left ourselves in a good position for next week, we need to ensure we turn up and consolidate on our position.
Like to thank all the guys from second grade who came and supported the boys through the day, in understanding their circumstances it was great for them to show their support.
Maxy
5th Grade Round 3 vs Sutherland (Day 1)
Manly 7-324 declared off 73 overs (Jacob Graham 60, Liam Tully 40, Cody Bruce 32, Jordan Daly 73, Matt Cole 67*)
Sutherland 0-18 off 5 overs.
Congratulations to Jordan, Jacob and Matt on their first 50s for the club.
1st Grade T20 Cup – Round 1 vs Bankstown
Tim Cruickshank won the toss and elected to bat.
Luke Edgell and Nick Watkins threw a scare into the camp on ball 1 when they danced around mid- wicket before running 2 following a fielding error by Bankstown. Alas a little bit of luck went Manly’s way for a change.
However luck ran out for Nick Watkins later in the over when he was out caught with the score on 6.
The loss of a further 5 wickets during the next 8 overs saw Manly at 6/31 from 9 overs and one would think in a little trouble.
Enter the Doochman.
Making his first appearance in First grade for some time, and filling in as a late replacement for Andrew Lindsay, Ryan Bonnor certainly made an impact.
Ryan’s masterful innings of 41 runs (1/6 3/4) came off 34 balls and he received excellent support from Mitch Coombs who had played a leading role in the Poidevin-Gray s win in the earlier match. Together they put on a 7th wicket partnership of 44 valuable runs.
In the later overs of Manly s innings further valuable contributions came from Corrie Boss and James Munting.
Manly were bowled out for 120 from their allotted 20 overs.
In defending a score of 120 the bowlers needed to do a lot of the basic fundamentals correctly and capture early wickets to assert some pressure on the lower order and it was essential that the fieldsmen provided the necessary support.
Opening the attack from the southern end Ben Martin captured the prized wicket of Jarred Burke from the first ball. What a great start.
Bowling his 4th over Ben made a huge impact by capturing 2 wickets.
A tremendous fielding effort from Mitch Cleary in the same over secured a run out.
Bankstown were now 4/31 from 7 overs.
Manly were now gradually climbing back into the game and during the next 10 overs captured a further 2 wickets whilst conceding 58 runs.
Bankstown required 32 runs from the remaining 3 overs.
Boss, Edgell and Munting captured the 3 wickets required to dismiss Bankstown for 108 with some excellent bowling to give Manly an improbable victory by 12 runs.
What a great win – a real nail biter!
The Observer
PGs T20 Round 1 vs Bankstown
We rocked up to the incredible Bankstown Oval on Sunday looking to get our PGs season off to a solid start. With a few younger boys out due to HSC committments, and Walter reduced to a wheelchair, the side was fairly understrength, but we still went in with confidence riding on the back of our deadly bowling line-up.
The skipper won the toss and decided to bat, with Gummer and Pughy opening up shop. Spughy smoked one to deep cover to depart for 6, leaving Coombsy and Gums to knock it around and steady the ship. Coombsy dispatched the offie over the long-off fence, then was dismissed for 15 after he chipped one to mid-wicket. Gummer ran himself out the next ball, meaning Tommy Kaye and Taylor Beatty were the two new batsmen with the score at 3-36 off 8. Tommy (33) and Taylor (22) knocked the ball around beatifully, picking up 1s and 2s, and hitting the odd boundary. They both departed late in the innings, and with a bomb from Matt Alexander, we finished at 6-117 off our 20 overs.
Our bowlers new we would need something special to defend less than 6 an over, and that’s exactly what they provided. Dylan Marshall opened up and tied the batsmen down from ball one, then Matty Mee (3-17) and Mitch Coombs (3-20) destroyed the opposition with the help of some amazing fielding from the boys. Bankstown were struggling at 7-29 off 10 overs, and were never really in the game from there on in, finishing at 8-108 off their 20 after a few big late overs. Great work to all 5 bowlers who did their jobs nicely and didn’t give the opposition a chance of coming back into the game.
Bring on Gordon at Manly Oval in two weeks time!
Special thanks to Gilly, as well as Lozza and Wrighty for catering to our every need.
Gumms
