In February 2014 the Manly Waringah Junior Cricket Association introduced a T20 competition called “Manly Mini Bash” so that that young players could get an understanding of T20 at a young age to become better, well-rounded players and great T20 players in the future.
The tournament was very successful and received a lot of very positive feedback from both players and parents. In light of that, the tournament has continued to run and is now in its third year.
Some of the driving principles behind Manly Mini Bash are that participation comes ahead of winning, and that the juniors play for enjoyment – winning is a bonus. Scores are not entered into MyCricket so players tend to play in a more carefree manner purely for the fun of the game. Bonus points are awarded for achieving certain milestones. These are important factors that make it so enjoyable for players and parents.
MWJCA provides bright orange and pink balls which not only help create a difference from other cricket, but also have a very positive impact on visibility which is an important safety consideration with matches completing at 7:15pm. Boundary lengths are shortened to provide big rewards for shots and exciting, high-scoring games. The feedback from both players and parents has been consistently good every year.
Without Manly Mini Bash many young players would not have the opportunity to play T20 cricket until leaving school.
We believe that Manly Warringah provides one of the very few, if not the only, T20 opportunities for young players in Sydney. With the help of ourselves, the Junior Association are trying to foster a relationship with the Sydney Sixers which will really add a new dimension and some exciting possibilities to MMB.
This year Sydney Sixers kindly donated an autographed bat which was awarded to Lachlan Charles (St Augustines) for the Most Valuable Player award based on earning more bonus points for his team than any other player. The godfather of Manly Warringah Crickert, Mike Pawley, has also been very generous every year in donating man of the match awards for finals.
The aim is to involve as many of the Saturday morning junior comp teams as possible, but spaces are limited for logistical reasons (such as ground availability on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons). Out of this season’s 74 teams registered with MWJCA, 44 played MMB in 11 leagues of 4 teams each. 47 teams wanted to play which means we were unable to find spots for only three of them.
The tournament runs for five weeks with 3 preliminary rounds followed by knockout semi-finals and then grand finals.
Results were as follows:
| League | Winners | Runners Up |
| U11/1 | Forrest U11 – Blue | Harbord U11 – Spinners |
| U12/1 | St Aug U12 – Gold | Wakehurst U12 – Red |
| U12/2 | St Aug U12 – Green | Collaroy U12 – Lightning |
| U13/1 | Peninsula U13 – Scorchers | Collaroy U13 – Chargers |
| U13/2 | St Aug U13 – Gold | Peninsula U13 – Pacers |
| U13-15/1 | Beacon Hill U15 | Peninsula U14 – Tioger SHarks |
| U14/1 | Wakehurst U14 – Red | Harbord U14 – Crocs |
| U14/2 | Forest U14 | Collaroy U14 – Thunderbolts |
| U15/1 | St Aug U15 – Gold | Wakehurst U15 – Red |
| U16-18/1 | St Aug U16-18 – Red | Harbord U16-18 – Scorchers |
| U16-18/2 | Beacon Hill U16-18 | St Aug U16-18 Gold |
Although sponsored by the Junior Association, this entire tournament is organised and run by Phill Edwards and Kevin Davies, fathers of current players Mickey, Jack and Ollie, and great ambassadors for local junior cricket. It’s a huge effort by both Phill and Kevin and we congratulate them for their tireless efforts.
At the end of every tournament, Kevin, Phill and the committee review what worked and what they could do better. This is based on feedback received during the tournament and an online survey.
Everyone is already looking forward to MMB #4 in 2016/17.
U12/1 Winners St Augustiones
U13/1 Winners Beacon Hill
U14/1 Winners Wakehurst Redbacks
