PGs 2 from 2 over Uni while 1s & 5s Back Up With the Ball

The Manly Warringah TravelSIM Waratahs had a tough finish to the two-day match against traditional rivals Northern Districts. Defending 306, Chris Green’s maiden 5-fa for the Tahs led 1st Grade to a hard-fought victory bowling NDs out for 263 at Manly Oval, while 5s backed up last weeks’ sterling batting performance with a 93-run win, bowling NDs out for 261 with wickets shared. The middle grades all suffered disappointing losses, with 3rd grade falling 90 short of the required 256 despite a late surge from top-scorer Ash Virdi (45). 2s finished their day positively after being passed and sent back in earlier, while a devastating Jacob Graham spell almost led 4th grade back from the dead as Northern Districts limped past the required 270 eight down. Ending the weekend on a positive, Sam Gainsford’s PGs team towelled up Sydney Uni in both of their T20 fixtures at Manly Oval, scoring a particularly impressive 8-217 in one game.

This week’s 4 Pines Player of the Week is club favourite Jacob ‘Yak’ Graham who almost single-handedly resurrected 4th Grade on Saturday, bringing them tantalisingly close to what would’ve been an amazing win. With NDs needing only 48 runs with 8 wickets in hand on an absolute belter, the result looked to have been well and truly decided. In what became a masterclass in bowling on a flat deck, the Yak proceeded to take 6-20 in an unbelievable spell that sent heart palpitations through the Northern District change room. Although perhaps better known for his starring role in Manly’s recent video #stackyak, the Yak showed just how damaging he can be when he maintains his equilibrium all the way through the crease.

A hard trainer and fierce competitor, it’s fantastic to see the rewards come, especially in such testing conditions. Last Saturday will undoubtedly inspire Jacob to even bigger and better things for the rest of the season – let’s just hope the 4th Grade North Sydney batsmen are ready for him #confidenceyak

Well done mate!

In comes Steve O’Keefe, and straight away he showed his class and ability to break the partnership for us, snaring an early one and continuing to build pressure.  From the other end Taylor Beatty had the ball reversing beautifully and was unlucky not to pick up one himself with a few nicks threading their way through the cordon. But it was young Jack Edwards who was to remove the other opener with a classy spell before the luncheon to turn things around and have ND’s 2-89 at lunch. Great hour from the boys, taking 2-20 with two new batters in.

After the lunch a double change saw the skipper bowling for the first time against his old club and he was welcomed in true style by the opposing captain by launching him onto the hill. Two balls later however he snuck one through the gate and won the battle 3-95, with Mattoes picking up the new batter at the other end taking it to 4-106. Boys were right on top and had a spring in their step as Greeny got his second to have half in the boat for 123.

There’s always a partnership and the 7th wicket proved tough to break open as the opposition shut up shop and nudged their way to a 50 run stand. Plenty of half chances were being created but none went to hand. However it was a short dose of Green and O’Keefe before tea that saw the breakthrough as Greeny picked up his 3rd in the last over before tea to have the score 6/170.

The first hour after tea was pretty slow going as the grind between both teams continued. Spin rotations from one end and pace rotated from the other seemed to be the ploy moving forward and it worked well as Jack Edwards picked up his second with the vital breakthrough as the score reached 204.

From there the game picked up intensity as ND’s started playing some shots and runs began to flow more freely leading into drinks. The interval brought about a change in mentality as it became a one-day like battle between bat and ball. Mattoes and SOK toiled away before Greeny and Viss finished off the innings. Greeny picked up his 4th at 8/254 with 10 overs to go, then it was Visser’s turn to grab the next 9/261, before Greeny closed things out with his maiden 5fa for the club and it was all over red rover for 263.

A hard-fought intense win for the 1st grade side that maintains our unbeaten record and keeps us at the top of the log at the early stage of the season. Bring on the grudge match against North Sydney next round.

Greeny

We arrived at Mark Taylor oval for day 2 of the match after a poor start last week. With NDs only needing another 20 runs with 6 wickets in hand, it was going to be a tough task for the Tahs to get the first innings win.

The boys came out strong and ready for good day. A few early wickets to Jake Carden and Nick Mclachlan gave the boys a real lift, however NDs were able to pass the total 7 down. NDs batted on and despite some good bowling were able to get a lead of 70 before deciding to declare about 20 minutes before the lunch break.

Billy D’arcy and Logan Weston opened the batting with the goal to get to lunch. However Logan went early meaning the skipper Jack Ritchie went in, who along with Billy got the boys to lunch. After Lunch Billy and Jack dug in and were batting well until Billy got out, bringing Ollie Davies to join Jack. Jack and Ollie were patient and picked their balls before Ollie unfortunately went just before Tea. Aiden Bariol joined Jack and the two batted patiently and with positive intent for the remainder of the day before the match was called, with Aiden finishing on 53* and Jack on 41*. Despite the poor first week effort which resulted in the loss, the boys were happy with our efforts on Day 2 and are looking forward to using the positives from the second day going into next week.

Wigs

NDs chose to continue batting on day two with the score at 237-8. They came out showing much more intent than the previous week but it didn’t take Watts long to add another wicket to his tally, making it 6 for the innings. RBP wrapped things up to finish with 3 as NDs we’re bowled out for 256. Sparky and RBP were comfortably the pick of the bowlers in what was a very clean and tidy team bowling/fielding performance.

 With the pitch looking even flatter than the week before we were very confident of chasing down the modest target. Sam Hole (19) and Will Wolter (8) started well with some elegant flicks through the leg side. At about 30 Wolter chipped one to mid off which triggered a collapse as we lost Webber, Hole and Badyari to leave us precariously placed at about 4-40. Jordan Daly (41) and debutant Andrew Hicks (23) steadied the ship to take us to tea at about 4-90.

After tea we had another collapse, triggered by a self-inflicted run out, this time losing 3 for about 10 to leave us at 7-100. Virdi (45) and Jamieson (17) combined well to give us a glimmer of hope but it was not to be as we were eventually bowled out for 166.

It was a very disappointing and frustrating loss considering we felt we controlled large portions of the game. Unfortunately two collapses cost us in the end. On the positive side the bowling display and energy shown in the field was excellent. Several batsmen got starts and looked good, we just need to be more consistent for longer periods of time. Bring on next week!

Hicksy

We rocked up to Asquith Oval ready to give ND’s a crack and aim to get early wickets. The pitch was flat with a lightning outfield and with a short boundary so we knew that we’d have to toil away all day to grind out a result. ND’s resumed on 1/60 odd chasing our 270 from Day 1.

Brad opened the bowling rocking a head band to keep those luscious locks in place and quickly found his spot, troubling the batsmen early and finding some seam off the deck while Falcs toiled away from the other end. Gumms made a quick change of the bowling and Bainy came on and picked up the first wicket of the day, bowling their number 3 top of off to make the score 2/78. Brad and Bain continued toiling away however some solid defensive batting and strong use of the short boundary caused Gumms to bring on Will Akhurst. Will, one of the less agile cricketers going around, bowled well but without luck. ND’s were punishing anything wide and over pitched and quickly raced to 2/200. Our two spinners, Samoz and Isaiah, came into the attack and quickly shifted momentum to us as we began building pressure and squeezing the opposition. At tea we had slowed down their scoring shots and had them 2/215.

We regrouped and after an inspirational chat from Skid we quickly headed back out onto the park and began on where we left off. Samoz continued to toil away, whilst Jacob “Yak” Graham joined the attack. Yak quickly found his stride and began to chip away and grab a few poles. We knew a big effort was needed to try and win from this position and the Yak bowled one of the all time spells to give us a chance at winning. The great man finished with 6/20 off 12 overs, a top effort in the conditions and he showed all the other bowlers how to bowl on a flat, dead wicket. However despite our best efforts NDs crawled their way over the finishing line 8 down.

A disappointing result for us Manly boys that was most affected by the last session of last weekends when a collapse of 7-40 gave them extra batting time in ideal conditions when we really should’ve pushed for another 100 runs which might have made the difference today. We’ll learn from our mistakes and move on to our game next week against North Sydney at Graham’s where we’ll be sure to give it to last years premiers and really push on after today’s disappointment.

Bainy

ND’s started the day 1-65 needing plenty to take 6 points home with them. With a road to bat on, they knuckled down and for the most part batted with patience and control. We bowled in the right areas on a flat track and managed to snag wickets at crucial times, we went to the break needing 4 more wickets for the points.

Our bowlers toiled hard after the break bowling ND’s out for 261. Dylan Marshall bagged 3, Archer, Counsell & Brewster picked up 2 each and Luca Franks grabbed 1fa. Notably, a congrats to both Luca and Jordy for bagging their first poles for Manly. The win is a fantastic way to open our account and showed glimpses of what we are capable of in the coming rounds.

Shaggers

The PG’s lads are back for another big and exciting season! This years campaign kicked off with a T20 double header against Sydney Uni at Manly Oval

With the boys ready to go Gainsy won the toss and elected to Bat First, Baz and Will Wolter opened the batting and got the boys off to a good start! Will was the first one dismissed being bowled and Jack Edwards was soon to Follow been given out LBW a couple balls Later, this caused a mini collapse with Baz going for 26 and Ollie for 0, The Skipper and Ping got the innings back on the right track before Gainsy was eventually bowled for 22. Carden Continued but was Caught in the deep a few overs later for 36. With the Tahs looking at a total around 120-130 in came Joey Graham and Zachy T! These two combined power hitting and excellent running to propel the Manly boys to a score of 7-163. Jo ‘Baby Yak’ Graham finished with 41* and Zach ‘Jesus’ Trewartha 21*.

The Tahs got off to a decent start with Edwards and Carden picking up the first 2 wickets with the score at 2-18. The Uni skipper Nicky Craze came out and started to play every shot in the book and was looking very dangerous! But the Tahs kept tacking regular wickets which always kept Uni on the back foot. But with Craze still at the crease Uni was always a chance, but this came to an end with Craze on 52 when he played one reverse sweep to many chipping one up for an easy catch to Bariol off the bowling of Graham. Sydney Uni was eventually all out for 128 in the 20th over. With the wickets going to Foster 3/35, Sommerville 2/20, Carden 2/21, Edwards 1/13, Graham 1/19 and Gainsford 1/20. GOOD START FOR THE TAHS!

Also Special Mention to Manly PGS debutants Isaiah Vumbaca, Andrew Sommerville and Joel Foster. Well Done Lads!!

PING

After a couple hours break the second T20 was ready to get underway. Gainsy won the toss again and we batted first again, With Wolter unavailable for game 2 Carden was promoted to opener with bariol.

The Tahs got off to a flyer with Baz hitting the ball to all parts of the ground, with the score on 60 after 5 overs, PING was bowled for 10, Jack joined baz at the crease and continued to hit boundary after boundary, Baz was eventually out for a brilliant 64 off just 30 rocks! Jack and Gainsy continued the onslaught. Jack ended up with 31 and Gainsy 32. The Manly boys just kept going and hitting the ball onto Sydney Road! The Tahs finished with an amazing 217 off there 20 overs !

With a lot of rain on the radar Joey and Gainsy opened the attack to get the 5 overs completed quickly. Uni got off to a flyer with the score 3/60 off 6, Uni kept on playing with freedom with Craze and Fullerton putting a dangerous partnership together. Joey got the crucial wicket of Craze then Andy Sommerville came In and changed the game taking 2 wickets in 2 balls which eased the nerves of the Manly Boys. After a brilliant fight from Uni they fell just short finishing with 200, a very exciting and nervracking game for all involved but the Tahs just proved to strong in the end. Taking both games and starting the campaign in style!

A big shout out to Bainy for being 12th man for the day and all the support we got!

PING

This weeks Harbord Diggers Team of the Week see’s a good blend of players from across the grades. Very spin heavy bowling attack with Green, Marshall and Watts given the nod after top performances, while Crosthwaite and O’Sullivan will be leading the team with the bat. Controversial omission with 5th grade skipper Geoff Isaacs missing out after his 82 in 5th grade, selection repercussions may be witnessed. #bleedblue