Rain dampens spirits again but Manly still in winners circle – Weekend Wrap 31 Oct/1 Nov 2020

Looking at the forecast prior to Saturday 1st Grade game at Chatswood Oval was not looking great for a full days cricket. Upon arrival to the game this was backed up to what looked like a rugby paddock on a wet winters NZ day. However, to the surprise of everyone the coin was tossed into the air with Jay winning then electing to field first, the umpires then giving the teams 10 minutes notice for play to start. With cricket at play, Andrew Jamieson was the first to take a wicket with Gordan at 1-18. Gordan then continued a steady start with the next wicket falling at 2-93 after 18 overs. The game continued to look evenly poised at 4-143 after 30 overs until Manly took the upper hand with SOK and Herdy taking a few wickets through the middle. Lightning and thunder halted the game just after the second drinks break, causing a reduced game of 45 overs. Once the lightning and thunder disappeared Gordan continued their shortened innings, with 9 overs to go they looked to take the game on and push there total to 242 after 45 overs. Manly’s bowlers ending up with a 1fa for Jamieson, Beadle & Hadley, 2fa for SOK and a 4fa for Herd.

Manly took to the crease after a quick 20 minute break with Bryant and Foster opening up. Both looked solid and we were of to a flyer at 60 of 10 overs. However, the weather man above had different plans for the evening and decided to let the sky poor down halting play with only 5 overs need to make a result with Manly looking favoured for the win. It was to be a day that was won by the rain, play did not resume and no result was to come. Foster finishing up on 42* and Bryant on 17*. 1st Grade continuing there momentum but unfortunately no result to come from a day’s hard work. Rain was the winner at Chatwood oval on the day.

3 – Elliott Herd

2 – Joel Foster

1 – Steve O’Keefe

 

Elliot Herd

With the rain narrowly missing Manly Oval overnight the lads were ready for a full day’s play. As usual, Sammy Gains won the toss and elected to bowl on a pitch that looked tough to bat on early. 

Tommy Kaye and Josh Wigney took the new ball and continued where they left off against Penrith. Both were unbelievable again, not allowing the batsmen to feel comfortable at the crease through bowling consistent lengths and making them play every ball. As a result, Gordon were 3/13 after 6 overs. This start set the tone and standard for the day ahead. RBP and Seward came on as first change and continued to give the batsmen not much to work with, RBP taking 2 wickets with 6 overs of Jimmy Anderson like swing bowling, while Seward took 1 wicket however was unlucky not to have 5 considering the amount of play and misses. Isaiah came on and bowled a subtle 2 overs of turn and burn before Tommy Kaye took the last 2 wickets in successive balls. An amazing 25 overs of bowling by the Tahs that was complimented well overall by the fielders. This is a testament to the hard work and long pre-season each of our bowlers endured and are now reaping the rewards the last 2 rounds.

Chasing 73 to win and Logan and Brewy started off well together. Two cowboys at heart loving the situation and putting the bad balls to the fence. Matty B was unlucky to be given out on 19 to put it lightly, while Logan continued to hit the boundary finishing 37* with Sammy Ginas 16*. A clinical chase and performance, winning with 38 overs to spare. 

An overall great day for the Tahs and are looking to take this momentum onwards into the coming rounds!

3 – Tom Kaye

2- Ryan Bishop-Perret

1 – Josh Wigney

 

Ned Hole

The game of cricket does not have to be decided on a blissful summers day in front of tens of thousands of fans on the edge of their seat. Sometimes, there can be critical sessions in conditions barely fit for our summer game with whistling winds, intermittent showers in front of a dozen or so people walking their dog. 

That was the scenario at Killara Oval.

While the entirety of Sydney burrowed into their homes to take refuge from the storms that were about to hit, the Manly boys were more than delighted to be swept away from the potential flash flooding that was about to occur. But the big question still resonated…. Could 3’s produce a result with rain on the way, and Counsell still missing before the start of play? 

 With the flip of the wrist, the rotation of silver and the arrival of Counsell, Manly’s Webber brothers were sent into bat by Gordon. Even better for Manly was the uncertainty surrounding whether this wicket had a few demons. 

On a ground conspicuous for its short boundaries on one side of the wicket, surely Manly could only get off to nothing but a blistering start. However, within a few overs, Sammy Webber would have a few strong words for the pitches condition, unfortunately leaving it on his stumps.

The boys on the side lines were left to sing forlorn renditions of “bat out the 50”, “be with us till the end” as Jordan Daly approached the wicket. And give or take a few, he pretty much backed it up. Webber was soon playing as though he had an age to do as he pleased. Straight balls were clipped away on the leg side, full ones driven through the covers, and most reassuringly, good ones blocked. Webber was playing with the freedom of a toddler at recess, until he was caught at slip by the only ball that seemed to spin all innings. 

With Daly and Prowse at the crease, the Gordon bowling attack were in for a bit of an early Christmas present. The white collar pair remained a Rubik’s Cube of a batsman. However many twists and turns these two make,  there seems no way to solve the puzzle of how to dismiss them. Both of them tucked away the loose deliveries with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of efficiency. Jordan Daly brought up a magnificent century with a beautifully placed French cut. It was honestly a spectacle of a batting performance well beyond 3rd grade. It’s amazing to see physical evidence of throw downs actually paying off. 

But in the shadows, Prowse unleashed, racking up 81 before he was caught by a half-asleep gully. 

Trewartha and skipper Hole had spent the majority of their day in a fit of rage, waiting to bat. Both of them helped contribute to Manly’s 257. But if you ask Sammy Webber, there will still a few demons in the wicket. 

Now the boy’s had to back up their total. Walking onto the field with mamba mentality, and with Counsell still waiting for his Uber Eats order, the clouds started to disappear. I’m not one to believe in pathetic fallacy, but it was looking bright for the 3’s boys. Counsell and Prowse started us off with some tight, sharp bowling. Counsell was letting them go with fury at the sight of Skid eating his Uber Eats order. Prowse did his usual thing, bowling three maidens in a row. Hobson and Bain backed them up with some discplined, economical bowling, not letting the opposition get anything. Gordon were struggling. The four horseman had really put them in a ditch. But with rain on the way, Gordon had other plans to play for rain. 

Not many people can wrap their heads around the Duckworth Lewis rules. But not many people are Sammy Hole. In a swift, calm motion, Hole brought on our spinners, Trewartha and Dhillon, hoping for a wicket to fully snatch the game away from Gordon.

“Your wish is my command” said the mastermind Dhillon. And within a matter of overs, Dhillon acquired the first wicket before the thunder and rain came down.

With the covers on, and the chatter of boys in the sheds, Sammy Hole was trying to negotiate the best deal with the Umpires and Gordon Captain. From years of watching shark tank, as well as already being late for his evening plans, Sammy Hole was able to argue his Duckworth Lewis case in favour of Manly. 

A day that begun in a bit of a trough, ended up being quite a successful day to say the least. The 3’s boys are already catching a bit of rhythm, and are clicking on and off the field, which is surprising since the age gap from the youngest to oldest, is double his age.

3- Jordan Daly

2- Neil Prowse

1- Michael Counsell

Jack Hobson

The mighty 4’s men arrived to a damp Graham’s reserve full of anticipation and hunger to start the season on the right foot and get off the mark with a victory. Our team sheet was different to the 4th grade sides of old, with the excitinginclusions of three debutants in Boulton, Cooper and Waddington as well as the returning Glyn Archer from a short-term loan deal to North Sydney. We found ourselves with a nice blend of youth and experience raring to go. 

Following the usually competitive game of touch, as rain loomed and cloud cover coated the sky the Gordon skipper sent the Manly boys in for a stick. Filled with optimism the boys were tasked with building a competitive total however what followed was unfortunately a very poor showing from the Manly bats. Lack of application and poor decision making resulted in one of the great batting collapses to find ourselves all out for just 51.

With the deck still relatively new and lively (tends to happen when you’re dismissed inside 27 overs), the Manly boys on the back of Duly trying to convince teammates 72 was a lower number than 51, took the field our trademark enthusiasm and resilience. Without the luxury of bulk runs to defend, plans were pretty simple for our bowlers – take wickets. Take wickets we did as debutant Waddington grabbed the glove of their opening bat leading to a tidy caught behind by Lucius with his very first ball of grade cricket – how easy’s this 4^thgrade gig he probably thought. What followed was an absolutely remarkable 60 minutes as the Manly men dug deep, fought hard and sent shockwaves through the stunned Gordon team in the sheds. Waddington picked up a second wicket shortly after with a peach taking the top of off. 2-16. Kerry hit the stumps for an unbelievable run out from the 30 yard circle – 3-16. Archer snicks off their number 4 – 4-16. Game on we say. 2 quick wickets followed with Kerr finding the outside edge only to be claimed by a screamer behind by Lucius and yet another (questionable) run out by Boulton – 6-34. Although only defending 51 such was the confidence in ourselves that we never felt out of the game, and as the gas trucked seemingly pulled in we backed ourselves to pull off something remarkable. 

As young gun Boulton was introduced into the attack, immediate effect was found as a back of a length ball somehow managed to find its way into Duly’s left pec at gully. A few streaky singles and Gordon found themselves 7 down with 1 run required. Bowling with composure well beyond his years, young Boulton stepped up to the plate and delivered an amazing second over, bowling straight and fast taking 2 wickets in 3 balls. Unfortunately, the final two batsmen managed to get Gordon over the line for a very unconvincing 1 wicket bonus point win, making their chase as hard as possible and taking the points in the most difficult manner imaginable. What was nearly one of the great escapes instilled immense confidence with the boys and garnered much excitement with the talent our young brigade bring to the fore.

As we look ahead to round 2 a much improved effort with the bat will be required, however with the performances of our bowlers, exciting times are indeed ahead – go Manly!

3 – Andrew Boulton 

2 – Glyn Archer

1 – James Waddington

Fielding – Oscar Lucius

 

Nick Cohen 

We arrived on a wet Saturday morning at Beauchamp oval. Manly won the toss and elected to bowl first against Gordon on a slow deck. The boys only got on at 12 due to poor pitch preparations and a little drizzle here and there. We got off to a flying start with the skipper Andrew Rotchford (the doc) supplying a superb delivery trapping the batsman LBW. This lead to an abundance of wickets with a smart piece of fielding from Liam Dinan.

Leaving the Gordon batting attack 2/37 and manly well on top. Liam then struck again with a great spell forcing the batsman to play a rash shot resulting in debutant Charlie Johnston taking a great catch right down his throat at short cover. Other notable bowling performances include Charlie picking up 2/28 on debut, Liam Dinan with 3/33 and Rochy with 2/35 as well.

With the bat the boys got off to a decent start as well ending the days play for 0/23 until lightning and rain had ended the days play.

 

3,2,1s TBA

Darcy Fleming

It was a gloomy Saturday when 3rd grade were to face Bankstown at Balgowlah Oval, After the rain from the week, we were unsure if we would get on but luckily for Bankstown, we were set to start at normal time. As per tradition, the warm up touch game was the highlight although we had a referee (thanks Jess) as well as a special appearance from Ross to get the non-hats team over the line. 

After the game, captains were called and Manly lost the toss and were sent in to bat. Steph and Sarah opened the batting getting off to a slow start with Bankstown bowlers not giving anything away with their tight fielding. Both girls were still in after 10 overs when the storm came over, sending us off the field. 

After a game of Psych, we were set to start again only playing 17 overs. Steph and Sarah went back in and immediately runs were flowing until Steph was bowled for 19. In at 3 was Renee who was shortly dismissed for 3, trying to swing to cow corner. Next came Mia who got to work straight away and helped Sarah retire 30*. Jaz came out ready to go but was run out for 2. With 4 balls to go, Liv came in to help Mia finish the innings and got out last ball and Mia with 9*, finishing 4/71.

With a quick turn around, Manly were out into the field ready to defend with Liv and Jaz opening the bowling. A wicket came the 2nd ball of the innings, caught behind by Steph. With 2 new batters, Manly were looking for another wicket but to no avail. The opening Bankstown batter retired 30* and a new batter came to the crease. The 2nd wicket fell in the 9th over off Sallie’s bowling and a stunning catch by Mason. Mia was in to bowl the 10th, getting a wicket on the last ball of the over for a wicket maiden. Shortly after, the rain began and Bankstown had passed the total at the 12th over. 

3 – Sarah Gordon

2 – Mia Nel 

1- Liv Hough

Fielding – Mason White 

 

Liv Hough 

No play due to rain

No play due to rain

 

The brewers girls made the trip out to the riff unsure of how much cricket we’d play but to our luck it was well worth the trip. 

We lost the toss and got sent in for a bowl. Jess Manning opened the bowling from one end and Chloe Osborne from the other. It wasn’t long before we got our first wicket, a great piece of fielding by Laura Judson straight into Ruby’s gloves that sent the opener walking. The other opener started to tee off when Jess had other thoughts and bowled her. It was a while before we got our next wicket but Emily Horstead cracked the partnership thanks to Jess having no dramas under the high ball. Abbey Melville had 4 economically great overs, unlucky not to get a wicket but the batters weren’t loving having to face her. Sallie had an over 0/6 and was unlucky not to get a break through, as the batters were taking some risky singles. Chloe came back on for a few overs, bowled one straight on the pads, was plum as but the umpire didn’t want a bar of it. Ellie James came on and definitely made her mark, getting 2 quick wickets finishing off her spell with 2/26. Eliza Henry came on at the end and was bowling awesomely, making the batters pretty frustrated. Penrith finished with 112, we knew we had a job to do but, we knew we could do it. 

After ruby gave some questionable throw downs our openers, Nat and Laura went on to start the job. Because of the rain that was around we had to think about Duckworth Lewis. Laura and Nat could not of started better, hitting the ball all round the park. Laura hit an absolute bomb but then shortly after was dismissed for 14. A beautiful opening partnership of 57, what more could you ask for. Ellie to the crease. Well ahead of the required run rate Nat didn’t back down. Hitting an inspirational skippers knock of 55 off 47, were so proud of you nat, that was a true testament to how hard you work constantly at training. Ellie kept going, unfortunately going for 29 off 27 after some clinical batting. Chloe and Ruby were in there at the end to get the winning runs finishing on 5* and 2*. We ended up chasing the runs in the 16th over. 

What a win and what better way to celebrate and have the “debrief” over some Krispy Kreme’s across the road. Hopefully we can keep up the winning streak. Up the tahs! 

3 – Ellie James 

2 – Nat Guyot 

1 – Jess Manning 

Fielding – Laura Judson 

 

Sallie Molyneux