SOK shines with ball as Women get season underway – Weekend Wrap 17/18 Oct 2020

Waratah‘s skipper Jay Lenton won the toss and decided to have a bat day one against Penrith as Manly lost her first wicket in Benny Bryant on the second ball of the day

In a tricky little period and some good bowling from the Mountain men, Manly found themselves 4 for 70 before a little partnership between Elliot heard and AB started to steady the ship before more wickets fell and Manly were all out for 165.

Jamo getting the early break through with his first ball set the tone as a magnificent Steve OKeefe reaked havoc in taking 5 wickets in the innings with Ryan Hadley a brilliant 3 also to wrap the Panthers up for 72 giving Manly 6 points on day 1 with an interesting day 2 ahead next week

Cam Merchant 

2nd grade took to the streets for their round 3 clash against Penrith at Howell Oval. Looking to continue to build on early season successes and positivity, the Skipper’s message to be the better team off the field was lost on young Ned Hole and Josh Seward, the former falling victim to simple physics in relation to highway exit speeds and centrifugal forces, while the latter was brought undone by more of a theoretical concept ( Speed x Distance = duration). Both have been reported to the RMS to re-sit their driver knowledge test.

With 11 players safely on ground, a huge thanks must go out to Gordon, the young Will G, Roy, David and the young Will H. Having 5 volunteers travel across Sydney is a luxury not many teams have the pleasure of and all were hugely appreciated this week and every week.

With 800+ runs for not so many wickets scored at the ground in the previous match, all eyes were on S. Gainsford for the toss.

Do not disappoint me.

Heads it is, we’ll have a bat.

It does NOT get better than this.

Logan Weston and Matt Brewster took on the new pill. First impressions were of “tennis ball-like” bounce back of a length and a significantly slower/larger outfield than the previous round, no easy runs! Logan showed exciting signs of early aggression, testing the athletic capability of the comedian/commentator Penrith had hired to field at cover, while Matt continued to leave more pellets outside the line of the off-stump than your scribe has seen him do so in the previous 4 seasons. Signs of a huge season from the “6 foot 2” opening batsman/’keeper are ominous, watch this space as he’s about to climb into some big ones.

With The Brewman falling to a tennis-baller, young Tik-Toksensation Joel Davies swaggered to the crease with confidenceand played accordingly. Joel and Logan looked settled and ready to lay that famous platform which our sensationally long batting order craved. Unfortunately we lost Joel, trapped in front to a full one. An interpretation of trajectory was to be the third mathematical error from the young superstars of the morning. Local educators Mr Vumbaca and Mr Jamieson did not respond to requests for a comment. Again, Joel is threatening to huff, puff and blow the house down this season, even producing an S.P.D Smith-like tea break sprinting session because “I haven’t worked hard enough today”. It’s been a pleasure playing with you while a careers briefly overlapped, can I have some gloves?

At 2-20, the coin was spinning. So easy it would be to find ourselves with 2 more added to the scoreboard. Thankfully the  Women’s 2020 T20 commemorative coin was kind to the Tah’s,landing favourably, our next 3 partnerships each exceeding 50 runs whilst taking us deep into the day and through the Penrith heat. An argument could be made that the commemorative coin was not entirely to thank, with Jacob O’Sullivan combining with Logan initially then Skipper @Sam Gainsford joining Jacob before Isaiah Vumbaca took over And kept the Bunsen burning. All batsmen were brutal on the poor deliveries yet showed discipline and selflessness to the good rocks, a mindset which will see us to many more winning positions as it has today. 

The insane depth of the Tah’s batting strength saw the young man Ned Hole to the crease at an insane 6-211. The Calypso King showed maturity beyond his years and played perfectly to  the situation, not afraid to play as though it was the first session of the day, the tiring opposition could not compete with his focus and discipline, Oooh. Once joined by the even younger Josh Seward, Ned went “Supersayan” and engaged “Nedsanitiy” as “The Bomb Squad” took over. The value of our 8 and 9 to see off 170+ balls with complete control and calmness was immeasurable. The two batted so positively and turned the score board over at such a rate, the Skipper was forced into considering a declaration late in the afternoon. Much to the disappointment of the young Michael Counsell, recently promoted to 10, but even more to the disappointment of the young Matthew Kaye.

With 4 overs left in the day, the shame and regret of several players to purchase 20+ Krispy Kreme doughnuts at lunch vanished, enthusiasm for this great sport we play was at an all time high. Previous arrogance of your scribe in regards to the mathematical skills of his juniors, 24 balls really did seem like a lot right now from a Panther’s perspective. It would seem that for some, even 3 balls was too many. Tom Kaye making a mess of the unsuspecting woodwork.

The Tah’s are extremely excited to return next week and finish the job. An exceptionally talented group of men who will all contribute significantly to a result whether it’s with the bat, ball or in the field when they get their chance and more so throughout the season.

Go Manly!

Michael Counsell

First round back at cricket and where else would you rather be than the fortress, Balgowlah Oval. Over winter a new and improved toilet block and change rooms emerged .. thanks to COVID we couldn’t actually go in the sheds .. nevertheless. The day of course started with a “friendly” game of touch listening to JB’s latest hit “Holy”. Caps v no caps, the no caps won .. up the no caps!! 

 

Anyway, we loss the toss and got sent in for a bat. We’d never played UTS North Sydney so we weren’t sure what to expect out of the bowling attack. Jess Kaye and Sarah Gordon opened up the batting getting off to a great and comfortable start. Unfortunately when Sarah saw an opportunity to go to cow corner, the ball had a different idea, getting out for 10 in what was a great start to her 20/21 campaign. Steph Hughes came to the deck and my god that girl can hit the ball. Jess was next to go after what was an awesome knock of 24 off 25 .. run out .. but was she out?? Renee Hough to the crease. Steph kept belting them to the boundary before she put one up and they couldn’t do anything but catch it. Out for 22 off only 14 deliveries.. wow! What an innings for what I believe is her first for 3rd grade, she’s gonna be one to watch! Club captains Renee and Abby were in together, however, time was cut short when Abby got dismissed by an absolute pearler of a ball. Mia Nel came in next and she didn’t waste no time getting off the mark. Scoring 14 off 16 she kept our great innings alive. Skipper Liv (Judy) Hough in next .. with her sister .. how cute. Unfortunately caught trying to go big, 6 off 5, great strike rate Judy! Jaz Wilson in next. With one over to go yours truly was waiting in the pads hadn’t any throw downs cause there was only “an over to go, you’ll be sweet”. First ball, Renee Hough got dismissed from what was a great first knock of the season, 18 from 21. So yeah I actually had to go in and faced 6 deliveries not getting a run .. but not getting out – dad, we need to go to the nets! Tahs finishing on 121, solid score we can defend. 

 

Veteran umpire Kevin McFarlane told us we had till 2:20 to be ready to bowl. At 2:30 Kev was spotted still chowing down a sandwich .. I don’t blame him. Charlotte Ambler on debut opened the bowling with some great balls. Controversially not getting a wicket after it “didn’t hit my bat it hit my glove”. Oh well onwards and upwards. Sallie opened from the other end and was shown no respect from the batter. Mia Nel showed us what she is capable of and made the big breakthrough for the first wicket, ball was absolutely plum Kevin had no choice but to put the finger up. Mia got the next wicket too, assisted by a brilliant Steph Hughes catch. Cam Pryor came on and get two wickets which was well deserved off some great, consistent bowling which the batters didn’t like. The skipper, liv, what can I say, that bowling performance was near perfect. 0/5 off 4 overs, what more can you ask for from a captain, legend! Izzy Keene came on and got a well deserved wicket assisted by another brilliant Steph Hughes catch. Jaz came on and off her first ball got a wicket .. Charlotte took the catch, bobbled it up just for a bit of suspense. Steph finished off the day with 3 catches from behind the stumps, what an absolute trooper. 

 

Thanks to Ian bird for coming to take some photos! Also thank you to Bobby, Duncan, Dom and Phil for your support yesterday. And the usuals, Ross and Simon, thanks again!

 

Finished off the day with a questionable rendition of the team song. Great start to 20/21 season! Up the tahs! 

 

3 – Mia Nel 

2 – Jess Kaye

1 – Cam Pryor 

Fielding – Steph Hughes

Sally Molyneux 

The boys arrived at Manly Oval ready to get their second PG’s game for the year off to a good start. After losing the toss, Manly were sent in to bat on what looked to be a challenging wicket, however, would become more difficult to bat on throughout the day.

Foster and Brewster got off to a strong start which helped set a platform for the rest of the team. Brewster hit the ball to all parts of the ground before he was dismissed for 41. O.Davies was dismissed not long after for a quick 27.

Foster and J.Davies continued to keep the runs flowing on a difficult wicket continuing to put us in a dominant position. After two successive wicket of Foster (23) and O’Sullivan (13), J. Davies and Vumbaca steadied the ship to allow Manly to put up a score of over 200, as more quick wickets could’ve seen a much lower score. Vumbaca (27) and J. Davies (33) were both out within two balls which saw Hole (20), Seward (19) and Melville (11*) to finish off the innings for the team, putting up a composing 231. 

With a large score of 230 on the board, J. Davies (3 for 25) got the side off to a near perfect start dismissing one of the UNSW openers in the second over. A run out by O.Davies and a wicket from Vumbaca saw UNSW 3 for 7 within the first few overs.

Although not taking wickets, Seward and Hobson bowled exceptionally well, drying up the runs, completely putting them out of the running of winning the game. Run outs to both J.Davies and Foster saw another two quick wickets fall before a small partnership was formed. The game was finished off by Vumbaca (2 for 35) bowling the last batsman, giving Manly a bonus point win.

Ollie Davies

Sunday saw our Brewer Shield girls kick off the season with a nail-biter of a game at Graham’s Reserve taking on Bankstown. With 3 girls on debut, Eliza, Emily and Steph, and a strong preseason, the girls were feeling positive about the game ahead. The girls were sent into bowl and after an intense warmup was ready to play. We saw a slow start with our first wicket in the 10th over. The wicket was a magnificent catch bowled by Kate Salmon and diving forward catch by Eliza Henry on debut. This wicket was shortly followed by an lbw bowled by Kate in the same over. At this point, Bankstown had a steady run rate and wickets in hand and was looking to keep scoring. Our next wicket came when Jess Manning bowled a ripper of a ball, hitting the batters pads and the umpire’s finger went up as the team celebrated. Besides from a small collision between debutant Emily Horstead and Chloe Osborne, the rest of the bowling innings was successful, slowing down their run rate and keeping them under 110 runs.

After a short break, captain Nat Guyot and Kate Salmon were sent in to bat. After a steady start, Kate (10) was unluckily run out. Chloe Osborne (17) took her time to settle in, but once she was settled, she scored us much needed runs. Soon after Chloe came in, Nat Guyot (42) was dismissed by an unlucky lbw. Ellie James (9) came in to replace her and quickly got on her way just before Chloe was bowled. Eliza Henry was sent in, hitting a very impressive 4 off the very first ball of her debut. At this point, we had wickets in hand and runs to get so we were taking many risks. At this point, we encountered a collapse. Ellie was soon closely run out and Ruby Gruber (1) went out. She knew she had to take risks and managed to score a single run before also being run out. 3 balls later, we saw our fourth run out with Eliza. The pressure was on Chelsea McLerie and Emily Horstead (2). At the start of the last over, we needed 6 off 6, the nerves on the side of the field were unmatched.  3 balls into the over, we were on track, needing 3 off the last 3 balls to win. The next 2 balls we saw 2 wickets in a row, leaving Steph Hughes on Brewer Debut and Jess Manning (1) to get 3 off the last ball. The ball was bowled and Jess hit a great shot but unfortunately, we didn’t make the second run and it wasn’t enough to get us over the line. The game was hard for all the girls to loose, but great start to the season, well-done girls!

3- Nat Guyot

2- Kate Salmon

1- Chloe Osborne

Fielding point – Ellie James 

Ruby Gruber