Tahs Reap Rewards Against Rangers – Weekend Wrap Round 5 v Northern Districts + PGs and Women’s 2nds & 3rds

It was a successful weekend overall as the Waratahs hosted Northern Districts, with all but 1^st Grade, PGs and Women’s 3^rd Grade notching up good wins, with men’s 5^th and 3^rd Grade winning comprehensively to secure a bonus point along the way. In 1^st Grade the unfortunate run out of Skipper Jay Lenton for 54 killed our momentum despite Ryan Farrell’s 64* and some late hitting from Joel Foster and Sam Gainsford. 227 was always going to be below par on a good Manly Oval deck however again our bowlers struggled to make inroads, NDs passing us only 4 down. 2^nd Grade had one of the great come from behind wins after slumping to 8/145 chasing NS’s 214 thanks to an unbeaten 70-run stand between Isaiah Vumbaca (79*) and Andrew Jamieson (18*). 3^rd Grade had a comprehensive win from the get-go, set up by a 101-run opening stand between Sam Webber and Zach Trewartha. Joel Davies (43), Jordan Daly (39*) and Lachie Charles (35) all kept the momentum going to reach 265. A wicket in Josh Seward’s first over didn’t slow NDs aggressive start to the innings, however Seward (5-25) assisted by Counsell (2-27) and the ever-economical Alex Bain (2-10) proved too good, with Seward taking his first 5fa in any cricket courtesy of some smart glovework behind the stumps by Sam Webber who ended the match with 5 catches. NDs all out for 133 gave 3s a bonus point win that took them into 2^nd place on the ladder.

A great team performance saw 4s grind out a thrilling win with both wickets and runs shared. Having scored 8/196 off our 50 it was very tight most of the innings but NDs were in the box seat at 8 down with 2 runs required in the final over. Cricket’s a funny game though and a late run out and wicket to Lachie Kerr saw 4s snatch an unlikely victory. 5^th Grade posted a competitive 191 courtesy of the consistent pair Oscar Lucius (37) and Ollie Melville (30) before early wickets to young gun Toby Laughton and somewhat-more-mature gun skipper Andrew Rochford combined with an in-form Ned Healey (3-30) to bowl NDs out for 96, earning a bonus point. Although the womens’ 3rd Grade team unfortunately went down despite an unbeaten 53* to Robyn Medley, 2nd Grade had a fantastic win off the back of 34 from Mia Waddington and an unplayable spell of bowling by Sienna James (5-31) to go with her 20 with the bat.

This week’s 4 Pines player of the week is none other than young gun Josh Seward, who took what we still can’t believe is his first 5fa EVER in cricket. For a kid this hard-working and talented it’s simply astounding that he hasn’t taken 5 (or more) before. Part of the emerging generation of multi-talented Manly men, Josh doesn’t limit his success to the cricket field, continuing to achieve academically and in the creative arts at St Augustines. On Saturday he bowled with great pace and focus, taking two important early wickets that really set the game up for 3s before coming in at the end to clean up. His first spell was impressive for its pace and swing, while his second one was a clinic in tail-ender bowling, with full lengths and tight lines forcing the batsmen to play. A hard-working young cricketer who is eager to learn, Josh could go absolutely anywhere with his cricket and we look forward to seeing him continuing to improve over this and many future seasons. One to watch for sure. Congratulations Josh, well-deserved!

Getting back into 1day cricket, 1st grade lost the toss and were asked to bat first under cloudy skies. After losing 2 early wickets Jay and AB settled in mixing singles and boundaries. Unfortunately a contender for bbq of the year was produced and Jay was run out for 54. Things never really got rolling with the bat for the tahs despite some late hitting from the middle order, with Farrell 64*, Gainsford 29* and Foster 33 doing some damage. 227 was under par for Manly oval but it was something to bowl at. Similar to our batting our bowling innings never really got going, as ND’s cruised to their target 4 down with 12 overs to spare. Foz picking up 2-25 and Herdy backed by his rent a crowd on the hill 2-43. A disappointing day for the boys especially with 2’s through 5’s all getting a win to give us 4/5 for the day.

Faz 3

Jay 2

Joel 1

Gainsy fielding

Logan Weston

We arrived at Mark Taylor oval with high hopes of kick starting our season. Jamo unfortunately loss the toss and ND’s decided to have a bat. Opening with the ball was Taylor Beaty and Maxy Webber with tay getting a early poll. Taylor figures of 1 – 21 off 4.5 over were not reflective of how taylor bowled, with plenty of balls going past the outside edge of the bat. Unfortunately Taylor hurt his hamstring and we hope to have him back on the field with a speedy recovery.

Some good batting put pressure on the bowling group with ND’s being 1 for 80 odd off 16 overs. With some good bowling and clear plans the next 34 overs were unbelievable restricting ND’s to only to 214. Some figures Griffin Lea 1-38 Hicksy 3-35 and jamo 3-41 bowled well through the middle period and some superb death bowling. With Tommy Kaye and Izzy bowling well through the middle. Also some credit to some freakish catching from Matty Brewster and Ash Virdi keeping the boys in hunt.

With momentum we’ll in our favour enter Matty Brewster (43) who was hitting the ball to parts got us off to a flyer. Unfortunately a couple of quick wickets saw us struggling to get the victory. Enter Izzy Vumbaca (76*) who’s innings was nothing short of unbelievable. Needing around 8 an over for the last 10 with 2 wickets at hand, Izzy was hitting the ball to all parts with the help of Jamo (18*) saw the boys over the line in the last over. With no right of winning the game, the game showed the boys of our resilience and fight to never give up on the contest. Izzy innings is career defining knock and some of the best lower hitting.

Hopefully now the boys can get a bit of a roll on with the lead up to Xmas. A few more wins will see us in the top 6 and in a good position leading into Xmas. Well done lads. Up the Tahs!

3 – Isaiah Vumbaca

2 – Matt Brewster

1 – Andrew Hicks

Fielding – Ash Virdi

 

Max Webber

No Holes, No Worries

Contents

Chapter 1 – Arrival & Prejudice

Chapter 2 – The Best-Laid Plans

Chapter 3 – Zach, Joel & Team Hole

Chapter 4 – Transgressions and Further Digressions

Chapter 5 – Redheads and the Petrolhead

Chapter 6 – Bowling

Chapter 7 – Pleasure and Bain

Chapter 8 – To Bain or Not To Bain?

Chapter 9 – If You Can’t Get Something Done Right

Chapter 10 – Caught Webber, Bowled Seward

Epilogue – Monty Python and the Quest for Red Ink featuring Spencer F. White

References

 

Chapter 1 – Arrival & Prejudice

The mighty 3s were greeted at Grahams by a surprise shower that may have been partly responsible for the unusual amount of life that was to be found in the usually deathly slow Graham’s wicket.

After a one-sided, but entertaining game of touch where sheer novelty demanded that the possibly illegal quantity of redheads in the team be pitted against the rest of the lesser humans masquerading as cricketers, three things became abundantly clear. Firstly, that contrary to popular belief redheads do not enjoy the advantage of any psychic communication between each other; indeed, when a rugby ball is present they in fact appear to experienced reduced effectiveness of verbal communication; and thirdly, that regardless of the names or other members of the touch footy teams in which Michael Counsell plays, his sheer dead weight is often insurmountable.

Chapter 2 – The Best-Laid Plans

During a warm-up admirably led (despite feeling unwell) by club legend Dave “Loz” Gardner, captain Nick McLachlan true to form, proceeded to lose the toss. In a decision demonstrating a fatal unfamiliarity with the fortress that is LM Graham’s reserve, the ND’s skipper – perhaps hoping to replicate a formula successful at other, far lesser grounds – innocently chose to bowl. In the 22^nd over at 0-101 with veteran Sam Webber and reinvented opener extraordinaire Zach Trewartha at the crease, the full gravity of this mistake was becoming clear. When Sam bunted one to mid-off for 32 (off 56) to let NDs feel like they were still involved in the game it only brought Joel Davies to the crease. Joel looked in his usual sublime touch until chipping one towards mid-on, who performed a classic rendition of the old “five steps in, two steps back, oops it’s over my head” routine, spilling a chance that even Joel’s confidence-deprived CS Watson Shield opponents would have swallowed.

Chapter 3 – Zach, Joel & Team Hole

It should be noted that Zach was batting brilliantly. With the exception of that crappy little off-side dab shot he plays, he was looking extremely threatening, combining impregnable defence with brutal drives and nimble running between the wickets to move past 50 and showing more than a touch of the Ross Trewartha magic that Brad Wilson can be found raving incoherently about in the early hours of most Sunday mornings. Zach continued bludgeoning as Joel began to hit his stride, the two of them running brilliantly between the wickets while you could see Joel already rueing the fact that PGs tomorrow would stop him decimating the careers of some even younger 16 year old Northern Districts cricketers in the CS Watson Shield. Together the two put on 54 together before Zach fell for an excellent 79 (of 106) – interestingly the joint second most commonly-made score by Manly 3^rd grade batsmen this season (joint with 5 & 21) except for 0. We have had six ducks. But nobody has had two ducks in 3^rd grade yet, not even Sam Hole. Unless perhaps you count Sam and Ned Hole’s ducks together, but I digress.

Chapter 4 – Transgressions and Further Digressions

Jordan Daly joined Joel Davies at the crease and put on 15 before Joel fell on 43 (60) trying to whack one over cover in the 40^th over. It was such an attractive looking swing. As the ball left the bowler’s hand and Joel’s shoulders broadened I’m pretty sure that even the bowler kind of hoped Joel would make contact. It’s quite common in cricket (especially limited overs) to see someone try to hit a six and get bowled. It’s very rare that one sees this happen and thinks, “Gee that was a good shot”. This was one of those moments. But I digress.

Chapter 5 – Two Redheads and a Petrolhead

This brought together the first all-ginger combination of the day as Jordan and Lachlan Charles began to attempt to accelerate in the last 10 overs. Despite Charles’ hideous whites and creams combo the two managed to go at a tick over a run a ball for the duration of their 64-run partnership before Lachie Charles 35 (34) went in the 49^th. In a move that may have had some serious medical ramifications, captain Nick McLachlan elevated himself above a dangerously pepped Will Akhurst, whose pre-work out – ingested in approximately the 42^nd over in preparation for some late innings big hitting – had seen his already concerning levels of aggression increase again. Fortunately, Nickos was bowled by the penultimate ball of the innings after smoking a six into the sight screen, leaving Will one delivery to release 45 minutes and 16 different chemicals’-worth of pent up energy. He didn’t disappoint, hitting a six that – in light of the potentially illegal chemical concoction coursing through his large shoulders and neglected lats – fell disappointingly short of Kenneth Road. This can be re-lived by viewing the popular video of the event on Instagram, which has already racked up 400 views, however it has recently come to light that 262 of those views have come from an IP address linked to Will’s phone generated in the early hours of Sunday morning. Google data suggests that at least 369 of these views occurred whilst in the vicinities of Manly Wharf Bar and later the Ivanhoe, while the remainder occurred sometime later at an address in North Balgowlah.

Chapter 6 – Bowling

With 265 on the board, Nickos talked about a strong start being crucial. Despite starting with impressive speed and enthusiasm, young Josh Seward obviously didn’t get the memo, spraying his first delivery at least 1.5 Brewster-lengths¹ down leg. Fortunately, we had two-day specialist keeper Sam Webber with us who was able to intercept the projectile before it added another four runs to their total. Seward proceeded to silence Nick’s disappointed huffs – audible from Waratah TV footage if one listens closely – by trapping their skipper LBW on his 3^rd ball. His next over produced an absolute gem of a ball that removed the other opener and gave Sam Webber the first of what would be five catches for the day. Their numbers 3 & 4 batted aggressively and rode their luck and it was only a dynamic Michael Counsell – fresh from 4 hours of relaxed spectating that had started at the kick-off to touch footy in the warm-up – that was able to break this partnership in the 12^th over after surging ahead of the run rate to be on 66. Another Counsell wicket caught by Joel Davies in the 16^th gave the Manly boys the ascendancy and just as NDs began to build another partnership Wilson gave Swebby his 2^nd catch of the day.

Chapter 7 – Pleasure and Bain

This wicket saw Alex Bain introduced into the attack, although when the ball was thrown to him, it was not immediately clear whether it had been caught by Reliable Bain or Unreliable Bain. At midwicket Joel Davies’ mind was racing – should he just start jogging to the square leg boundary now and save some time? He knew all to well where that first ball occasionally went. After watching the first over go for only 3, Nickos breathed a sigh of relief. Although somewhat relieved by the accuracy of the first over, Nick knew nothing was certain yet; he’d been hurt like that before. As overs two, three and four passed with only two runs off each, Nick felt his confidence returning – perhaps Reliable Bain was back?

Chapter 8 – To Bain or Not To Bain?

Contemplating whether it was better to give Bain a 4^th or face the potential fallout from a premature axing, Nick threw the ball to him once again. Their eyes locked. In that split-second Bain saw the doubt in Nick’s eyes. It was now or never. Bain knew the axe was looming, regardless of his economy rate. Hell, he could bowl so well they LOST runs and he’d still be off after this over. And he knew all to well his chances of a second spell. It would take a wicket. DOT. DOT. “Doing well”, he thought, “just keep building the pressure”. DOT. “Yes,” thought Alex, “I’ve got him, time for the inny”. TWO RUNS. Bain risked a glance over at Nick; he was warming up. “Of course he is,” thought Bain. With a contemptuous exhale Alex stopped at the top of his mark; he focussed on just back of a length – time to hit the infamous Grahames dead spot. “Come oooon Grahams”, he thought as he charged in. He released – PERFECT – “ROLL!!”, he thought. The ball hit the deck and – as if divine intervention were at play – rocketed up off a length. The batsman went to pull it but was done by pace! Straight to Joel Davies!!! Or was it?! It had been middled! But sheer pace had caught the batsman off guard! Catch to Davies, WICKET TO BAIN WICKET TO BAIN WICKET TO BAIN CROWD GOES WILD JILL CRYING WILL GUSTAFSON CARTWHEELING. 6/105

Chapter 9 – If You Can’t Get Something Done Right

Alex Bain then got another wicket (bowled) and was promptly removed. 2-10 is simply not good enough at this level. 7/109. Nick McLachlan comes on hoping to either intimidate the umpire into giving another dubious LBW with his trademark appeal (see Waratah TV) and/or finish with figures better than Joel Davies. No luck, these umpires are on the ball. “Young Joel though – ha” Nick thought. “0-19 off 4 overs, even bowling pace I could beat that”. After three frugal overs for merely 5 runs Nick knows he still has 14 runs to play with and saddles up for another over. After a dot and two singles he decides to chance his arm, finally caving to the taunts from Zach Trewartha and other haters: “Toss it up Nick, give it a rip”. With a brave huff from the top of his mark he again sneaks into the crease, only to be disappointed as the theoretically flighted delivery instead of soaring gracefully surprises everyone by somehow arcing down suddenly – perhaps it was all that topspin – and before you could say “cowboy” it was on its way to becoming the second boundary hit in the last 18 overs.

Chapter 10 – Caught Webber, Bowled Seward

From there on it was the Josh Seward show, which was a conflicting experience. On the one hand Josh was bowling beautifully, but the sight of his whites with his creams was visually painful. Maybe his parents will treat him to a pair of creams for the 5fa? In all seriousness though Josh bowled extremely well, shaping it both ways despite the age of the ball and enticing the batsmen to drive. Sam Webber took three good catches behind the wickets as the pitch kept particularly low. It was particularly impressive seeing as those last weeks can be notoriously difficult to get and it can be tempting to try too hard to bowl wicket balls, especially when the batsman aren’t playing many shots. A very well-deserved 5fa to Josh – astoundingly his first ever – and a timely reminder for us all how sharp Sam Webber is with the gloves.

Epilogue – Monty Python and the Quest for Red Ink featuring Spencer F. White

It was after his composed 3* coming in at number 9 against Fairfield that Spencer realised that mum had been right all along – he had some serious potential. The innings was a real watershed moment for the young lad and the following elevation to number 8 for the next two-dayer appeared only natural. The seven ball duck that followed against Blacktown as his teammates piled on 263, however, was not what the doctor had ordered. That night he returned home, shattered. After a long, thought-provoking shower he dried off and walked over to his vanity mirror. He looked himself dead in the eye. “Carpe diem”, he said to himself. “Carpe. DIEM.” he said again. “The next innings is yours. Stuff the team, I bat for ME”. When the teams were named against Manly he knew it was his day. “I’m batting 6!’ He realised with glee. “This Saturday is my chance!!”. And credit must be given where credit is due – Spencer batted very well. Even as the wickets tumbled around him, not for a moment did he consider succumbing to temptation – because that’s what it was – to chase the total. As numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10 strode to the wicket, he batted with focus and determination, never losing sight of the goal. As the overs rolled by, he was all but hoping for the end of the match. As teammate JJ Cincotta battled hard at the other end, it was all Spencer could do not to run the poor bloke out just to put him out of his misery. “You call that a cover drive?” he thought, virtually willing the poor bastard to nick one. Fortunately Josh Seward was brought on, and he did. NDs 133 all out; Spencer F White 39* – well played Spencer.

 

Footnotes

¹a Brewster-length is the maximum length at which a Brewster may be expected to reliably reach a cricket ball in a match scenario while wicketkeeping. Although the exact distance of the elusive Brewster-length remains uncertain (the determinants being multifactorial, dependent on the complex interplay of whether it’s a RHB or LHB, a left- or right-arm bowler, wind speed & direction, who is in the slips, what the given Brewster has consumed for breakfast, whether his mum has packed the right socks and the positioning of the moon relative to the sun) it is widely accepted by cricketers and academics alike to equate roughly to 0.75 Webber-lengths and 0.7 Lenton-lengths.

 

3 – Josh Seward

2 – Zach Trewartha

1 – Sam Webber

Fielding award – Sam Webber

By Jordan Daly

The 4^th Grade Boys turned up to Asquith oval full of confidence coming of their first win of the season. The Saturday kicked off with the usual weekly affair of the top 6 V bottom 5 touch game. Once again this went according to script, Hamish Starr running the show, Josh Wigney providing endless amounts of sub par chat and Alec Duly providing absolutely nothing in either attack nor defense.

Onto business and Manly won the toss and looked to take advantage of what was a relatively flat track. The big inclusions of Billy Darcy and Aiden Baker provided Manly with a solid batting attack that should of looked to score well over 200 Plus. Things however couldn’t have got of to a worse start, With Adam Gummer, Jake Osbourne and Alec Duly all gone prior to the score above 50. Dom Wheeler hung tough at the other end and compiled at well-made 43, with handy knocks from Aiden Baker and Billy Darcy helping edge the score over the 100 mark.

Once again though the work was left to the lower order and once again the top 6 had to be helped out and once again the lower order came through, with the power hitting of Hamish Starr, Elegance of Neal Prowse and composure of Lach Kerr not to mention the lusty blows of Josh Wigney, Manly was able to Push their score to a competitive 196.

With a below par score on the board Manly knew they were going to have to bowl tight lines, contain the boundaries and field well. Through the first 25 overs this was done to a great standard with Josh Wigney (1-12), Neal Prowse (1-32), Lach Kerr (1-32) and Hamish Starr (1-18) containing The northern Districts Batsmen to well below the required scoring rate. Each Bowling with Great pace and accuracy the allowed Manly to maintain control of the game halfway through the Rangers Innings.

However Rangers Middle order begun to fightback and looked well in control leading into the final 10 overs with only 60 to get. Manly However led by the Captaincy of Adam (1-33) and the Spin twins Lach Trewartha (2-50) and Jake Osbourne (1-17) with a few fielding mis-judgements were able to hold their nerve and come away with a 1 run win.

3 – Neal Prowse

2 – Dom Wheeler

1 –  Jake  Osborne

Fielding – Hamish Starr

Alec Duly

Manly won the toss and decided to bat, Ky Broome and James Buchanan both opened the batting with a quick loss of Ky Broome. Darryl Buchanan then came to the crease to bat with his son as they batted for 10 overs until he got given LBW for 11. A few more quick wickets left manly needing to consolidate as Oscar Lucius and James Buchanan began to steady. James Buchanan then lost his wicket and Sam Barnett put on a good 16 followed by Andrew Rochford’s 15. Ollie Melville then put on a quick fire 30 and Jordy Brewster with a solid 13 then finished Manly’s innings with a nice partnership as Manly ended up all out for 191.

After tea, Andrew Rochford and Toby Laughton opened the bowling snaring a few early wickets. The momentum was in Manly’s way as Ned Healey ripped through the middle order, ending up with 3-30 off 10 overs. Shortly after Jordy Brewster was brought into the attack as the pressure from Ned’s bowling was taken over as Jordy took 2-10 of 5 overs. We had them about 8-70 but the Northern Districts boys weren’t going down without a fight as there last wicket stood for 26 runs until Ollie Melville and Andrew Rochford took the last 2 wickets to end the game, bowling out Northern Districts for 96.

 

3 – Ned

2 – Oscar

1 – Jordy Brewster

Fielding – Toby Laughton

James Buchanan

Another day of PG’s cricket rolled around for the mighty Waratahs with optimising buzzing around the group. With a start to the season we wouldn’t have desired, the key was sticking to our plans and bonding together as a team. It was to be a 50 over match up against UNSW on their home turf, so the boys headed over the bridge and prepared for battle.

Losing the toss on a reasonably flat wicket the boys came out to bowl with a fierce energy. However some solid UNSW batting to open the innings prevented early breakthroughs. Although it was tough going, credit to our bowlers and our fielding unit who pushed hard throughout the day. As sessions began to get down on us moral rose and the fellas showed incredible determination and attitude. Griff Lea finished the innings with a sensational 6fa, with some very clinical and experienced death bowling which restricted the total enormously. Joely Davies bowled very well in our middle overs along with every other bowler contributing to limit UNSW’s respectable total of 256 on what looked a good batting deck.

The Tahs went out to bat and looked HOT. The opposition took an early scalp leaving Neddy Hole and Brewster at the crease with some solid hitting and innings building until a collapse of subsequent batsmen began to occur. Isaiah and Sully steadied the ship for what looked like a promising partnership until an unlucky hit back to the bowler run out occurred. The boys continued to fight but it was not to be, falling short at 200 after 44, despite key lower order sticking.

We will be back stronger than ever! Go manly.

Isi Vambucca

Twas an overcast day,

and the manly girls were ready to play.

Although the umpires were a little late,

the start we got off to was pretty great. 

The toss was won and we went into bat,

the openers were Mia and Nat.

Waddo’s youngest got a good 29,

the opening partnership was simply divine. 

Nat got out next for 36,

she had obviously ate her weet-bix. 

The skipper and Waddo’s eldest came in and were shortly out,

after the ball (apparently) hit their pads and there was a very convincing shout. 

Gail met her season high score,

and decided she didn’t want anymore. 

Rob had a killer run,

she got herself a half a ton (*).

Gem called yes,

unfortunately it was a bit of a mess. 

A solid 11 made by Mia no.2,

making her 3rd grade debut. 

CP came in with a few overs to go,

sadly there were no runs to show. 

Sallie came in at the end of the match,

she was dismissed by a really great catch. 

Alicia came in at number 11,

she called really loud but only got 7.

To win Gordon had to get 169,

it was time for the Manly bowlers to shine. 

 

Opening with pace from one end and spin from the other,

all the batters could do against Sal’s bowling was smother. 

The run rate started really slow,

it took a while until the first was to go. 

The fielding was tight,

the win was looking bright. 

They picked up their pace,

and started to chase. 

They found the gaps,

and we couldn’t cause a collapse. 

Although the result did not come our way,

all up we had a really good day. 

3 – Robyn

2 – Nat

1 – Mia W

Fielding Award – Gemma

Abby Taylor (all of 3s)

We arrived at Manly Oval for our first 50 over match against Penrith. The rain was on and off delaying the game for around 30 minutes. I think we got more exercise putting the covers on and off then actually playing a game of cricket. Skipper Jess Kaye won the toss and elected to bat.

Nat Guyot and Robyn Medley opened the batting getting us off to a good start with some early fours and good running between the wicket. Guyot unfortunately got caught behind for 20. Kristie Crawford was next to come in with the hopes of getting another half century. Robyn and Kristie had a good partnership and rebuilt a platform with some positive hitting. As Rob had predicted, she got out to the loopy bowler by inside edge onto her stumps sending Zara Shipp into bat. Manly was on 2-50. The girls batted well with some good shots and cheeky singles making Penrith worried. Crawford was bowled and then Annabel Hutt was in at 5 with Zara keeping the run rate high. After both girls fell the big hitter Mia Waddington came in getting the highest score of the innings 34. Jess Kaye scored a steady 16 before getting caught. Sienna James came in hitting some good shots and an amazing 6 from sienna who came off saying “I closed my eyes and hoped for the best”. Nat Jonkers came in with a target of getting us to 200. Nat got caught sending the number 10 Olivia Hough into bat. A good last wicket partnership between Lacey and Hough saw us keep our hopes for a 200+ score still alive. Gem Lacey hit some perfectly timed fours and ran well with Hough, until Hough got an lbw and ended our innings. The Manly girls ended up all out for 196 off 47.3 overs and had set Penrith a hard but achievable target.

After a great but last minute lunch spread that had all the goods, Penrith came into bat chasing 196. Jonkers and Hutt opened the bowling restricting their run rate with some great fielding. Waddington was next to bowl getting a wicket with a great catch by Kristie’s lap after it was sent rocketing up into the air, sending their batsman back to the sheds. Medley and Waddington each had their spells, bowling well but getting some unfortunate runs scored off them that were in the gaps. Penrith were above the run rate and still had a lot of overs to go, meaning we needed a lot of wickets, and fast. Next on was spin bowler Sienna James. James bowled an incredible 7 overs seeing 4 of their batters back to the change rooms in quick succession that consisted of lbw’s and beautiful bowling. Crawford and Shipp both bowled four overs making Penrith batters struggle to get runs. Crawford got a wicket with a stunning catch from Jonker’s, a dive to the side (that could also be called a fall) and caught the ball fully outstretched to one side with a great reaction, with obviously no thinking involved. Jonker’s and Hutt came back on and got 3 quick wickets to put a large hole in their batting line up, 2 for Annie and one for Jonker’s. One wicket was needed for manly to win. Nat was very nervous, as she didn’t want to get a wicket for the rest of the over and wanted James to get her 5fa, with her last ball becoming very close. Next over was sienna with us needing one wicket to win and Penrith needing 40 runs of 19 overs. Siennas second ball went right through the stumps, winning us the game and getting her first 5fa.

Manly had a great win and some amazing performances, with Siennas bowling being the star and a great all-round batting performance with only one partnership under 15 runs. There was also some great fielding from the girls, and you can see all of our diving/sliding training paying off. Good job on the well deserved win!

Points:

3 points – Sienna James

2 points – Mia Waddington

1 point – Annabel Hutt

Fielding award – Nat Jonkers

Gemma Lacey