Tahs Top Early Tables After a Good Weekend Across the Grades – Weekend Wrap 7/8 Nov 2020

Perfect sunny conditions on a beautiful hard deck @ Manly Oval to start the One Day Fixture against arch-rivals Bankstown, which was also a top of the table clash!

Surprisingly, Bankstown elected to bowl first and the Manly boys couldn’t be happier to set the tone with Jack Edwards and Joel Foster opening the Batting.

Even though Foster fell cheaply to a cut shot that carried to third man, this pitch was a beauty to bat on during power-play and the runs flowed. The talent of Ollie Davies and Jack Edwards was simply majestic to watch. They laid a great platform until Davies was Caught Behind on 52 of only 40 balls, with the score on 2/98 after 16 overs.

However, Bankstown put the brakes on after back to back wickets as J. Edwards was bowled by Bankstown’s spinner for 37 runs of 43 balls. Skipper Jay Lenton and Cameron Merchant battled on with a good partnership of 56 as they fought hard during this tricky period. It was clear the wicket was turning in favour of the bowlers as the pitch was slowing down and to their credit, Bankstown bowled well.  

Merchant continued his good form and was eventually dismissed for 73 runs of 95 balls but the middle and lower order batters weren’t able to help support the cause to post 260 plus runs which looked like par score. Manly was restricted to a competitive total of 9/242 of their 50 overs.

Bankstown started guns blazing as they were 0/26 of just the first over and then 0/55 after 5 overs. A game changing run out by Joel Foster dismissed their strike batsmen Nick Carruthers for 31.

This set the tone as the fielding unit was superb by Manly and they fought back viciously after a poor start led by Manly’s X Factor, Stephen O’Keefe who brought back the economy rate and wickets in quick succession.  

Pressure was mounting on Bankstown’s middle order and Jake Carden dismissed their powerful striker and skipper Nathan McAndrew ‘caught & Bowled’ (39) at 4/122 as this game was evenly split after 30 overs.

All Manly bowlers during this period executed their skills and was rewarded with another superb run out (J. Cormack) by Joel Foster at 5/149 swung in the favour of Manly.

Momentum stuck with Manly and Bankstown was all out 194 off their 44.2 overs. A clinical display and a strong fightback which covers the strength of the squad this season.

A never say die attitude and the message of ‘stay connected’ resonated between the Manly players as previously, someone would’ve pressed the panic button.

Special mentions:
 – Ryan Hadley – After his first over of 26 runs, he could’ve thrown in the towel but managed to prove his ability and pulled his figures back to 0/45 off 7 seven overs. 6 overs for 19 runs after. Amazing for his development.

– Jake Carden and Elliot Herd bowled with maturity and are growing into their team role. Consistent performances and the pressure they applied during the middle overs was outstanding to watch.

– O’Keefe and J. Edwards proved how valuable and lucky Manly are especially with their tactical I.Q, anticipation, intimidation and reading of the game which was vital to Manly’s victory.  

– Jay Lenton managed this game to perfection after the bad start. This is one of the best captaining displays from Jay Lenton we’ve seen.

Manly 1^st XI are still undefeated and maintain their lead on 26 points after round 5.
5 points clear of second placed Sydney Uni.

Manly take on Randwick-Petersham in a Two Day fixture next Saturday morning at Manly Oval. Another cracking game!

Let’s keep the ball rollin’!

3 Points – Cameron Merchant
2 Points – Jake Carden
1 Point – Jack Edwards

Ahillen Beadle

Following a convincing win on their last outing, S.Hole took his troops back to Fortress Graham’s to take on Bankstown. 

Having done a reverse Jammo and won the toss, S. Hole chose to bat following a rare visit from the sun earlier in the morning and the wicket looking typically Grahamsy. This was particularly fortunate for the Manly wicket keeper, who forgot he was going to be the wicket keeper and left his gloves neatly stowed in the garage. Well done Jordan.

Unfortunately, the top order fell early to some accurate bowling with only the skipper providing resistance as he fought his way to 24 before the inevitable happened and his front pad was blown off.  It was left to lower order to rescue the innings and Josh Seward played brilliantly to try and get us towards a competitive total with able support from Roop and the returning Osbourne. Unfortunately Seward was left stranded as we lost four wickets without adding to the total, leaving 124 to defend.

The total looked competitive as Seward and Prowse took some early poles with Bankstown left scrambling in the early overs at 4-23. However, some positive and at times rogue batting took the visitors towards their total with only two late wickets threatening to take us to a close finish. Bankstown finished 6 down to take the win.

The Fortress has been breached. 3rd grade was beaten for the first time in two seasons playing at home. Sorry Nicos.

3 Points – TBC
2 Points – TBC
1 Point – TBC

Neal Prowse

Round 2 , 4th Grade turned up to a picturesque Kelso park looking to bounce back from last weeks performance. Bankstown won the toss and decided to have a bat on a wicket described as nothing short of an absolute Highway. Flat Decks call for simple game plans. Glyn and Hobbo started proceedings bowling solid areas with Glyn reaping the rewards, snaring a pole in his 4th over. Kerr and Boulton backed up the platform set for them grabbing a wicket each to move the score onto 3-42.

With the game in the balance and somewhat of a partnership forming from the Bankstown middle-order batsmen , old and young combined for what was nothing short of one of the most clinical spins bowling displays from Josh Cooper and Adam Gummer. The next 20 overs went for only 34 runs thanks to these 2 lads. Coops and Gumms both grabbing a wicket each + a crucial run out of Bankstown’s number 4. Glyn and Boults came back in the death, Glyn ending up with 3 for the innings and Boults 2. A decent team performance in the field from the boys to restrict Bankstown to 9-143 off their 50 overs.

Last weeks horrible display of batting from the boys had certainly not been forgotten making that first 10 overs ever the more crucial this week. It’s no secret if 4s want to make it all the way through to the big dance this season our top order have to step up and score big runs. Gums and Cohen were all class. A 56 run opening stand really set the platform for the rest of our batters. Gums fell for 19 while Nick hit his way back into some form with a solid 32. Great to see him back in the runs tally. Dom fell for 14 shortly after with the lads sitting at 3-90. Charlsey the “Performance player to watch” this week certainly delivered alongside Oscar Lucius. The boys getting us over the line 3 down. Charles 35* and Oscar 21*. A great 54 run partnership and a well-needed one for our confidence as a unit.

As a whole, there is still plenty of work to do for fourth grade to be a real threat this year but the improvement from last week was absolutely outstanding. Onto Round 3.

3 points – Glynn Archer
2 points – Lachie Charles
1 point – Nick Cohen

Lachie Kerr

We rocked up to the Mike Pawley fortress expecting a full day worth of play disappointed from the wash out the previous week. The boys ready and raring to go wanted to get into it and Andrew Rochford “the doc” inspired us through the motto of the day to win at everything even the warm-up. Losing the toss, the opposition captain made the first blunder of the day deciding to fall into the trap of bowling first on the green flat Mike Pawley pitch. Wishful thinking on his behalf. 

Batting first the openers Jack and Ky set a solid start with an opening stand of 31 on the slow outfield a fair effort in what was thought to be a solid 40 run stand on a better outfield not bogged down by the midweek rain. Billy walked out for his first ball in grade cricket and what a ball he got. Welcome to grade cricket. He survived and after the double stroke of the openers, he along with young gun Charlie, built a solid 49 run stand. The partnership was littered with positive batting but some very park-like bowling with many full tosses be hit straight to fielders and some dropped catches in there too. A mini 3-10 collapse occurred before a solid 25 run stand between Charlie and Evan pushed the score close to 130. The doc initially slotted himself at 11, pushed himself up the order to combine with Riley to put together a 37 run stand at a run a ball. The doc slammed one of the quicks over his head into the creak only to be bowled dubiously a couple of balls later. But the pick of the innings had to be the wide down leg side that hit the keepers helmet. As they say free runs. Thank god for those 5 runs in the end.

We came out to bowl defending a reasonable 165. Probably worth 190 with the slow outfield considering our first boundary came in only the 25th over. The doc and Evan bowled consistent lengths, although lines were a little more questionable. The boys got stuck into both openers, the keeper who chatted the whole first innings and the bloke who put us to the sword last innings with a hundred, but different season different game. Evan ran riot after an initial struggle to take 3 early wickets. The run rate never was up where it needed to be and thus the pressure mounted. The new boy nicknamed the “golden arm” Charlie Johnston came on and picked up the arrogant opener, adding to his magnificent start to his grade career. Ever reliable James Waddington was honestly just to quick taking the stumps down twice quickly and ending up with 3fa. Then some partnerships occurred and their captain edged them back into the game effectively hogging the strike all to the displeasure of the doc.

To set the scene Bankstown needed 40 to win with 10 to go. 2 wickets in hand. Charlie Johnston took the wicket to put them 9 down and if you ever wanted a number 11 to look less convincing I don’t think you could. Unconvincing but relatively effective surviving and making 5 in the end. But with 4 overs to go many catches had been dropped, run out missed but it was still 14 to win or one wicket for the tahs. Rochford strolled in ever-reliable and fired it into the base of leg stump removing the captain and winning the game. 

Many post-game remarks were made from the doc such as “I have never been so happy to hit a set of polls” and “good teams win the close one boys”. One thing that will improve on throughout the season is the team song as some of the new boys had the stutters halfway through but all in all, job done and the 6 points in the bag. 

3 Points – Charlie Johnson 
2 Points – Evan Dunnachie 
1 Point – Andrew Rochford

Ky Broome 

The Women’s Third Grade team have successfully taken another victory home to Manly from Tonbridge Park in Ramsgate. Conditions were very difficult for both teams. Very strong gusty southerly winds with a really chilly bite to it. Losing the toss, Universities sent us in to bat for the first innings, which is what we wanted to do anyway as we wanted to get a score down in the awful conditions. Mia and Steph opened the batting, with a strong and steady start. Steph unfortunately got caught out in the second over to a very good, forward and sideways diving catch, sending her out early in the game. Jess came out and hit some strong shots but unfortunately fell to another very good catch. With Mia still out there and Renee coming in, there was a concern that we had to take a deep breath and steady the ship. Mia and Renee had other ideas. Both girls played with a bang, smashing 4s at every opportunity – producing an incredible partnership together. Mia, who cracked at it with the bat, deservingly retired not out with 31* off 21 balls. Jasmin came onto the field like a firecracker, shooting balls up into the air and past the boundaries. Renee and Jasmin also both batted well together, with their swift and sneaky singles. It was vital to the team after losing 2 quick wickets. Renee’s effort paid off massively, resulting in her retiring not out as well with 31* off 28 balls. Another fantastic and well deserved score for the team. Jasmin’s light unfortunately went out with her fiery batting after getting a “howwzzzzaaattt”, but still credibly earned a precious 15 runs for the team. With Sofia making her debut and Emma playing her second game, the pair were unstoppable in the last few overs. Practically every ball racked up a sneaky single, aided by Sofia’s clever calling, and Emma’s great backing up. Invaluable runs at the death, saw us finish at a very respectable and defendable 4/111.

The second innings got turned up after Sallie delivered the second ball of the first over and with some handy keeping from Steph jagged a wicket. Charlotte also opened the bowling, consistently putting the batters under pressure, and even bowled 2 maidens off 4 overs, which is a remarkable result. Like her batting, Jasmin put the ball where she wanted in her bowling and grabbed a wicket during her amazing 3 overs. Even though she didn’t get a wicket, Sophia only let go 4 runs in her 2 overs, a tremendous effort on her debut. When it comes to Mia, nothing can get in her way, and her bowling showed what an all-rounder she is. 3 overs, 1 lbw including a maiden over.  Mia also made an incredible catch that gave Sallie her second wicket. CP also bowled with an accurate pace, swiftly bowling through an amazing 3 overs. With Sallie on her last over, a ball was hit straight in the air and Abby at high speed made around the umpire and successfully took a catch that not only gave her the fielding point, but also gave a Sallie a third wicket. Sallie’s bowling rewarded her with the top bowling score of the day with 3 for 17 off 4 overs, an amazing achievement for Sallie. CP bowled the last over and Unis had no other choice to but to tap and run. On the very last ball, Steph seized it in her hands, and with the batters running, she threw (with gloves still on) and made an incredible direct hit at the non-strikers end, finishing the innings. What a way to end the game.

In the end, Manly won by 47 runs, and we celebrated with all of us singing the team song as all of us played our role in getting the victory. Good on you girls! Well done!

3 Points – Mia Nel
2 Points – Sallie Molyneux
1 Point – Renee Hough

Fielding – Abbey

Stephanie Hughes

The boys turned out to Drummoyne to take on the National T20 champs in Sydney, off the back of a good win against Bankstown the day prior. Spirits were high, and the boys were sent in and strengthened at the top of the order with the addition of Jack opening the innings. 

Got off to a good start with Jack showing his class with some glorious lofted shots in the first over. Things went down hill for the rest of the powerplay, losing some crucial wickets at crucial times. Foster and Bryant came together and batted beautifully taking calculated risks to combine for 64 for the 5th wicket. This got us to a total of 126 which we knew was under par, but it had to do. We had come off defending a couple of low scores in the last few weeks so knew it could be done. 

Sydney, however, continued their dominance in the fixture getting away to a speedy start despite some great efforts from Ping and Jack went past our total with almost 4 overs to spare. 

It was the first loss for the first grade group this year, but sprits are still high and everyone is looking forward to bouncing back and getting back in the winners circle. 

Until next time. 

Ryan Hadley

2nd Grade played at Manly Oval this week against Northern District. We won the game comfortably. We lost the toss and were sent into field first, making the most of it, we had them 3/12 and they finished on 9/68. The wicket takers were Mikaela Turik who took 4/13 off 4 overs, Zara Shipp 2/5 off 3 overs, Charley Camburn 1/8 off 2 overs, and Sienna James 1/11 off 4 overs. The bowlers all bowled exceptionally well and a special mention to a few of the fielders, Charley Camburn took a classy direct hit run out, Hannah Woolfe took a cinematic stumping and Chelsea Mclerie took a stunning catch.

In the batting innings we chased their runs in 11 overs. Niamh Bullen got 22 runs and Zara Shipp got 20 runs, a few others batted helping the score to increase and overall for the team to win the game with a bonus point! Special mention to Mikaela with a strike rate of 100 and Natalia Jonkers with the mentality strike rate of 100! Go Manly!

3 Points – Zara Shipp
2 Points – Mikaela Turik
1 Point – Niamh Bullen

Fielding – Hannah Woolf

Zara Shipp

This week at Manly Oval the Brewer girls had a great win against Northern District, reaching their score in the ninth over. Losing the toss we fielded first and there was some outstanding performance from Kate Salmon with three wickets, two maidens and a catch. Eliza, Mia, Chloe and Abbey taking one wicket each, and Chloe and Nat taking a catch each. Ruby and Nat got one run out each and Eliza got two run outs. Overall the bowling and fielding did an excellent job of keeping their run rate down at 9 for 69 after twenty overs. For the batting, Nat got 41 not out and her 1000 runs for Manly Cricket and Kate added 18 runs not out to her amazing performance this week.

3 Points – Kate Salmon
2 Points – Nat Guyot
1 Point – Abbey Melville

Fielding – Eliza Henry

Abbey Melville