Victory mixed with frustration fuels another weekend – 22nd/23rd October 2022 Weekend Wrap

J

oe McAleer put on a great showing on Saturday despite the predicted rain, as we turned up to find the ground in good nick, and we were able to start the game on time.

With 1st innings already secure from last week, we were looking for quick wickets and outright points. However the Blacktown bats learned from their mistakes last week and stuck solid, making us work hard for our wickets.

Hadley and the Edwards boys toiled hard all day, with Hadley getting the figures with a well deserved 4/55. Elliot Herd also showed his worth with 2 for 20. Blacktown bowled out for 169.

It meant 17 overs were left in the day with 140 needed for an Outright win. A 6 first ball from Jack Edwards got us started, and we always felt it was a chase we were in control of. After dropping to 3/62 in the 7th over, Joel Davies and Jay Lenton were cruising at 3 for 118 with 22 needed off the last 2 overs. Inexplicably, the umpires called the match off due to light without any warning, and we were left short if what would have abeen a great Outright win.

Still, a great team effort across both days.

3 Points – Jack Edwards
2 Points – Ryan Hadley
1 Point – Mickey Edwards

Jay Lenton

T

he Manly Boys were greeted at potential future sponsor Market Lane Cafe by a great turnout and circumstances that could be turned into the October version of the 12 days of Christmas if one was so inclined. For example –

On the 22nd day of October the Second Grade team did see:

10 teammates sitting, 9 wickets waiting , 8 luscious apples,  7 FIFA-goals-scored, 6 coffee combos, 5 missed-calls from Fiiiiiiii (Brewster).

Four U-turns from Ned, 3 single blokes, 2 tables joined and a great vibe for the day’s plaaaaay.

But I digress. With 347 on the board and 9 wickets to get it was game on. Despite being heavily overcast, apart from some water on the covers the conditions were fairly dry.

With the main pre-match preparation of team brekky was complete, extensive cover removal saw a slightly delayed warm-up commence, supported by none other than Ned Brockman’s newest #1 fan – Manly Cricket batting great, Cameron Merchant. Although obviously not as big a scalp as SOK who warmed us up the previous week, we were very appreciative to Nap for his help. Please make sure you like and subscribe.

With 9 wickets to get, the team chat highlighted the importance of creating pressure and focussing on the next wicket. We got off to a good start, bowling tight lines and drawing the batsmen into playing at most deliveries. Although the pitch wasn’t as abrasive on the ball as last week it was definitely a better deck to bat on this week, with anything short or wide very easy to put away. Tom Kaye bowled with nice shape into the wind and drew a couple of edges that unfortunately fell short. Despite this disappointment he continued to toil into the wind along with Josh Wigney, who came on with his trademark accuracy from ball one – taking 2 crucial middle-order wickets in consecutive balls to really turn the game in our favour. After a couple of very very very close LBWs turned down Josh Seward and Andrew Jamieson continued to bowl exceptionally well from the top end, taking 3 important wickets just as batsmen were starting to look set. In defiance of early and perhaps unnecessarily harsh critiques of his technique generously provided by Josh Seward, the opener continued to grind away at one end and looked well set, seeing off threateningly accurate pre-lunch overs by Isaiah Vooooombaca and Roop Dhillon.

Heading into the lunch break we were well-placed with 6 wickets down, however conscious that the aging ball on a very flat deck would become less effective throughout the next session and spin would come into play. Wigney and Seward resumed, however when their number 8 played a few crisp shots through the line for boundaries it became apparent how incredibly flat it had become and that it going to take something special for pace to get the breakthrough. Eventually spin was brought on with Roop Dhillon bowling his second over in the 51st over. getting some good turn and with a few half- chances created the opener and number 8 eventually settled into a rhythm and were able to see him out without further incident. Isaiah Vumbarker was brought on following Roop and bowled some nice variations, with TK supporting from the Raglan street, however was also unable to dislodge either batsman despite hitting his areas well. In the end it was TK’s consistent lines and lengths that eventually paid off, with a seemingly innocuous ball sneaking through the number 8’s defence to get the breakthrough wicket shortly before drinks. Special mention also to Jamo who took the prize scalp of their persistent opener, who had crawled his way to 44 and looked their only real hope of seeing out a draw. With him gone and only two wickets left to get 6 points felt inevitable, however the flat deck saw a partnership began between the numbers 9 and 10. With the threat of weather never far away and impeccable accuracy from both Roop and Isaiah Chewbaca proving ineffective, it took a superb piece of fielding from Jordan Daly at slip throwing the stumps down at the bowler’s end to get the breakthrough. With only an injured number 11 to come, it didn’t take long before the final wicket fell – Josh Wigney taking the easiest caught & bowled ever to grace Manly oval. Bread and butter.

An effort was made to go for 10 points, however except for a peach from Tom Kaye (removing the persistent opener from earlier in the day for a golden) and an absolute Jaffa from Isaiah Vumdukkah (spinning back to take top of middle & off through the gate), the flatness of the deck left no real value in continuing past the final drinks break. Blacktown finished at 2-66, despite Jacob O’Sullivan’s best efforts.

A really good, gutsy win in a situation that with less discipline and patience could well have eked into a draw. Great to get some points on the board and kickstart the season.

Go Manly

3 Points – Matt Brewster
2 Points – Jordan Daly
1 Point – Josh Wigney

Jordan Daly

A

week of rain clouded the future of 3rd grade’s triumphant away result against Blacktown. A quick trip down the bone dry M2 had the boys in hope to continue a positive first week domination of the home team.

All hands on deck to get started with the days play, with 6 wickets on the manly boys mind. First 5 overs brings 4 wickets and has the home team in all sorts of trouble, however a stubborn 9 and 10 made us work for their wickets. To little to late unfortunately by that point in the day with the last 2 wickets swiftly coming before the heavens opened and the pearly white covers stopping play.

“Chicken shop or nah?” was the repeated question as a large outright win loomed for the main grade at the lunch interval. Much of the same occurred when skipper Samuel Hole sent them in for a second time. Quicks doing all the damage early with the wicket countdown already on. In an attempt to save Blacktown from an outright defeat, the opener dug in and put his head down to the disgruntlement of all fielders, and manly knew these innings wickets weren’t going to come cheap. How often do you see 2 catches at silly mid on and 1 at leg slip? Might buy a lottery ticket as bails were broken and catches going straight to hand. After some late toil from Manly and some wobbly off spinners from Sam Hole, manly had taken the required 16 wickets on day 2 for 10 points and a huge boost to finals campaign early in the year. Shoutout Bryn’s 100 and Hicks 5 fa last week, Counsel with the rogue chat and 5 fa I guess and the fast bowling cartel for getting us home on the day, taking 10 points away is no easy feat, Sammy Hole and 3’s couldn’t be happier with the away victory.

3 Points – Andrew Hicks
2 Points – Brynn Mendel
1 Point –  Michael Counsel

Ellis Raymond

T

he 4s men arrived at Grahams reserve in high spirits after a dominant display the week prior, and keen to keep the foot on the throat, with 10 points within touching distance.

The lack of warm up touch footy was much to the dismay of the onlooking crowd, but those who stayed were treated to yet another rampant Waratahs performance.

Evan Dunnachie picked up where he left off taking the first two poles of the day (3-19) and was well supported by Hayden Williams (1-19) at the other end. Andrew Rochford (0-9) then decided to inject himself and Fraser Noack (0-10) into the attack to no avail.

Rochie then decided to give Blacktown a false sense of security by allowing a minor partnership to occur. That was until young Josh Cooper decided to throw the stumps down with barely a bail to aim at (at least that’s his story and we are allowing him to run with it), and proceed to perform cartwheels around the ground.

Spin was then injected with George Cumming (3fa) and Adam Parkinson (2fa) doing the bulk of the damage.

Needing only 68 for the 10 points Dominic Wheeler (37 no.) and Oscar Lucius (30 no.) made light work of the Blacktown attack. All in all the mighty Tahs only needed just over 30 overs to complete a comprehensive 10 point victory, firmly stamping out authority on the 4th grade comp.

Onto next week against Bankstown, where the boys will likely carpool for one of the great away trips!

3 Points – Hayden Williams
2 Points – Dom Wheeler
1 Point – Jake Hutchings

Fraser Noake

F

The boys, in high spirits after last weekend’s dominating performance, turned up to Whalan Reserve ready to claim the outright points. With a high chance of rain forecast, we were set on taking fast wickets and getting the job done before the encroaching rain descended.

A tight opening performance from Will Matheson and James Waddington began the day with little runs scored, as the Blacktown batsmen blocked out the onslaught of pace bowling. Matheson was rewarded in the 5th over with a tidy snick to Captain Reiley Dunlop, as a direct result of partnership bowling and tight lines. Matheson 1-13 after 7. Waddington 0-31 after 9.

On came Keelan Mendel with 9 straight overs keeping those hard to play lines, while Bailey Lidgard bowled some tweakers at the other end. We found ourselves in a slump where the Blacktown batsmen were settled and scoring more frequently, until Chris Halloran was handed the ball. With fire in his eyes, he charged in ball after ball to eventually prevail with a clean bowled yorker sending off-stump cartwheeling out of the ground. He was simply too fast for the Blacktown batter. Halloran 1-10 after 3. Followed by a tight spell from Liam Dinan to end the day on a drinks break that was deemed end of play as we pulled the covers on in the almost torrential rain. Blacktown 2-110 after 37.

3 Points – James Waddington
2 Points – Chris Halloran
1 Point – Reiley Dunlop

Will Matheson

S

unday’s 1st Grade T20 shows you are never down and out, no matter the situation. A great come from the clouds victory for the Manly boys to get our T20 campaign off to a great start.

Winning the toss and batting, it was only Jack Edwards who really got going with a superb 56 off 35 balls. Matt Brewster and Jay Lenton were the only other 2 bats to get into double figures as we dropped off in the second half of our innings and the ball got older and the pitch slower and lower.

139 was the end result, but we knew it was match winning with the pitch getting tougher and tougher. We just needed to get off to a good start with the ball.

Well, it’s safe to say that we didn’t. 20 off the first over, 11 off the second and 10 off the 3rd meant St George were 0/41 off 3. Game over right?

Cricket is a funny game, but T20s can be outright hilarious. The pitch continued to play tricks, and our bowler sput, cut and dipped their way through the rest of the innings to keep the Saints batting under control. It came down the the last ball with 4 needed for St George to win, but a swing and miss meant a famous victory for the Manly boys.

Jay Lenton

W

ith the predicted heavy rain across the weekend, the PGs boys were delighted to turn up to Manly Oval on Sunday morning to find a dry outfield and everything ready to go on-time. Some showers just before the start of play saw a slight delay, but after some inspiring words from coach Aidan Baker, we won the toss and batted first.

We never quite got going with the bat, especially after losing 3 early wickets. Andrew Boulton and Josh Seward showed their class with a great middle order fight back, but our lower order weren’t able to capitalise, and we went into the innings break needing to defend a slightly below par 109.

However, a great first 3 overs showed we were up for the fight, with St George going at 4 on over. A tight spell by spinners Davies, Trewartha and Cumming kept St George in check in the middle overs, and there was a period there where we had the game in our control.

However we didn’t quite execute the last few others, and it came down to the last ball with St George already equal with us. A single would win it for them. A swing, a miss, and the ‘keeper Lucius hits the stumps. Umpire gives it not out. Tough decision either way, but unfortunately St George came away with the win.

Great game despite the disappointment.

Joel Davies

W

e arrived at a wet Merrylands Oval ready to continue our winning ways.

We warmed up with a sprinkle of rain and won the toss and chose to bat. The rain cleared just before the game started allowing Eliza (32*) and Emily (16*) to get us off to a great start. They saw off the opening bowlers and punished anything they could and built a great opening partnership of 61*.

Some lovely shots were played, and they were on their way to continue accelerating the run rate until the rain stopped play 9.1 overs into the innings. After a few rounds of Cricket Uno, changeroom cricket and some interesting dances, the game was eventually called off when we ran out of time to play the 5 overs required to have a match.

Sarah Gordon

(Note: No Player of the match points given due to minimal game time)

W

ell it was certainly an interesting start to our day at Bankstown, with the news that Renee, Sal, Steph, and Annabel had a flat tire and would be late! Luckily they were quickly on the road and arrived in time to win the toss, and we were batting!

With the grass in need of a mow, we knew that the balls would be slowing down along the ground. With the aim of making the most of quick singles and hitting over the field, Annabel and Steph stepped out to open. Steph took off absolutely firing, some wickets fell on the other end but she stayed strong, finishing with 30* off 31, including an over of 14 runs! With Steph retiring, in came Renee to make her impact, and boy did she! Smashing 34* off 21 balls, Bankstown didn’t know what to do with themselves! Emma and Sal made some great runs finishing on 10 and 8* respectively. We finished in a good position a score of 102 to defend.

We had a cracker of a fielding inning, with all the bowlers on fire! Big shoutout to Jamie and Chloe for their first Manly wickets! We brought Bankstown down all out for 22 runs with a great stumping by Steph and a few catches.

Everyone who bowled had amazing overs: Jamie: 1/6, Sal: 3/7, Chloe: 2/3 (Including a caught and bowled!) and Sophia: 2/5. Great team effort.

We had to share the points around today:

1 Point: Stephanie Hughes
1 Point: Renee Hough
1 Point: Jamie Loh
1 Point: Sallie Molyneux
1 Point: Chloe-Amanda Bailey
1 Point: Sophia Chick

Sophie Beukers