Weekend of ups and downs vs students as 5s and Women’s 3s take their first victories – Weekend Wrap Round 3 (Day 2) + Womens 2nd and 3rd Grade

This week’s 4 Pines Player of the Week is Tom Kaye for his 79* batting masterclass in 3rd grade. Coming in to bat with the score at 2/28, Tom played an integral role in ensuring Manly were able to chase down Sydney University’s total. His 79* was amassed over 168 minutes and included 13 fours! This dominant performance comes off the back of a 79 against Mosman in round 2 and shows that Tom will certainly be one to watch this season!

After setting what was the highest 1st grade total in 12 years the boys were confident that if we played our best cricket all day, the result be in our favour.

That we did, for the most part at least. Jack Edwards and Micheal Visser led the way with the ball with Jack bowling a brilliant first spell to break the stubborn opening partnership and go on to get another, cracking the game open from the top finishing with 3/86 of his 17 overs. (Some say the absence of Ryan Farrell means his front ankle can still be found on Manly Oval).

Visser broke through in the middle as each batsman proved persistent and all getting starts for the students. Combine this with a top drawer run out from SOK and the boys could almost smell a victory at 5-197.

A few dropped chances and a wagging of the tail saw the students well and truly in the game. SOK struck in the second last over of the day to have them 9 down needing 6 to win but unfortunately the boys just couldn’t get it done, going down to a serious performance and being a part of one of the greatest games of 1st grade cricket you’ll see.

Points:

3 Points – Ollie Davies
2 Points – Ryan Farrell
1 Point – Jack Edwards

Fielding Award – TBC

Ryan Hadley

We turned up Saturday knowing what was ahead of us needing 176 runs.

With Ellio Herd and Andrew Hicks (31) at the crease we had a good start with Herdy continuing the play freely and Hicksy playing his natural game.

We lost Herdy (69) which was a big wicket for Sydney Uni. That wicket bought in Ryan Farrell who was coming off a hundred the week before in 1st grade and he timed them well for ball one. Sydney Uni has a ring field and the boys were struggling to beat the in field but they fought hard and were very patient.

Losing Faz (42) bought on a collapse losing 5 for 40. There was a bit a nail biting in the sheds but of course the great man Ash Virdi (36*) was there to consolidate and get the boys home with some useful stroke play from Jamo (13*) at the end.

The toughest part of the day was at the end after Kangaroo Court realising we had been locked in the sheds and we all had to jump through the window with our kits to get out of there.

Thanks Skid who warmed us up both days and Will Harding for being around the boys and creating a great environment like he always does.

Points:

3 Points – Elliot Herd
2 Points – Andrew Hicks
1 Point – Ash Virdi

Fielding Award – Jacob O’Sullivan

Sam Gainsford

With Sydney Uni 9/140 overnight, the Tahs hoped an early wicket with the new ball would set up a relaxed chase on a hot, windy Saturday.

Tom Kaye & Griffin Lea opened up steadily on a flat deck, giving little away against a resilient lower Uni order. A chance seemed inevitable, but when it came it unfortunately it went straight to the tiniest hands in the grade cricket competition and went down. Some more time taking catches in the week and less time watching the BOM may be in order for the young graduate who offended in this case.

A few runs started to come, and with things getting a bit tense, the Skipper turned to Counsel, who proceeded to have 3 more chances go down within two overs in the cordon. Counsel finally decided to take matters into his own hands and pinned the number 10 in front, to bowl the students out for 191 in 96 overs. Great work to Griffin again for his 5 wicket haul.

On a flat deck on their home turf with a strong line up, Manly were confident of mowing the total down in the allotted 61 overs.

The new opening combination of Sam Hole and Zach Trewartha opened up. Sam Hole was particularly pumped up to get his season off to a great start. The young man, fresh from being sent home early on a Friday for the second week in a row, clipped his first ball beautifully for 4 off the pads. He followed up with a strong forward defense, then another. Ball number 4 was crisply sent through the covers for four & many thought it would be his day. These dreams were ruined as a regulation yorker escape both bat, and for once also his pad and ended up castling him, his innings resembling an Alex Bain opening over (4..4W).

Manly were in a spot of bother as Griffin Lea came and went with a marginal call & Zach Trewartha after starting incredibly positively, was bogged down and dismissed with a shot he would rather forget for 18. This left the unlucky Jacob O’Sullivan & Tom Kaye at the crease at tea, with the score 3/50.

After tea, the pair took the game away from the students with some great ball striking. Sul in particular took 9 boundaries in his run a ball 44, before he was dismissed playing one shot too many. Kaye was patient and mature throughout, keeping out some good bowling and capitalising on the poor deliveries to make his second consecutive score of 79, this time unbeaten and seeing the team through.

He was well supported by Daly, who after taking two right handed gloves out, recovered to be 33* as the Tahs chased it down comfortably 4 wickets down with plenty of overs to spare.

Another great win for the Cowboys, who haven’t been beaten at home since January 2018 and go 3/3 for the 19/20 season. A Semi Final rematch against Eastern Suburbs awaits next week.

Points:

3 Points – Griffin Lea
2 Points – Tom Kaye
1 Point – Jacob O’Sullivan

“The Shack” Fielding Award – Joel Davies

Nick McLachlan

The Manly boys turned up to a picturesque St Paul Oval with the challenge of chasing Sydney University’s 270. Being 2/2 over night the day didn’t start in the best way with an abandoned car left on oval putting the game behind 30 minuets. Cohen (Slothy) and Dom started the day well before Slothy fell to a dubious LBW decision. This lead to the score being 4/20 with Sydney Uni being right on top.

Charles and Dom worked hard to gain momentum back and continued to score runs frequently with Dom taking the game on. However some good bowling saw an edge from Dom who made a well-made 29 and a short ball undoing Joel (14) just before tea continued to build pressure and didn’t allow the manly boys to build any partnership. After tea Charles and Duly continued to push on with runs with Duly making a quick 21 and assisting with a partnership with Charles that increased the run rate, giving the Manly boys a platform to chase the remaining 160 runs left. 

Sydney Uni’s spinner found Dulys edge however this brought josh Seward to the crease. Charles passed 50 and Seward continued to find the gaps, edging closer to the runs needed. After a big six and blistering 4’s, the game was back in Manly’s favor with only 100 runs to get with 30 over left in the day. However this saw two quick wickets fall in the session with Charles (68) and Seward (27) both falling before drinks. 

Enter Josh Wigney and Jordy Brewster. The number 10 and 11 put on a 45 run partnership for the final wicket that gave the manly team a chance to save the game. However a catch that sent screams of “it bounced” from the sideline saw the end of the innings with Josh Wigney scoring his highest score of 20 and Jordy Brewster 22 giving it their all. Back to back wickets and some dropped catches gave the game away for the Manly team however the team is eager to bounce back and get their season back on track. 

Points:

3 Points – Lachlan Charles
2 Points – Josh Seward
1 Point – Lachlan Kerr 

Feilding Award  – Nick Cohen

Lachlan Charles

Saturday Morning. Mike Pawley Oval. Nothing beats it. With the addition of funnyman Billy D’arcy to the team, 5’s we’re confident and ready to knuckle down and chase Sydney Uni’s total of 219. After being not out over night, openers Jimmy Buchanan and Jack Melchoire returned to the crease with the score 0-8. 

A solid start getting through the opening bowlers without loss had put the team in good stead. The first wicket fell with the score around 25, Jimmy given to a dubious caught behind appeal. Soon after, Billy fell cheaply with score around 40. Jack Melchiore’s well crafted innings came to an end not long after, the debutant making 31, a very solid debut innings. With Sam Barnett falling several overs later, the tahs looked in trouble with the score sitting at 4-65. Enter Ned Healey and Oscar Lucius. The 2 took us into tea with a fantastic unbeaten partnership, which helped put us back in the drivers seat. 

The spread put on at tea was like no other. In previous years, a typical spread was something like 12 six packs of cinnamon donuts from Coles that were on sale, but this spread had everything from homemade dumplings and pizza to mini pies and sausage rolls. As celebrations for the great Doug Mcgrath’s birthday continued, the mind had to be put back on the job, scoring the next 140 runs. 

After the break we started comfortably, moving the score to 115, before Ned smoked a short ball straight to backward square leg, ending his well played innings of 34. Ollie Melville fell soon after with the score now around 6-135. Skipper Rochy was brought to the crease and runs started flowing immediately. Oscar soon passed 50, while Roch was smacking the bowlers to all parts. The pair got the score to around 200, before Oscar was dismissed for 54, what can only be described as one of the great comeback knocks. Liam Dinan fell not long after. Rochy and Luke Morley got the last 20 runs in quick succession, with 3 overs remaining in the day, which highlighted a neat tail order cameo from the man they call Moz, who ended with 13 not out. Rochy finished with red ink on 55, one of the great captains knocks under pressure. It was even better to get it alongside his 4fa last week.

A great run chase and bowling performance all round from 5’s, capping off our first win of the year, the only disappointing thing coming from it is that we won’t stop hearing about Luke Morley’s consecutive fours through the covers batting at 10. 

Points:

3 Points – Andrew Rochford
2 Points – Oscar Lucius
1 Point – Luke Morley 

Fielding award – Ned Healey

Ollie Melville