Weekend Wrap Round 8 (Day 1)- Brutal weekend against Hawkesbury with success in Women’s 2nd grade and PGs

It was a tough day at the office for Manly this weekend with a very rough start to the two day matches against Hawkesbury in the men’s grades. Coming off a loss last week, the 1st grade boys were really looking to get a strong start on Saturday but, unfortunately, Hawkesbury didn’t really give them a chance. R Hadley (1/36) and M Visser (1/50) were the pick of the bowlers in what was a very rough day for the Manly boys. Hawkesbury currently sit at 6/363 leaving Manly in a very difficult position heading into the second day. Things weren’t looking much brighter for the second grade boys with Hawkesbury delivering another dominant batting performance, reaching 7/317. T Beatty (2/57) and A Jamieson (2/64) provided a bit of resistance but something pretty amazing is required next week inorder for Manly to take home the maximum points. 3rd grade had a better day, posting 8/290. J Davies (91) and Z Trewartha (57) put the pressure on Hawkesbury and set Manly up for what should quite a competitive day two. 4th grade provided the tightest fielding of the men’s grade sides on Saturday, keeping Hawkesbury to 9/246. This was aided by some impressive bowling from J Osborne (4/53) and A Gummer (3/63) to give Manly a chance at the maximum points against the top of the table team next weekend. The 5th grade game saw the debut of a number of up-and-coming Manly stars, however it was the captain, A Rochford, who really stood out, snatching 5/80 off a mammoth 25 overs. Hawkesbury still managed to reach 8/328 though, with some spectacular battig required next week if Manly are going to snag the win. 

Sunday brought with it some considerably more positive results, with Manly getting two wins from three games. The PGs got home pretty comfortably, achieving Randwick Petersham’s 10/138 in 22.2 overs. Manly finished 2/142 following a spectacular innings from J Foster (79*) and support from E Hole (38). G Lea (3/47) and J Davies (2/13 off 10) were the pick of the bowlers, really restricting Randwick Petersham when it mattered most. Our Women’s 2nd grade side continued their winning streak, remaining undefeated in the 40 over format, following a strong performance against Northern Districts. Setting 9/187 after a smashing innings from R Medley (58) and A Hutt (38), the girls ripped into NDs, getting them all out for 130. A Hutt was the standout bowler with 3/13 with the other 7 wickets shared amongst the girls. Unfortunately the Brewer’s side couldn’t break into the winner’s circle this week despite a strong bowling performance. After getting NDs all out for 152 with some clinical bowling from A Melville (3/27) and J Mulcahy (2/8) they fell 50 short of the required total, E James top scoring with 20. 

Overall, it was a pretty rough weekend for Manly and something pretty special will be needed next week. Be prepared to see the fight of the season across most of the grades!

 

Go the Tahs!

Joel Davies is this week’s 4 Pines Player of the Week following dominant performances with both the bat and the ball. Playing in both 3rd grade and PGs this weekend, Joel really showed his class as an all rounder, making 91 on Saturday before turning around and getting 2/13 off 10 overs on Sunday! This isn’t the first time Joel has performed well this season, having already had a couple of stellar turns with the bat but this weekend has really highlighted just how dominant Joel can be. Though it is still relatively early days in what promises to be a long and successful cricketing career, Joel has been playing with a maturity beyond his years and is certainly a Manly star! He is a very deserving recipient of this week’s 4 Pines Player of the Week.

The day started with a debut for Griffin Lea and a debut toss win for stand-in skipper Micheal Visser. The chat was that if there’s gonna be anything in the wicket it’d be morning of the first day with a thatchy layer of grass. Hadley and Visser bowled patiently early with Visser creating a chance that was missed and the Hawkesbury openers offering absolute donuts. It took a nicely flighted delivery from Farrell to entice the first major error, running past (sort of) one after drinks. Having restricted the Hawks to only 60 odd in the first session, the boys were quietly confident that staying in the grind would see some positive results. 

There’s not a whole to touch on, we did grind, everyone was up and about as much as we could be on a hot, smokey day in the Hawkesbury but not much luck came from it. Some positive reverse swing bowling occurred, all bowlers played their part chipping in here and there, Hadley the most economical with 1-36 from 19. 

Hawksbury opened their arms and batted to a plan we thought they might, accelerating the rate dramatically to reach a score of 6-363. If the group sticks to the blueprint, back themselves and spend time in the middle there’s no doubt this score can be chased down.

 

Ryan Hadley

1) Captain Unlucky

Despite a relaxing week knocking back cocktails, Saturday started stressfully for the second grade skip with a number of junior games being double-booked around the peninsula. Little did he know this was just the start of a very unlucky day.

2) Welcome back

Geez it was nice to roll into manly on Saturday for a day of cricket. A two dayer out at campbelltown had the Tahs excited to be back on home soil. Welcoming back the likes of Mick Counsell, Ned Hole and Andrew Hicks also did wonders for morale.

3) The toss

We lost. We have won 1 from 8 but who is counting?

4) 1st session

Counsell steamed in with the new ball and looked threatening without reward. Jake “the prof” Carden was educating all that strode to the crease and bowled with great guile and control. Very unlucky not to feature in the wickets column. Andrew Jamieson, Andrew Hicks and Tom Kaye all looked threatening with the ball in hand. It was an incredible start to the day with well over 20 plays and misses per batter without the rewards.

5) 2nd session 

The ball started to soften but the tahs took wickets every 40 or so runs after the hawks passed the 100 mark. A special shout out goes to Jacob O’Sullivan for another direct hit run out from point. This brings his run out tally to 5 for the season. Absurd. Tom Kaye, Andrew Jamieson took a couple of wickets here and there but we struggled to go bang-bang and dominate the innings.

6) 3rd session

This was a difficult session as we fatigued and the ball stopped moving laterally. Luckily our spinners continued to look threatening with Isaiah Vumbaca bowling economically and Ashdeep Virdi doing weird things with his leggies. Ashdeep really ripped one which dipped, drifted and turned to take off stump. Definitely the ball of the day. I should also note Jake Cardens efforts with the ball in this last session which were aggressive and impressive. Unfortunately there wasn’t much positive reading after this as hawkesbury continued to pile on the runs (albeit slowly) and the new ball did not yield the wickets we desired. Hawkesbury finishing the day at 7-317. 

A long day in the dirt… Which we love.

7) After hours antics

The contest for walnut of the week was a close affair between Matt Brewster, Ned Hole and Will Harding. Unfortunately for Ned, his personal hygiene left him in a predicament giving the team no choice but to nominate him for the silly suit. Keep an eye out for him at training this week.

Go Manly!

Taylor Patrick

3s vs Hawks

The lads travelled out to Benson’s Lane eager to continue their dominant ways against a struggling Hawkesbury side. It was clear upon arrival that the heat and humidity would crush the hopes and dreams of any fast bowler that day and fortunately skipper Sam Hole elected to bat after downing his 6th Gatorade of the morning and retaining much needed electrolytes. In Hamish Starr’s last game for the Tahs, his touch performance lived up to the hype, whilst Josh Wigney tried to grubber himself over the line on three consecutive occasions? You’d think he would’ve learnt? Hmm.

Zach and SHole proceeded to open the batting and the Tahs looked solid early on. On a thick outfield the boys ran well and put the pressure back onto the bowlers. Many drinks were run out to the boys with Bain on several occasions mentioning “geeze it’s warm out here” before returning to his shaded chair. Both Zach (57) and SHole (56) passed 50 and got the Tahs to 100 without the loss of a wicket. Once Zach fell, HoJu entered the crease. Young Joel Davies, still unaware where HoJu comes from, batted with class and dominance, getting himself well acquainted to punish some bowling once green shield commences this Thursday. Joel batted most of the day combining with most batsmen to score one of the classiest 91s seen at a long time at Benson’s Lane, deserving the triple figures however just falling short. Will Akhurst batted the house down also, hitting his fourth ball for six over mid on before taking a single down the ground the next ball much to the delight of the three person crowd. Hot cricket.

At the end of the day and some late cameos, the Tahs are well placed at 8/290. Will we bat on or will we declare?Tune in next week for the results.

 

Up the Tahs, Go the HoJu!

Alex Bain

The sun is beltering down onto the picturesque Grahams Reserve and the mighty 4’s are set to face off against none other than the top team on the ladder, Hawkesbury. For this 4th grade team, it’s a big opportunity. For Hawkesbury, it could be a lot more. Striding out to inspect the ground, (flat), the Manly boys were already visualising what was sure to be an impressive performance that would send a serious statement to the rest of the grade. Reminiscing over Skid’s final remarks on Thursday training,“This is our turf,” the fellas were ready to rock and roll.

The toss goes up; “we’re bowling boys!!”

Handing the brand new rock to the lefty and righty pair, It only took a few balls for Wilson and Hobson to find their groove, both producing a few overs of sharp yet consistent line and length, that seemed to have the openers in all sorts. The ball was doing just enough to nibble at the nerves of the Hawkesbury opening pair. Childs play.

The first wicket struck with Hobson hitting the deck hard with a bouncer, the batsmen’s unsuccessful hook shot successfully landing in the hands of Wilson. But after a few edges to the boundary, the opening pair realised this ground was quick. Really quick.

With the introduction of the two debutants Healey, the Dale Steyn lookalike, and Laughton, the 14 year old prodigy, Manly really began to dig deep. Both bowlers showed discipline beyond their years, executing the international framework of hitting the top of off to the absolute tea. Healey was able to snag his first with a delivery that seemed to do everything and anything, taking out the stumps. Class. However, the occasional ball would often break the infield, and there was no catching it. Despite some early struggles, Gummer and Osborne were able to put the pedal down to help a barrage of 4’s come to a close. A dynamic duo I haven’t seen his Laurel and Hardy, the pair weren’t afraid to give the ball some flight, really ripping down on the white string. Gummer bowling a mammoth 25 overs was able to capture three of Hawkesbury’s 11, for only 63 runs. His partner in crime Mr Jakey Osborne, known for his breathtaking cover drives and mental devastation of oppositions bowling attacks, showed he could also partake in the dark arts of spin bowling. Osborne taking home 4-53 after 18 overs. Not a bad days at the office.

Even if it was not as formidable as the boys may have hoped, the team worked extremely hard to say the least. Hawkesbury eventually landed on 9-246.

Jack Hobson

On Saturday the 14th of December Manly 5th grade played against Hawkesbury at Bensons Lane. On a hot and humid day we lost the toss and were put in the field for the day. We took 2 early wickets (one to A Rochford and the other to E Dunnachie) before a 175 run partnership was put on for the 3rd wicket. Andrew Rochford ended up taking a well deserved 5 wickets in the day in great batting conditions. Hawkesbury ended up 8-328 from 80 overs with an entertaining run chase set for next week.

A Rochford- 5/80

L Morley- 1/63

E Dunnachie- 1/53

 

Josh Cooper