Women Clean Sweep and Men Dominate the Sharks – Weekend Wrap 6/7 March 2021

After an even Day 1 at Manly Oval the Tahs were back in the field needing 8 wickets for victory, Ryan Hadley was unfortunately unavailable due to 2nd XI duties during the week, so taking his place and bowling the first over of the day was the obvious replacement – former South African fast bowler Morne Morkel.

Morkel and Tommy K bowled extremely well at the start of the day but struggling to make the breakthrough, Morne eventually found the edge of the night watchmen which saw the score sit at 3/44. Jack Edwards returned to the bowling crease after a slight hamstring niggle and was hitting the gloves of Jay Lenton extremely hard, it didn’t take him long to get his first wicket with a beautiful out swinging delivery catching the edge of Arnold’s bat and finding its way into Lentons gloves. After this Sutherland put on a slight partnership with their skipper Williams looking solid as he brought up his 50. Just after the lunch break, Morne was brought back into the attack to find a needed breakthrough and that breakthrough he delivered trapping Fallins in front and then a few balls later going through the defence of Ben Dwarshuis.

At 6/91 things were looking bleak for the Sharks but it was certainly not game over, they still had Williams at the crease and a couple of talented youngsters to come. A 7th wicket of 53 brought a glimmer of hope to Sutherland before Morkel made the breakthrough picking up his 4th for the day, Another 50 run partnership from Sutherland arguably putting them in charge of the game with Deal smoking them and Williams edging close to a century the score sitting at 7/195. introducing Tom Kaye and the second new ball, Tom has been extremely impressive with the new rock this season swinging them both ways and boy did he deliver again, hooping one back into Williams catching him in front of all 3 for a brilliant 97 and just a few balls later striking again with a nick behind to have Sutherland 9/195. But there would be one last push from the boys from the shire, Young wicketkeeper calmly getting them closer and closer to the win. Manly looking for answers, Edwards back into the attack at 9/215 need just 7 to win he bowls one short, Deal pulls in into the deep, it is straight into the sun but there’s a man under it……. NAPPA CATCHES IT! MANLY WIN BY 6 RUNS!

3 points – Tom Kaye

2 points – Morne Morkel

1 point – Ryan Farrell

Jake Carden

2nd Grade arrived at Glenn McGrath on a beautiful Autumn morning, intent on getting the 2 remaining wickets after last week’s carnage and chasing a total hopefully less than the 86 that had proved somewhat problematic last week. After a quality warm-up and touch game it was left to Captain Andrew Hicks and Josh “Vacuum-packed” Seward to open up.

Both bowlers started strongly. Hicksy looked as ominously accurate as ever, drawing repeated plays and misses that caused much debate among the cordon. This drew the ire of Joel “Bottom Bunk” Davies, who decided that this particular Autumn day was the time to berate the cordon for excessive conversation and not enough support of the team. Although one suspects this is an argument that could be made of most slip cordons, the vitriol in Joel’s comments hinted at other factors at play, perhaps feelings of exclusion and jealousy that a fielder of his talent had been unable to crack the code that is slips fielding.  I digress.

Despite the best efforts of the square leg umpire to encourage the dismissal, Matt Brewster was unfortunately unable to hold on to a tough grab down leg that would’ve seen Hicksy with his 10 for the match. Josh stepped up only moments later, getting the 9th wicket caught at short leg by Nedmund Hole, who this time did decide to use his hands to secure the dismissal. With our aggressive lines and lengths the tail was able to get a few streaky boundaries away – mainly thanks to the lightning outfield – pushing the score towards 50. With the class of our bowlers at our disposal it was never going to be long before the final breakthrough came.

Both bowlers kept toiling away with impeccable lines. In what can only be described as an act of utter selflessness, Josh Seward refused another return catch pushed back at him by the batsman, allowing Andrew “If you can’t get something done right, do it yourself” Hicks to take what was both Sutherland’s 10th wicket and his 10th for the match. Thoroughly well deserved.

With a target of 51, last week showed that it could have either been a nervous, stressful chase, and when Brewster and Joel Foster went cheaply it looked like it could be. The combination of Ahillen Beadle’s class and composure tempering the style and aggression of Joel Davies meant that both batsmen batted with the patience required to mitigate risks while keeping the scoreboard moving. Great to see AB get some time in the middle and great to get another outright win to secure the Minor Premiership! One last one-dayer against Sydney Uni next week to do our bit to secure club champs and then onwards and upwards to the finals.

Go manly!

3 points – Andrew Hicks
2 points – Josh Seward
1 point – Ryan Bishop-Perrett

Jordan Daly

Graham’s Reserve. The field of dreams. The Home of Cricket. The setting for third grades dominant victory.

Touch football started off the day, an enthralling contest between the ‘Floppy Hats’ and the ‘Caps’. Floppy’s started strong and got on the board after the first set of 6, after some clinical up the guts footy early in the set before shifting it wide. Try in the corner. Some back and forth footy followed, with the caps playing some fast open form footy. With not long left before the bell, an error by the floppys when attacking the line led to a breakaway try from Webber. Despite some contention over a possible touch on Webber before his breakaway, the try was awarded. 1-1. The score would remain as the hooter went, and the boys shook hands. Cricket was to follow.

The lads gathered 11 strong around a stump in the middle, warming up the arms, and the successful ticking of the 12 in 69 seconds that eludes premier cricketers each week. A solid start for the Tahs.

Throw Downs ensued. Bain Counsell and Wigney all looking solid with the bat, but alas, were unlikely to be needed due to the solid top-order that 3rd grade had assembled. Unfortunately, the squad was feeling a bit parched after this, yet young Willy Gus was nowhere to be seen. Will be taken into account in next weeks selection meeting.

12:10 arrived and the umpires knocked on the door and uttered those famous words – ‘on in 5 gents’. Skipper Hole was midway through his inspiring pre-match rev up, and whilst he acknowledged the umpires politely, you could tell his flow had been disrupted, and he had to regain that passion he was eliciting so effortless moments ago. Thankfully, he recomposed himself, finished his roaring address, and as good leaders do, walked out onto the field to face the first ball.

Graham’s was back to normal, and the two Sams (Hole and Webber) started strong and positively. The history of Hole kicking one on middle, or Webber trying to use his broom and being salmon in front did not repeat itself (surprising given Webber’s 15 Pints the day before), and the lads were off to a ripper start. However, shortly before drinks, Skipper Hole misjudged one, shouldering arms, expecting the ball to sail through to the keeper, expecting to mark centre, have a spin of the bat in hands, and prepare to face the next ball. Alas, it was not to be, the famous rattle of the stumps, and the bail had been clipped. Hole out, 1-97 the score.

Drinks came, and despite some good bowling at times from Sutherland (many ooos and ahhs), only the one wicket was to fall, the lads sitting comfortably at 1-109.

Webber brought up his 50 shortly after drinks, and Wheeler was looking strong against the spinning ball. Oh no, Webber is out. Mistimes a cut and goes to slip. Zach goes in but unfortunately, a collapse occurs, Wheeler out then Zach bowled. Consolidation is necessary.

Mickey Edwards and Lachlan Charles were prepared. Ready for the task ahead. Dig the lads out of the hole, and take the 6 points. For the next hour, dot after dot, block after block. But it didn’t matter. Despite jeers from the spectators, and tea coming and going, the two were unfazed, steadfast in their approach to the magical 165. After what seemed like an eternity, the boys were there, a beautiful lofted drive by Edwards bringing up the winning runs, the Tahs celebrate, 6 points to the good guys. A dream scenario, as the main grade secure a spot on the finals. Lads lads lads! We truly are on the march with Sam’s army.

The students are up next week, and a win will secure a top 3 finish for the good guys and a return to the home of cricket for finals.

3 points – Josh Wigney

2 points – Alex Bain

1 point – Sam Webber

Josh Wigney

After a previous weekend of both tremendous highs and woeful lows, the 4’s boys had a point to prove. With a kick in their step, and Gummer doing a coffee run just before the start of play, you could say the boys were switched on and showing clinical focus.

Dinan and Hobbo started us off well with a few ripe maidens. It’s nipping around just enough that the boys are already grinning like the grinch, the boys can sense that Christmas might come early and they just might get what they asked from Santa. Dinam picked up a well-deserved 2fa for his efforts in his opening spell, bowling with swing, nip and excellent pace variations and accuracy. Although, credit to the Sutherland boys, they always managed to keep the score ticking over,  often sneaking a boundary somewhere off the last ball. The game was afoot. The ball began to turn back in Manly’s favour with a quick run out, credit to Hobbo and Gummer.

Despite the hard toil from our bowling unit, the boys couldn’t catch a break and Sutherland slowly sneaked past our score 5 down. Bring on the declaration, the Manly boys were back out on the park.

As the boys approached the crease, the rest of the team. were left to sing forlorn renditions of “bat out the 50”, “be with us till the end” as Coyte and Gummer approached the wicket. And give or take a few, the opening pair held us together very nicely for a while.  Gummer was clipping the straight balls down to the leg side boundary,  Coyte cracked the full ones through the covers, and most reassuringly, both boys blocked the good ones. Coyte (30) and Gummer (27) were playing with the freedom of toddlers at recess until both boys lost their wickets in quick succession. The other boys tried to keep it together, but as soon as they began to settle in, they were dismissed. We managed to keep out the Sutherland boys until the end of days play, credit to the young gun Hutchings for showing some hard ticker in a big-time pressure moment, really frustrated the opposition with his Alistair Cook like defence.

All in all, great efforts from the boys in regards to heart and love for the game, but all the boys have to work a bit harder on their execution of skills this week. Great learning opportunity as always.

3 points – Alec Duly

2 points – Liam Dinan

1 point – Lachie Coyte

Jack Hobson

5^th grade rocked up to Mike Pawley this week seeking 10 points. After taking a wicket very late in the day the previous week, 9 wickets were needed. The two Andrews (Rochford and Boulton) lead from the front taking wickets in the first few overs of the day, followed up by another from first change  J.Waddington.

Spin was then introduced with similar results and the opposition was 8-65, but their tail started to fight back combining with their number 6 when finally Dhillion and Ganeshraj breaking through to take the last couple of wickets but not before 115 was added and the visitors finished on 180 leaving Manly needing  168 off 23 overs.

Needing a quick start, we got to 0-29 off 4 overs before losing Dunnachie followed by Smith not long after. After 9 overs we were on track 2-63, but losing Melchiore and Rochford (32) within the space of 2 balls halted the momentum, but a vital partnership of 57 Bolts (32) and S.Waddington (50) got us to need 20 off 3 overs. Unfortunately, we then lost a couple of wickets and had to settle for the 6  first inning points finishing 8-155 just 13 after a great team effort.

3 points – Evan Dunnachie

2 points – Simon Waddington

1 point – Raj Ganeshraj

Jack Melchiore

Report to be added.

Brewer turned up to Grahams Reserve for a must-win with at least 1 bonus point to make it in finals, with us tying on 5^th place only by % run rate. After a quick warm-up game of touch, I won the toss and choose to bowl, the toss of the season to win to make sure we knew how much to push for the bonus points when batting.

Kate and Jess opened the bowling, with some tight overs to set our innings off to a good start. Kate took the first wicket of the day with a LBW to dismiss their opener. Kate then took the next 2 wickets with a close caught behind by Ruby and then a nice catch to Chels at mid-on. Chels then came into the bowling attack, with Gemma at the other end, and continued the tight bowling with the St-George Sutherland danger batters in. The pressure was on and a few chances missed, including some close-run outs and fumbles.

The St-George Partnership was building. After the drinks we brought the spinners onto the attack, with Abby, Mia and Jazzy bowling tightly. No wickets were taken by the spinners and the batters looked comfortable, Ellie and Kate came back into the attack. Laura Judson then took a direct hit run out to dismiss their best batter, and suddenly the game turned completely and, as Chelsea said, we played an UNO reverse card with St George having the classic Manly Batting collapse. Ellie then took another wicket 2 balls later, with ruby taking a great running catch and nearly running into Chelsea. St-George began to tumble, Kate taking a bowled wicket. After the drinks break, everything began to go our way. Jazzy bowled one of their batter perfectly off middle in her second spell. Jess Manning then came back into the attack, taking a wicket in her first over  and another in her second to dismiss their set batter. St-George was the 9/119 and Kate Salmon was 4/27 off 9 overs, with one wicket left and one over left of her maximum spell. On the last ball of her 10^th over, she took a wicket with the ball hitting the bail of off stump (and then going on to hit Ruby in the face) and claiming her first Brewer and Manly 5fa, I’m sure the first of many. St George finish 10/130 off 40.6 overs.

Laura Judson and I opened the batting. After a slow start with a few singles here and there off the first few overs, facing some strong opening bowlers. Laura then whacked a few boundaries and was then dismissed in the 7^th over. Chloe then came out to bat and kept the momentum going, accelerating the run rate after playing herself in. A few rivalries and some chats about my favourite frappe flavour (chocolate in case you were wondering). I nearly got run out going for the second run off a misfield after the ball hit the stumps and rebounded. Luckily, they didn’t take the stumps out of the ground of I would’ve been run out from halfway At the next drinks break, we made the decision to not go for the double bonus point, which would’ve meant getting the runs in 25 over, and decided to go for the win and single bonus points, getting the runs inside 40 overs. Chloe was later dismissed for 24 off 28, bringing Ellie James into bat. With the score at 2-71 with lots of overs remaining, Ellie and myself made the decision to slowly get the runs without losing any wickets before 40 overs. We had 20 runs to go off 10 overs and got the runs in the 35^th over, with a quick running leg bye off Ellie James for the winning runs. We finished 2/131 off 35.4 overs and claiming the 1 bonus point.

After singing the Manly song as loud as we possibly could, we carefully watched the Penrith and North Sydney game and did some maths to figure out how many runs north Sydney would need to stop Penrith from getting the bonus point. We thought it was 107 and then they getting bowled out for 106, we called Simon who said we should start celebrating. It was confirmed that brewer made the finals by 1 point (and one run by North Sydney), so for the first time ever Manly brewer’s have the first semi-final this Sunday against Sydney.

3 points – Kate Salmon

2 points- Nat Guyot

1 point -Jess Manning

1 point -Ellie James

Nat Guyot