Young Tahs Lead Strong Start despite Sweltering Temps and Lost Tosses – Weekend Wrap 01/02 February 2020

Despite sweltering temperatures that affected the length of 1^st and 3^rd grades’ away fixtures on Saturday and unfavourable toss outcomes in all grades bar 4s, Manly posted strong performances on day one of the men’s 2-day fixture against Fairfield-Liverpool. The women’s teams also had a strong round recording comprehensive wins against Gordon (3^rd Grade) & Northern Districts (Brewers) thanks to mammoth innings from young Chloe Osborne (70) ably assisted by 42* from Laura Judson. Unfortunately the girls’ 2^nd grade and under-15 teams went down in tight contests despite 2-23 from former Peninsula star Mikaela Turik and 25* from Emily Horstead.

The Manly Men sit in strong positions across all grades off the back of some excellent performances by a raft of Manly’s most impressive youngsters. An unbeaten 105-run sixth-wicket stand in 5^th grade between 15 year-old Josh Cooper and 14-year old saw 5s finish with an imposing 5-246 off their 80. The only Manly men’s team to win the toss, 4s dominated from the outset. Jack Osborn (87) led, hitting his third highest score ever for the Tahs, before a rampaging Billy Lindsay (73 off 67) saw 4s amass a mammoth 8/317 thanks also to some uncharacteristic cowboying from veteran nerdler, captain Adam Gummer. After another signature lost toss 3s toiled hard in the sweltering conditions. Regrouping after some bad luck on his first ball and a dropped catch that allowed Fairfield’s opening partnership to survive until the 28^th over, youngster Josh Seward toiled hard on a flat wicket to finish with 2-21 before play was put on hold after 38 overs due to temperatures exceeding 43 degrees. 2^nd grade ran a swing bowling clinic, reducing Fairfield to 7-48 with veteran paceman Andrew Hicks (3-27) leading the charge before the deck flattened out and some intelligent batting allowed the visitors to crawl to 178. Max Weber (47*) and Jacob O’Sullivan 7* held firm to leave 2s in a commanding position at 1/74. 1^st grade also played a heat-affected match, with Wests held at 4/95 thanks to some exceptional bowling from youngster Ryan Hadley (2-5).

This week saw a first in the history of Manly Warringah District Cricket Club – a brother/sister pairing BOTH scoring half-centuries for Manly in the same round. These weren’t just any half centuries either, with both knocks forming the backbone of their respective teams’ innings and set the platform to allow their respective teams to post impressive totals. We simply couldn’t split the two and for this historic reason (as well as to avoid arguments at the dinner table) we have awarded BOTH Chloe Osborne and Jake Osborne our 4 Pines Players of the Week. Chloe Osborne scored a career-best 70 in her under-18 Brewer Shield match to give Manly the upper hand in their 40-over fixture, while in the men’s two-day fixture against Fairfield-Liverpool, Jake Osborne scored 87 in 4^th Grade, edging gradually closer to a first century for the Tahs. This innings became his fourth half century in only five innings. A fantastic vein of form for Jake and an amazing milestone for Chloe, we hope this is just the first of many times a brother/sister get to share the sporting limelight here at Manly.

 

A  great early 9am start out at Fairfield due to the predicted 43-degree heat (and in my opinion, early start should be an everyday occurrence for all grades allowing games to finish early with the potential for lower grades to get around the clubs, much like club rugby… Along with older players potentially playing longer due to having more time on weekends for family etc… SCA please take note for possible changes to all grades next year)

Skipper Michael Vissa losing the toss with his “heads” call bringing his record with the coin toss as skip to 2 wins & 3 losses.. Fairfield winning and electing to bat!

Ryan Hadley with an early breakthrough and tight bowling from all Manly boys combined throughout. Jack Edwards leading the way with Hadley in both taking 2 wickets before heat stopped play tipping over 43 degrees to come off leaving Fairfield 4/76 off 35 overs…Lads hung around til 5pm before the day was noted to be a health hazard and rightly so.

Play resumes at 9:30 next week looking to get in 120 overs

Cameron Merchant

The twos boys rocked up to Manly Oval looking to turn around the loss last week and to have a chance of finals cricket. The deck was flat and the outfield was quick but the thought of Jamo winning the toss was incomprehensible. What do you know, we lost the 10th toss of the season on the M5 and are sent into bowl on a day that should almost definitely be spent at the beach.

Jake Carden and Jamo opened up proceedings and an early wicket from Jamo had us thinking maybe he could remove us from the situation that he’d put us in. These two bowled brilliantly alongside Herdie who also picked up a wicket. Along came Hollywood actor Andrew Hicks who got three quick wickets and his figures of 3/6 were looking brilliant. At 7/50 the lads were up and about throwing chat around like it was nobody’s business heading into lunch.

Looking to grab the last three, the Tahs headed into the next session which can only be described as painfully frustrating. The seventh wicket partnership transported us from Manly Oval and placed us on the Hume Highway. Thankfully Joel Davies made the breakthrough which surprised us because we were sure Max Webber was going to take the catch at back pad. The last few wickets were taken and the boys had 18 overs at the end of the day to bat.

Herdie and Max started off proceedings with an attacking brand of cricket. They fed the short ball to Max which he put away brilliantly and, after Herdie fell, Maxy and Sully batted out the rest of the day. Fair to say that Maxy did the majority of the damage. The Tahs will continue next week at 1/74 chasing 178 for victory.

Jacob O’Sullivan

Ricky Ponting Cricket ’05 Presents: Manly 3rd XI vs The Lions

Nic McGlouglin’s 3rd Grade Wallabies prepared for their huge fixture against the British and Irish Lions amongst the backdrop of some disturbing local and geopolitical news. For starters, the Corona Virus was sweeping through Wuhan and Greater China, threatening the health of returning wicket-keeper-french-hornist Jardon Dealy, who had just returned from his time exploring the Far East. To add to skipper McLovin’s concerns, local pieceman Alix Vein had not been spotted since disturbing a certain high profile left-arm seamer and wicket-keeper batsman at a local ale house. Some say he is still fighting extradition charges and was subsequently not available for the weekend fixture…

After eventually scratching together a 3rd XI including an Ibuprofen-doped and wisdom teeth-less Suman ‘Wing’ Pole, cricket was to be played. With head coach Troy Mustafa in attendance for the sleep-in and 7.45am arrival, the squad was put through their paces in the cool morning climate of 360C.

Cricket time approached. The toss went up. All 20 players stared eagerly at the opposing captains with baited breath, contemplating how the next 6 hours of their lives would play out. In true fashion, Mr Miklocklin called incorrectly, and we got the pleasure of exploring how dehydrated the human body can get before noon on a summer Saturday.

We knew that early wickets were the key to the days play. Come to think of it, wickets at any point were the key, as is the nature of cricket played at any time, day or level. Alas, George Costanza took the new ball and found an early edge, only for it to fall agonizingly short of Suman Pole’s buckets at 1st slip. How nice that would have felt.

Next over. John Sea Man approaches the crease. Short. Wide. EDGE. Not Out. Cricket really was going to be the winner today. A frustrating start for the Wallabies, who admittedly weren’t at their best in the first session, bowling a little bit too short and wide to the Lions batsmen who dispatched the poor balls with aplomb.

Drinks break time. Thank god. With renewed focus in our hearts we continued to chip away as the temperature surprisingly did not cool. Michael Chee Quee and Alix Vein bowled valiant spells in the heat at the expense of their greater wellbeing. They really are a couple of workhorses. Before too long the skipper decided to try his own luck along with plucky off-break Lachlan Trewartha©®™, who instantly started making things happen for the Wallabies.

Chances began to flow. Nothing successful to begin with, but pressure was building. It all came to a head with the score on 67 when Pole swooped in from mid-wicket to run-out the opening batsman. WE WERE ON. Suddenly, you felt we were back.

Between a 10-minute break in play to rehydrate and further contemplate the heat, the Wallabies took 4 more quick wickets to change the dynamic entirely. Captain McLochlon nabbed a few arousing LBW’s thanks to a mix of straight breaks and slightly-less-straight breaks. He was then followed by John Sea Man who took 2 crucial wickets; first of the set batsman (thanks to a diving catch from Bread Roll) and then the BBL01 superstar skipper, to leave the game poised at 5/120.

By this point, the BOM App had imploded as the temperature soared past the SCA sanctioned cut-off of 430C, meaning we exited the field of play until it dropped back to a far safer 420C or below. While we waited for a century of fossil-fuel induced climate change and increased temperatures to undo itself, not a lot happened relating to cricket.

The umpires seemed pretty certain that temperatures would drop, even sitting outside in the heat to prove a subtle point that we should get on with things once temperatures abated. They did not abate. While we wasted 3 hours of a beautiful afternoon, we went to McDonalds (to Kneel Strauss’ delight) and also supported the sponsors at the local Mounties Group Bowling Club. A real afternoon to remember.

When Michael Chee Quee and Zich Treewater cracked a light beer shandy a little early it nearly all boiled over, but to both teams delight the game was called just after 3pm. Praise the lord.

Since only 37 overs were completed during the day, it means day 2 will be a full 120 overs with plenty of time for both sides to force a result. Why rules exist that force us to wait 3 hours to potentially play in 420C heat and lose overs the next week is one that will need explaining again to us all. It makes far more sense for both the player’s welfare and the game itself to call it early and give it a go in a week, but maybe that’s a bit too logical for those with their fingers on the button at SCA HQ?

Until the next heat wave,

Russell Arnold (Sam Hole)

While the entire postcode sauntered towards the Manly Boy Charlton Pool to take refuge from the heat for the day, they were more than delighted to take up all the parking spots around Grahams. 

The 4s boys presented themselves with nothing but joy when they began their day walking a marathon, from their cars in whoop whoop, to the ground. The heat coiled around the boys limbs like a great hot blooded serpent, the ground smoldered and sent up a fazed haze. Even the birds were silent. It was evident that the fellas, who are normally cool, calm and collected, were on edge, ready to snap at everything and anything. 

But the big question still resonated…. Could 4’s translate this early setback into some “positive cricket” as Gummer would like to say?

With the flick of the wrist, the rotation of silver and the gasps in anticipation from both sides, Manly chose to have a stick.

A toss to win clearly.

On a ground conspicuous for its distinctly fast outfield, surely Manly could only get off to nothing but a blistering start. Yet in a matter of 7 balls and 11 minutes Cohen was fired. The boys on the side lines were left to sing forlorn renditions of “bat out the 80”, “be with us till the end” as Jake Osborne approached the wicket. And give or take a few, he pretty much backed it up.

A hard yakka of a partnership of 122 between Jake Osborne (87) and Wheeler put the 4’s boys in front. In a total of 3 hours, Osborne whacked 13 fours and 1 six. Conservative batting I’d say. Wheeler also expressed his ability to be patient, not thrashing at the ball when things got tough, dismissed for a hearty 51.

With Lindsay approaching the crease at 3/151, the 4’s boys were ready for a few crowd catches. Lindsay showcased the control of Mr Miyagi and authority of Henry the Eighth, beheading the opposition with 73 of 67 balls, 10 fours and 2 sixes.  Duly (20) and Charles (28) both pitched in to the total with some excellent running between the wickets, really applying the pressure to the Fairfield to make a change.

The last act of the day ended with a bang. Skipper Gummer had spent the majority of his day in a fit of rage after he dropped himself to number 7 from number 1 and was ready to let off some steam. Within a few minutes it was clear this was not Gummers first rodeo, ending up on 45 of 31, carrying the team to 6/313 at the end of the day.

A day that begun in a bit of a trough, ended up being quite a successful day to say the least. The 4’s boys are finally starting to catch a bit of rhythm, and are clicking on and off the field, which is surprising since the age gap from the oldest to youngest player is somewhere near 4000 thanks to Laughton and Lindsay.

So to conclude the established thesis…Could 4’s translate this early setback into some “positive cricket”? 

Well it significantly depends on what your own subjective definition of positive is, but the 4’s boys are looking solid. Still have to finish the job next week.

Jack Hobson

It was a 36 degree day out at Mike Pawley and the skipper Andrew Rochford lost the toss and we were sent into bat.

Hayden Calvert and Jack Melchiore got Manly off to a good start until Hayden was dismissed. That brought in Oscar lucius to the crease, he and Jack were doing it easy out there and put on another great partnership. Oscar was dismissed LBW but made a solid 39.

Andrew Boulton came in and soon after Jack Melchiore was run out. Jack played very well and fell 5 short of a half-century. The skipper Rochy came in at number 5 and was looking solid like always, smacking balls to the boundary. Then was judged out LBW.

Josh Cooper was brought to the crease and not long after, Andrew was Bowled. Roop Dhillon came to the crease and him and Josh Cooper dominated the bowling attack, scoring at 4+ an over. Both of them created a incredible partnership worth 105 with both getting to well-made half-centuries. Josh Finished 58* and Roop finished 52*.

An excellent display of batting and put Manly in a great position for next week.

Andrew Boulton

The girls were looking to keep their winning streak alive against Gordon on a hot and sunny away day. Jess lost the toss and we were sent into bat.

Nat and Zara opened the batting and with a bit of a fish outside off stump Nat was gone and manly were 1-0 off one ball, not the best start we were hoping for. Nat even said herself she spent more time warming up then she did in the middle. Annie came in and was shortly dismissed LBW and Zara not long after that. It was looking to be one of Manly’s famous batting collapse as we stood at 3-6. Kristie and Mikaela were in and were both looking calm playing some lovely shots but then Kristie tried hitting one that popped up and was caught, as did Mikaela shortly after, Manly were 5-34 and the girls heads went down but Simon and Ross still had hope. Paige and Mia were out in the middle trying to build a partnership, waiting for the bad ball but Paige top edged a short one and was gone for 6. In came Jess, looking for a captain’s innings, Mia and Jess were looking strong, some good shots and good running the score was slowly creeping up, a noted lovely shot through cow corner by Jess was one of the best shots of the day but then Jess was caught for 13 and Mia was caught for 15 not long after. This gave us Sienna and Sarah at the crease and what a partnership this was! Sarah having been promoted from 12th man really showed off her batting skills and showed Gordon that Manly have a long tail, the girls put on 46 with some boundaries and good running between the wickets but unfortunately it was short lived and Sarah was out for 23, Chelsea helped Sienna along but Manly ended up 131 all out and Sienna 17no.

After lunch and a very hot warm up we opened the bowling with Annie and Chelsea, with some unlucky shots and a few too short deliveries, Gordon were underway and looking to pounce. Mikaela and Mia replaced the openers and Mia got the breakthrough with a LBW. Mikaela was bowling well and got the next wicket with a sharp catch by Jess and then followed by a bowled, we still had a chance. Time for spin, Sienna was looking good but unfortunately had to go off as she injured her finger from a run out opportunity. Zara came on to finish her over. Mikaela finished her spell, bowling 10 straight through finishing on 2-23 even though she deserved way more. Sarah came on and was looking good but still no breakthrough, Paige came on and got a wicket but Gordon were still looking on top. Sarah replaced Paige and got a wicket and Annie came back and got there very settled opener and we thought we were still in for a chance but Gordon only needed 5 runs and we still needed 4 more wickets, trying to give us any chance possible Simon and Ross planned a tactical drinks break but unfortunately Gordon got the runs in 36.2 overs. Our first loss in the 50 over format, if we had played like we had in the last 10 overs from the start we would have had it but overall it was a good, tough match, shout-out to hazel for her encouragement and energy on the field throughout the game!

3- Sarah
2- Mikaela
1- Sienna

Fielding- Hazel

 

Paige Bailey

On a 30-degree day, where would you rather be than the iconic Balgowlah Oval?! Kristie Crawford (more affectionately known as AK) making her debut as skipper and making it 1/1 off tosses!

Having a bowl first, we knew it was going to be a hot 20 overs but we knew the job that had to be done. Gemma & Sarah opening up the bowling, Sarah taking the first wicket early assisted by our captain, AK. Renee and Claire coming on next, some absolutely beautiful bowling unfortunately a few missed opportunities missed in the field. Kristie, Sallie, Alicia and CP all bowled a few without wickets but nevertheless some really positive bowling to come out of it. Sarah came back on and picked up the second wicket which was assisted by a bloody brilliant catch by Renee. Claire got the third and final wicket, with a beautiful leg spin delivery cleanly taking out the stumps. Uni’s finishing off their 20 with 88.

The job we had to get done was in sights but before that we demolished a cracking spread thanks to our awesome manager, Gill Hough.

AK and Claire opening up the batting and getting the girls off to a cracking start. Kristie showing her class yet again retiring on 32 off just 19 deliveries! Nat Guyot coming in to replace AK. Claire the next to retire 30 off 34 deliveries, so well deserved because we all know how hard this girl works! Renee came in next and unfortunately we saw the dismissal of Nat Guyot for 18. Hazel and Renee finished off the innings with a 50-run partnership off what was some interesting bowling to face.

Great result for the girls pushing us up to 1st place, up the tahs!

3 – Claire Waddington

2 – Kristie Crawford

1 – Renee Hough

Fielding – Hazel Nichols

 

Sallie Molyneux

Our Sunday match against Parramatta saw cooler temperatures than Saturday but the humidity was high.  We were back to 40 over formats following some T20s.

A couple of changes to the team from the last round with Mia Nel making her season debut in Brewer following some good scores in the u15 prem team.

Captain Hannah Woolf suffered her first toss loss for the season, but no problem as Parramatta asked us to bat. Our new opening combination of Ruby Gruber (6) and Jess Muclahy (1) went early and we were 2/10 after 5.  Kate Salmon (9) and Chloe Osborne (70) then went about building the score, putting on a 42 run partnership until Kate was run out in a bit of a mix up. Mia Nel then added a quick fire 9.  No captains knock from Hannah Woolf this week we were 5/86 after 22 overs. Laura Judson (42* her Brewer best) then came to the crease and she and Chloe added 60 for the 6th wicket. A great innings from Chloe and unlucky to get out after Laura smoked a straight drive only for it to deflect off the bowler and into the stumps (70 a PB her). Renee, Gemma, J man and Jasmin all put the team first and went for quick runs at the end. We posted a competative 165.

Our captain and coach were after an improved performance in the fielding and more full bowling at the stumps.  Our opening bowlers, Laura Judson (6 overs 0/7) and Jess Manning ( aka J man) were dangerous and economical but could not get the break though, 0/24 after 8. First change had immediate impact with both Gemma Lacey (2/12) and Kate Salmon (2/11) getting wickets in their first over. Parra are 4/45 after 16 with one bowled and three LBWs.  Hannah brings spin into the attack with Sallie Molyneux bowling a very economical spell of off spin (4 overs 0/10). Hannah continues to rotate the bowlers with Jess Mulcahy (1/15) and Chloe Osborne (2/12) getting wickets from one end while Jasmin Wilson and Mia Nel provide spin from the other. Jman is brought back into the attack and cleans up the tail finishing with 6 overs 2/14. A couple of good caught behinds to Hannah and a run out to Mia has Parramatta all out for 123.

A great team effort from the girls, particularly in the field, and we get our first Brewer win for the season. We celebrate with a loud rendition of the Manly song led in style by Renee Hough. 

3 points Chloe Osborne

2 points Laura Judson

1 point Gemma Lacey

Fielding Ruby Gruber

 

Hannah Woolf

A warm and overcast morning greeted us at Ryde Oval for our clash with Sydney.  Our strong start to the season suggested we should be a good chance to win today and push for more points. With players unavailable across grades we had a changed line up that was to be led by Emily Horstead and had Hannah Moss making her MWDCC debut.

Manly won the toss and with a dry outfield under humid skies we decided to follow last week’s successful recipe and send Sydney in to bat.

We started tight, with Annabelle Fegan bowling beautifully on the line of off stump. Maya also beat the bat a number it times. 

With Sydney not scoring fast but protecting their wicket a run out was our first success. Sophie Lowry combined with Shae Hiskett-Jones to remove the opener with the score on 21 off 12 overs.  

We struggled to take regular wickets but the runs off the bat were kept in check with only 4 boundaries during the innings. Unfortunately we conceded 40 sundries out of the Sydney score of 96, including 22 wides. 

The energy in the field was great throughout the Sydney innings. Wickets each to Jamie Loh, Annabelle, Caitlin du Preez, Sophie, Maya Nicey and Ashleigh Karcher. Catches to Hannah and Stephanie Hughes.

Despite not taking many wickets as we would have liked we were content with restricting Sydney to 7-96.

Openers Ashleigh and Maya had us off to a bright start with some good running between the wickets. When Ashleigh was bowled for 12 the opening stand was 39, the same as last week. Maya then fell not long after for a well made 22. We were now 2-44 after 13. 

Despite some promising mini partnerships, particularly with Sophia Chick, Emily could not find a partner for long enough. We lost 10-55 with Emily left not out on 25.

Sydney had bowled straighter overall, with only 13 wides and 15 extras in total.

This one got away, with 5 ducks in our innings and only the top three in double figures, our young team will no doubt learn from the experience.

Emily Horstead – 3

Maya Nicey – 2

Annabelle Fegan – 1

Fielding – Stephanie Hughes

 

Toby Horstead