What a fantastic weekend of cricket we witnessed for our club. Both teams, arguably given the worst of the conditions as a result of the toss of the coin, coming out ontop at the end of the match. Both our 3rd grade and 5th grade sides showed their class and toughness by recording fantastic wins over the ever impressive Sutherland (3rd Grade) and Gordon (5th Grade) clubs.

Players of the Round

There was a bit of conjecture here, but in the end the player of the week needs to be shared between Matt Butcher and Scott Patterson. Both played fantastic innings in tough conditions to put enough runs on the board for our bowlers to defend. Scott's was especially crucial, with Manly Oval doing a bit on Saturday due to overnight rain, and all batsman finding it hard to score freely. But not Scott. He combined some well timed bombs with some subtle stroke play on his way to 66 out of a score of 149. His innings was all class and surely the difference between us winning and losing.

Butch's innings was equally as important. Coming in at 4 for 72, Butch played a patient innings, recognising the need to use his head, but also enjoying his time in the middle. Relaxation is surely an art that will see him rise through the grades. Working the ball off his pads well and lifting the run rate towards the end of his innings with some bombs of his own, he is starting to enjoy and thrive in the big moments. Well done Butch

3rd Grade vs Sutherland
Manly 149 (Patterson 66) Defeated Sutherland 115 (Mannell 4/22)

It was always always going to be a tough toss to loose on Saturday morning for either captain, with the start of play delayed due to the state of the pitch and run-ups. Unfortunately the Sutherland Captain called correctly and sent us in on a live wire deck.

It certainly wasn't impossible, but batting was not easy, and Sutherland were bowling well. We quickly lost run machines Bonner, Cranney and Gummer, and quickly found ourselves at 3/23. Enter Scott Patterson. Scotty is well known for performing in big games, and he proceeded to produce a gem of an innings when it was needed most. Receiving good support from Billy, Javed and Inzy, his patience and timing were top notch. The outfield was particularly slow, so his 66 was closer to 90 on a normal Manly outfield. Javed was eventually last man out for a patient 16, and we had crawled to 149 from 63.3 overs, not as much as we had hoped for but considering the conditions not a bad effort.

With 15 overs to bowl at Sutherland, the innings started well with wickets falling at 3, 11 and 18 to have Sutherland 3/29 overnight, with Mezza, Jeanie and Prowler each picking up one.

Sunday was a weird one with play not starting until well into the afternoon due to the overnight rain, but we all knew we would get a result one way or another as the wicket was still pretty tough. An early wicket and another 2 following close after had Sutherland at 6/61 and the match was evenly poised. However some excellent batting from number 5 Smith, bombing the loose ones and defending the straight ones, saw the 7th wicket stand get the score to 102. Prowler then took a screamer at Gully to remove Smith off the economical Mezza, and then it was a steady flow of wickets until the last one fell, caught Bonner bowled Inzy. Mezza was the pick of the bowlers with 4/22 off 22.

A really tough, gritty win for the boys who won it with their tough approach on the field as well as their undetered belief that this was their game. There was not a quiet player on the field, and goes to show that if we play as one unit we are going to be hard to beat.

Congratulations to Sutherland on a great season, they showed they were an excellent team who weren't far away from a spot in the final.

Bring on St George at Manly Oval next week.

5th Grade vs Gordon
Manly 307 (Butcher 96, Kaye 45, Farrell 33, Anderson 32) Defeated Gordon 85 (Farrel 4/9, Pugh 2/17, Ashe 2/38

The wet also came to Grahams on the weekend. Atmosphere Park was looking decidedly dreary as a result, and the pitch lived up to this with quite a few wet patches to make life difficult for the opening batsman. Skipper Dave Farell tossed incorrectly and Gordon predictably put us in on a tough one.

Our openers got off to a steady start, putting on 20 for the first wicket. We batted sensibly, although to be fair the Gordon attack probably didn't get the ball in the right areas often enough. Some gritty batting by Rawlings and especially Jimmy Boyer, who at 14 has a huge future, saw us steadily creep forward to 4 for 72. This was not enough and the boys knew it as the deck began to dry out a little.

With Anderson departing for a typically well made 32, Butcher was joined by Tom Kaye. Both batsman showed their class by picking off the 1s and 2s at will while putting the bad ball away when needed. They shared a partnership of 120 before Tom was unluckily run out off a Butcher straight drive that deflected off the bowler onto the non strikers stumps. But Butch was the star of the show and began to hit out towards the end of his innings with some typical zacks. Unfortunately he fell just short of his ton with 96 but set the game up well. We finished 8 for 269 at end day one

Day 2 began with some further batting resistance from skipper Farrell and Virdi, putting on 51 before we were finally bowled out for 307.

Our bowling and fielding was first class, pitching the ball up and getting some movement on a pitch still a little lively. Considering the situation, the Gordon batsman weren't showing much intent, and started to fall off very quickly. A devastating spell of bowling from skipper Farrell, with 4 for 9, ripped through the middle order, and before anyone new it, the game was over with Gordon all out for 85.

Congratulations must go to Gordon who, despite the lopsided score, are obviously a very good side and had a great season.

So onto the final next week against Easts. With a venue still to be confirmed, but most likely at Waverly, we are confident of bringing the Dave Sherwood Cup back to Manly for the first time in our 133 year history.