It was an interesting weekend for the Manly boys against Bankstown, with all grades going to have to fight hard to come away with the points. 1^st and 3^rd grade are probably in the strongest positions.

Outstanding Performances

Shane Cleary 5-63 (1sts)
Adam Parkinson 6-31 (3rds)
Dave Farrell 3-48 (5ths)

Player of the Week – Adam Parkinson

Parko took his first real big bag of wickets for the season on the weekend to roll Bankstown for 170. A former 3^rd grade premiership winner, Parko’s experience with bat and ball as well as his general presence will play a big part in 3^rd grades push for the minor premiership. Well done mate!

Special Mention – Shane Cleary

Shane continued his outstanding season with another 5-wicket haul against the strong Bankstown batting line up. The fourth of his five wickets was in fact his 300^th for the club, an outstanding achievement for this local junior and one that will ensure his name will be on the honour roll for all to see in the future. Well done mate! P.S it was also his birthday on Saturday!

1^st Grade Report VS Bankstown – Jack Ritchie

Manly VS Bankstown 203 (Cleary S 5-63, Munting 2-34, Bird 2-57)

Crossy won the toss and elected to bowl on a wicket that had a healthy covering of grass on it. We got an early wicket however after that probably struggled for consistency. Bankstown went to lunch at 2-90 odd and probably slightly on top. It was a different story after lunch however with disciplined bowling from everyone resulting in a steady flow of wickets for the Manly boys. We ended up rolling them for 200, just before the rain came.

Lets make sure we get to training this week and steel ourselves for a tough battle as these guys are playing for their season and will be desperate.

2^nd Grade Report VS Bankstown

Manly VS Bankstown 5-132 (Marshall 2-28)

3^rd Grade Report VS Bankstown – Adam Gummer

Manly 0-12 VS Bankstown 171 (Parkinson 6-31)

Looking to win back our momentum going into the semis, 3rd Gradeturned up to Atmosphere Park ready for the challenge against the third placed Bankstown. Genie won the toss and sent the Bulldogs in on arather green Grahams deck, and with conditions looking prime forbowling we were hoping the ball might move around a little early.

Reece and Mezza opened up and both bowled quite well, with Reece inparticular whooping the ball and troubling their young openers.However, to their credit they both batted quite well and were lookingdangerous at 0 for 50 odd. Mezza eventually nicked off the leftie withBilly swallowing the catch elegantly in gully, and from here the Manlyboys toiled well to have them 4-100 at Tea, with special mention to L.Grant who bowled accurately and economically on debut.

After over-indulging in what could only be described as a marvellousspread, we didn't kick off as planned after the tea interval. TheBankstown 5 and 6 came out firing and put on 40 odd in no time, butthen the introduction of spin at both ends provided the break throughwe needed, with the Dooch-man & Inzy bowling beautifully in tandem.Parko took the spoils finishing with 6-31, in what was a masterclassin "Nude-ball" bowling, but credit goes to all of the bowlers as werolled them for 171 in the 65th over. Also, special mention to the two comical run-outs from the boundary, as the were crucial and changed the shape of the Bankstown innings.

With 12 overs left to face in the day, Loose and Bonnor opened up, and were looking good over. We finished 0-12 (Loose 12*, Dooch 0*), leaving us another 160 to get next week. We then proceeded to the city for a few quiet beverages.

Looking forward to next week!

4^th Grade Report VS Banktown – Max Burgess

Manly 8-91 (Readett 23) VS Bankstown

As we arrived at the lovely Jenson, to be greeted by a flat, rock hard wicket. With captain Mason winning the toss he elected to have a bat. With Maso and Maxy Burgess opening up the batting, the team didn’t get off to the start they were after with Maso got a pearler to be bowled in the 2^nd over. Enter Rowley, who set to steady the ship with Maxy. With tight bowling and a slow field runs were hard to come by and patience was needed. With Max nicking off and Roley falling in the same over, this continued a pattern that has very much been the story of 4^th grade, losing regular wickets with no real partnership being formed. Deano was the only real batsman to show resistance with 23. We headed into tea 7 down for about 70. After tea we lost a further wicket for a few more runs, until the heavens opened up and called a stop to the day’s play, leaving us 8 for 91, with Ben Stinson and Lance Stewart looking in good nick.

We have a lot of work to do next weekend and if we want to be serious final contenders, we will have to step as a team and individuals and take our game to another level.

5^th Grade Report VS Bankstown

Manly VS Bankstown 6-247 (Farrell 3-48)