So that happened…
Just to recap: playing at home, Manly was sent in by Sydney University. The openers both responded to that challenge by scoring centuries – 103 for Matt Brewster, 107 for Jack Edwards. For most of the innings, Manly skipped along at around five-and-a-half an over, and then Joel Davies iced the cake with 41 from only 19 balls. Manly ended up on 5 for 296. Then they reduced University to 4 for 107, with the dangerous Hayden Kerr and Nick Larkin both back in the sheds.
They didn’t win.
Sydney University has made a habit this season of salvaging games from seemingly hopeless positions. This time, the fightback began with a bright, counter-punching partnership of 103 between Damien Mortimer and Jordan Gauci. Then, when the chase stumbled and the required run rate crept up above eight, Mortimer and keeper Oli Zannino added 51 in rapid time. University needed 19 from the last two overs, with three wickets in hand. It seemed as though Manly had struck a critical blow when Mortimer was run out on the third ball of the 49th over, for a superbly-constructed 91. 14 were needed from the final over, and that became 14 from 5 balls when Devlin Malone skied Josh Seward’s first ball to cover. The last University batsman, Kieran Tate, had played 51 matches in First Grade without ever hitting a six: he calmly carved the first ball he received high over wide long-on. A scrambled leg-bye put Caelan Maladay on strike, and he spanked three deliveries hard into the covers. The first went for four, the second was stopped, and the third raced to the fence to give the Students an extraordinary win.
The result earned University the minor premiership. In fairness to Manly, it was fielding a below-strength attack, with Mickey Edwards having left to begin his stint with Yorkshire and Ryan Hadley and Joel Foster also missing. This may not have been the last match between these two sides this season.
Manly has had an epic season
Despite its loss to the Students in Firsts (and a thumping in Seconds), there’s no doubt that this has been an absolutely epic season for Manly. The Blues won the club championship by a massive margin, and made the finals in every grade, finishing up second in Firsts, first in Seconds, third in Thirds and first in Fourths and Fifths. They did all that while supplying the Edwards brothers, Ryan Hadley and Ollie Davies to the NSW team (and, at least in theory, Mitchell Starc to the Test side), as well as Steve O’Keefe and Jay Lenton to the Big Bash. It’s often difficult for a club that reaches the finals in multiple grades to win premierships, because they come up against teams that have been stacked (sorry… selected creatively). But even if Manly doesn’t win another game (which they will), it will have been a remarkable season for the club.
Parramatta is finishing with a wet sail
Parramatta completed its charge to the finals with a narrow win over a fighting Sutherland side. The early stages of the match were dominated by Parramatta, who surged away to reach 1 for 181, thanks to Ryan Hackney, Ben Abbott and Nick Bertus. But Sutherland chipped away, Tom Doyle burgled three wickets with what passes for off-spin, and Parramatta was eventually contained to 8 for 241, which was more or less par. James Arnold (64) and the aggressive Ben Dwarshuis (35) carried Sutherland into a strong position at 4 for 211, but when Dwarshuis was dismissed, the momentum faltered. Sutherland needed 11 from the last over, with three wickets standing. Tom Straker pumped the first ball from Alex Evans down the ground, but was run out attempting a second run; Liam Hehir clipped his first ball through the on-side for one, but Will Straker played around the next ball and was bowled. Sutherland needed 9 from the last three balls, then six from the last ball of the day; but Hehir failed to make contact with a hopeful swish and Parramatta took the game by five runs. On paper, Parramatta’s bowling looks no more than workmanlike and enthusiastic, but Evans has enjoyed a very successful season, and they’re capable of upsetting the more strongly fancied sides in the finals.
Josh Bawcombe had a day out
Hawkesbury’s Fifth Grade lost to Bankstown on the weekend. It wasn’t Josh Bawcombe’s fault. In Bankstown’s innings of 152, he caught the first five batsmen, then stumped a sixth, and ran out another. Hawkesbury’s reply never got out of first gear: all out for 107. But Bawcombe made 57 of them; only one other batsman reached double figures. This, by some distance, is the Best Performance by a Player in a Team That Got Pounded in Round 15.
Genetics may have something to do with it
Readers of a certain age may recall Sydney University matches from the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Craig Tomko batted in the top order, stylishly if a little bottom-handedly, while Darby Quoyle struck the ball cleanly and bowled, when he felt like it, with disconcerting pace. Both had plenty of reason to be happy with the events of Round 15, and it had nothing to do with Sydney University. At Bon Andrews Park, Finn Nixon-Tomko, son of Craig, opened the batting for North Sydney’s Thirds against University of NSW, and calmly compiled his first century in Premier Cricket, a polished 107 from 149 balls. Meanwhile, at Whalan Reserve, Gabriel Quoyle (son of Darby) helped Easts to dismiss Blacktown for only 55, returning the striking figures of 4-9 from 9.2 overs. Arguably, though, genetics tell only part of the story: although Darby was a right-arm fast bowler, Gabriel bowls left-arm finger spin (and Finn, unlike his father, bats left-handed). Norths’ Thirds and Easts’ Fourths have both progressed to the finals this weekend.
(This was the last instalment of Five Things for the season. And we got through it without calling anyone a pie-chucker. Thanks for following us, and good luck in the finals!)