The season's finished, the clubhouse has been packed up and our cricketers are either resting, travelling or taking to the footy field. But this doesn't stop us from bringing you one final round wrap - this one is the Grand Final edition. You no doubt know the results, the scores and some of the highlights. You may have even been there to celebrate or commiserate. But you haven't read the wraps. Let's get into it.
LAST TIME...
Two Grand Finals - Warringah taking on Burwood on the road at Rothwell Park, and Warringah versus North West Sydney at home, on Weldon Oval.
Second Grade last played Burwood, also on the road, in round 7 of the competition this season. The scoreline was in the Briars' favour (BB 152 vs WCC 83 & 5/171), but there were some highs the men in green would draw from for their next match up, including Tejas' 4/21, Singh's 53* and Bennett's 52*.
Fourth Grade last played North West Sydney at an away ground, in round 4 of this season. The match was closely fought, with Warringah coming out on top (NWS 127 & 6/99 vs WCC 136 & 5d./203). Cooper Hatvany's 6/54, Veehan's 74 and Zac Buchanan's 4/37 were the standouts. However those boys were also helping out other grades to shine, so the MIG4s would need others to step up.
Here's a summary of the action.
Grand Final
Warringah
139 (54 overs)
Power 46, Gupta 21, Bennett 19*
Burwood Briars
8/187 (86 overs)
Outred 6/57, Panchal 1/20, Parkinson 1/25
Warringah lost by 2 wickets.
2nd grade's exceptional season came to an end at Airey Park against the undefeated Burwood side. After losing the toss and getting sent in opener Blaney Powe and no. 3 Will Davidson had moved WCC to a decent start before the umpires got involved removing Davo. OTher than Blaney (46) no batter was able to apply themselves for long periods of time. Singhy and Aiden fought hard, Tejas blazed some runs but on a pitch that was only improving for batting the MIG needed 2-3 players to score big runs. By mid way through day 1 2s were all out for 139, which was well short of par but with the explosive bowling lineup available not impossible to defend.
Burwood looked to soak up balls and deaden the 2nd grade attack, but one star bowler kept WCC in the fight. Roy Outred picked up 3 early wickets on day 1 before a briars fight back, Rishi stole a key wicket in the second last over of the day to have Briars 4-50 overnight.
Airey Park was covered in a thick dew onSunday morning and the rags and clothes were handed out to try to help maintain the ball. Briars again slowly crept along towards the total, only interrupted by Roy, who took 6 of the first 7 wickets ending with 6-57 off 25 overs. Wickets fell with the score in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 90s. The briars number 8 came out and blazed 4 boundaries to change the complexion of the game, burwood had well and truly crossed the triple figures when he departed. It was an experienced 8th wicket stand saw Briars home 8 down, WCC fought on in search of the final two wickets but they were not found. Eventually the teams shook hands, Burwood the well deserving premiers after an undefeated season.
It was a great season, special thanks to all the family and friends who came and supported us all year. lso to the coaches, committee and the broader club for all the hard work over the past few months. Finally the biggest thank you is to all 20 players who helped 2nd grade to another amazing season, one game short but many great memories.
Congrats to Uncle Kev and 4th grade for an unbelievable win and unprecedented 3-peat, it certainly lifted our spirits to sing the song with all of you. Here's to a 2nd grade GF victory song next year.
Grand Final
Warringah
9/213 (92.4 overs)
Day 53, Rowse 42*, Burke 31, Kasmar 30, Davies 26
North West Sydney
212 (69 overs)
Caruso 3/33, Kuchel 2/27, Burke 2/32, Day 2/65, Rowse 1/32
Warringah won by 1 wicket.
Forget about the 1960 Third Test match between the Aussies & Windies. Forget about the 2019 World Cup Final between the Poms & the Kiwis. Forget about the 2021 4th Grade Grand Final between Warringah & Burwood (actually don’t forget about that one, that was an epic in its own right!). But the 4th Grade Grand Final on the weekend is the game that will go down in the annals of history as THE BEST GAME EVER!!
From the first ball bowled on day 1 by young, tearaway Patty Day, to that magical, magical suicidal run by Rowsey & Vic to give us the victory on Sunday arvo, this was a game that had it all!! Weldon was looking a picture, with a good batting track, but after the coin landed the wrong way, we ended up in the field.
No problem, our opening partnership of Pat Day & Vic had been bowling out of their skins in the few previous games and the Grand Final was no different. An early wicket from the Italian Stallion after a low full toss was hit straight to Harry Verma at short cover got us off to a great start. Harry has been on fire all season in that position, taking some absolute screamers there, but this one was probably his easiest all season. Vic tried to tell us that it was just a great delivery! The chat in the Wuddle (Warringah Huddle) told him otherwise!
Vic was in the thick of it once again in the 6th over, when the NWS skipper snicked off into the waiting hands of Toby “The Smooth Operator” Seward at 1st slip. And what a catch it was! Millimetres off the ground and silky, silky smooth!
Pat Day wasn’t going to be left out of the action and after being all over the opening bat, finally had him snicking off and caught behind.
3-18 in the 9th over and the Warringah boys were well on top. A nagging partnership between the NWS 4 & 5 batsmen was looking ominous, till Burky settled into a nice rhythm and had the no. 4 bat gone LBW. NWS 4-66.
Then came the partnership that threatened to really put us under the pump. The no. 5 & 6 bats combined for an 88-run partnership, and even with the reintroduction of Pat and Vic into the attack, we couldn’t break it.
We really needed something at this point in the game.
Step up “The Kuch” and Rowsey!
Kuch started the rot, drawing the stubborn no. 5 bat into a false shot, caught by the ever-waiting Harry V. 5-153. Next over, Rowsey fooled the no. 6 bat and finished him off with a nice caught and bowled. Kuch then clean bowled the new bat and NWS were reeling at the loss of 3 quick wickets to be 7-155.
The NWS tail wagged more than we would’ve liked, but with the reintroduction of the pace men, we would knock the last 3 off.
Pat Day was too quick for one of the big boppa brothers, trapped LBW. Burky then had another one, with Kaz snapping a nice catch at deep point, looking into a blinding sun! Vic finished proceedings when the no. 11 went for a wild swing, only to be clean bowled!
In a see sawing innings, NWS finished on 212, a lot more on the board than anyone would’ve thought earlier in the day.
That left 26 overs in the day for the Warringah boys to see out, and what was about to ensue was something that could only have been written by a Hollywood director, high on some substance smuggled out of the jungles of Columbia!
Jimmy and Kuch stepped onto the Weldon pitch with the onerous task of lasting a potential 122 overs or scoring 213 runs for Warringah to hold aloft the Harry Culbert Trophy for the 3rd year running. Jimmy went 1st over, Kuch 2nd over, Harry V 6th over, Mitch 8th over, Toby 11th over and we were absolutely reeling at 5-33.
We were on the ropes, bleeding badly and waiting for NWS to land the killer blow! But Kaz and Burky had other ideas, and not only stemmed the flow of blood, but pushed back as well, and at stumps on Day 1, we’d recovered slightly to be 5-67, still needing 145 runs or lasting 96 overs to win the game.
Both those options seemed a long way off with only 5 wickets left, and NWS would’ve gone to bed that night thinking that “Harry” was about to make the long journey up the M2 to find a resting place in the trophy cabinet in the NWS clubhouse. The remaining Warringah batsmen went to bed dreaming of their own possible heroics in the mammoth task ahead.
Another regular triangle drill started off Day 2, before Kaz and Burky headed out to see if they could nullify the NWS bowling attack.
Things were going ok till Kaz, arguably our best bat over the past 2 months, snicked off to be gone for 30 and the MIG were under even more pressure at 6-80.
Captain Kev, with an unimpressive season average of 5, entered the fray and with Burky, put on 18 more runs before Burky top edged one to gully, gone for a very critical 31.
At 7-98 NWS would have been licking their lips at the prospect of the Warringah tail being the only thing between them and a Sunday afternoon rendezvous with “Harry”!
But Kev and new batsman Pat Day had other ideas, as they dug in and drained the NWS bowlers, taking the game to lunch at 7-128. Kev was actually overheard telling the umpire that he was boring the shit out of himself by batting like that, but he was doing what he had to do!
The lunchtime break and a bit of pump-up music from the Sunnyboys obviously didn’t help Kev one little bit, as he was out to the second ball he faced after lunch, a low full toss (that Vic would’ve been proud of) that he spooned straight to cover.
At 8-128, things were looking very, very grim for the Men in Green, as the NWS skipper made a call back to their clubhouse to check that someone had cleared room in the trophy cabinet for “Harry”!! What ‘Big Pete” hadn’t factored in was the 16-year-old kid at one end, and the man affectionately known as “Rowsey” up the other end. Pat Day was having the time of his life out in the middle, and you would have sworn that he was every bit as old as Rowsey, as the two of them worked away at breaking down both the bowlers and the score.
Both of them continually pissed off NWS with countless dot balls, but picking off the runs when they were there.
Just like the good old days when Bradman was playing, word would get around that he was batting, people would drop whatever they were doing and rush to the SCG.
Same thing was happening at the home of Warringah cricket, only this time it was Patty and Rowsey at Weldon pulling in the crowd. The crowd was building as the total was whittled down, ball by ball, run by run, and you could cut the air with a knife, the tension was that thick!
Rowsey gave NWS a sniff when with still about 40 runs to win, he swept a shot straight to backward square leg, only to see the fielder grass a fairly simple chance. Pat had a strong word in Rowsey’s ear, gave him a fist pump to the chest and they got on with it again.
Shortly before tea, Pat Day the 16-year-old tearaway bowler, brought up his 50, undoubtedly the most critical 50 of his young career. Tea time appeared totally out of the blue. Pat on 52 n.o, Rowsey on 35 n.o and the MIG only needing 6 runs to win! It had been a draining couple of days, Patty’s arms were cramping up and Rowsey was almost passing out in the change room. 6 runs to win, 2 wickets in hand.
Surely “Harry” was staying here!
But that drugged out Hollywood director decided to give the plot another twist, as Pat was caught just after the resumption of play for 52. A very dejected looking Pat left the ground to a standing ovation from the large, appreciative crowd acknowledging the 16-year-old kid who had given life to a run chase that had been considered dead a long time before.
6 runs to win, 1 wicket left!
The Italian Stallion strolled to the crease to join his regular partner at the end of the line-up and saw off 1 ball to end the over.
The plot still had a massive twist in it as Rowsey had a swipe at the first ball of the next over. The snick would have been heard in the wood working shop up at St. Pauls, Rowsey’s beloved school at North Head, it was that loud. The NWS keeper was in such a hurry to celebrate, that he forgot to glove the ball properly, as he literally dropped “Harry” to the ground. Not one person in the ground could believe what they had just witnessed and as much as we wanted to win, you couldn’t help but feel just a little touch of empathy for the young keeper. But only a touch!
Rowsey decided to rub insult into injury by picking up the keeper’s glove off the ground and handing it back to him! Empathy my arse!!
Next ball, Rowsey “guided’ it through the slips cordon for 2. The crowd roared! 4 to tie and victory!
Next ball, Rowsey “guided” another one through the cordon, but this time with a bit more on it, and as it crossed the boundary for 4, the Warringah crowd went nuts!
A tie was enough, but the game had to be finished properly.
Next ball, Rowsey dropped the ball on to the onside. Vic and Rowsey both looked like Usain Bolt in his prime as they sprinted to get the winning single and both didn’t stop till they’d almost reached the boundary!
It would be fair to say that the boys went ballistic as we ran onto the field, spraying champagne all over each other, screaming in disbelief that we’d actually won the unwinnable game!
Pat Day was deservedly named Player of the Match, with an extra special mention for Rowsey, but every player in the team contributed to the win in one way or another.
NWS were understandably shattered but were good enough to come back out into the middle and try to shove as much vodka as possible down our throats.
And as for “Harry”.
Well, he didn’t end up making the trip up the M2. He decided to sign a one-year deal to stay on at Weldon.
He seems to be enjoying his time with us!
Rrrrinngaaah!!
The 3 peat quest complete!
2020/21: Warringah 250 vs Burwood 245
2021/22: Warringah 176 vs Mounties 71
2022/23: Warringah 9-213 vs North-West 212
<<<<<<<LOOKING AHEAD>>>>>>>>>
Before we sign off we would like to acknowledge our sponsors, in their various capacities, in how they have supported our club. Your contribution is invaluable to making our great club what it is.
Visit our sponsor's page to learn more about who they are, what they do or if you would like to inquire about our sponsorship packages for the 2023-24 season.
Thanks for tuning into this round's wrap. Don't forget to join our membership program - the Bruce Loudon Club. Learn more about it on our membership page.
Warringah Contacts
Club President
Chris Melville
president.warringahcc@gmail.com
Club Captain
Will Greenland
clubcaptain.warringahcc@gmail.com
Club Secretary
Luke Parkinson
secretary.warringahcc@gmail.com
Club Treasurer
Jamie Davidson
treasurer.warringahcc@gmail.com
