Welcome to the January and first edition for 2023 of WCC's Round Wraps. A few of us will be recovering from the super successful 2023 Golf Day - whether it's your sore back, your ego or your head from too many Gage Roads bevvies - but we will highlight that in the next edition. Before we get into the cricket action, our Club prez, Chris 'Beachy' Melville, would like to share some news from the club:
"Hey Friends,
I am just letting you all know that due to extra work commitments, Rowsey has had to step down as Club Captain. The good news is that Rowsey is still hanging around and will continue to be an integral part of our committee. On behalf of the committee, I really want to thank Rowsey for his passion and for everything he does around this great Club. Through your Club Captain role, you have made a massive contribution towards WCC being the great Club it is today, thanks heaps. Personally, you have made my job so much easier and have provided me with wise counsel many times. Thanks mate.
The committee is stoked to announce that Will "Greeny" Greenland will take over as Club Captain for the rest of the year. Will is an absolute champion and we know that he will do a great job, starting tomorrow at the Golf Day.
Let's get behind Will and support him as he starts his role as Club Captain.
Cheers
Beach"
LAST TIME...
2023 was meant to start with fixtures against Balmain-South Sydney (round 9) and Pennant Hills (round 10) in the main grades, Georges River and North West Sydney Gold in Metro Cup, Burwood in 5th Grade, Old Ignatians in Classics, Hawkesbury in Masters, and Lindfield in the final round match for our Frank Gray Shield. However rain has intervened and ruined a few of those match ups. Not to worry, we'll recap some of the outstanding performances from the previous meetings against these sides.
- Last year's 1st Grade last played Balmain-South Sydney in a hard fought and heart breaking Semi Final, where despite an awesome team effort we ultimately went down (142 vs 8-146). And against Pennant Hills, it was the rain who won - match abandoned without a ball bowled.
- 2nd Grade were comfortable winners against last year's Balmain-South Sydney team (4-179 vs 178), with Arbi's 70* leading the charge to victory. Like 1st Grade, the rain took out the match against last year's Pennant Hills team.
- 3rd Grade lost out to a determined 2021/22 Balmain-South Sydney team (160 vs 196), despite Jimmy Calder's entertaining 41* and Caruso's 3-24. Like 1s and 2s, rain ruined out final round match against Pennant HIlls last year.
- 4th Grade were carried on the back on Liam House's 60 and Cooper Hatvany's 3-20 to defeat last year's Balmain-South Sydney team (169 vs 117). And painfully, like 1s, 2s, and 3s the rain ruined our final round match against last placed Pennant Hills...you might remember us being just 5.5 points behind Burwood on the club champs with their games washed out. Blasted rain!
- Last year's Metro team defeated North West Sydney Gold in a high scoring match (4-282 vs 7-213) thanks largely to a 200 run partnership between Mark Dignam and Arjun Chakravarty, as well as Matt Evans' 4-24.
- Finally a previous result we can reference for 5th Grade! They played Burwood previously this season and beat them then (2-139 vs 138), thanks to Alfie Gatehouse's 64* and a disciplined effort with the ball.
- The Classics' chaps took down Old Ignatians in 2021 (6-177 vs 9-156), with O'Brien's 4-22 and 30* the standout performance
- Similarly, Master's defeated (eventual Grand finalists) Hawkesbury last season, all the way back in round 1 (7-192 vs 106) with Muldoon's 4-for and the then new import Dave Brady's 40* leading the way
- Finally Frankies played their closest match of their 2021-22 premiership season against Lindfield in round 1 of last year's competition, beating them (6-192 vs 8-182) with skipper Greenland's 68, Barnett's 54, and Ronnie's 2-23 (off 10) proving the difference.
A massive round (or rounds!) of results coming your way, read on to unpack the MIG action.
Round 9
Warringah
125 (34.1 overs)
Barnett 34, Mahajan 17*, Moffat 16
Balmain-South Sydney
136 (42.3 overs)
Vinter 6-26, Greenland 2-16, Ahmed 1-9
Warringah lost by 11 runs.
1st grade rocked up to Jubilee oval on Saturday with high hopes of getting a game on despite the weather conditions. A delayed start called for a morning breakfast run to the Tramshed. With a change in weather conditions being “just around the corner” the decision was made that a 35 over game was to be played.
With the choice to bowl first, we got off to a good start getting two quick ones early thanks to Daz and Wiggers. Balmain begun to rebuild their innings well however, and a breakthrough was needed. Here enters Vinter, who preceded to dismiss both set batsmen at the crease with ease, followed by the two batsmen to follow them in quick succession. Accompanied by Willy g’s 2 fa, we were able to close Balmain’s innings with a very achievable score of 136. The pick of the bowlers being Vinter with 6 for 26, off his 6 overs.
We started our innings of well with what was looking like a good platform to build from. However the loss of quick wickets in clumps, made it hard to build momentum into our innings. Ultimately we came up short by 12 runs in the last over.
Round 10
Warringah
154 (45.5 overs)
Wigney 27, Johnson 17, Moffat 15
Pennant Hills
152 (32.1 overs)
Ahmed 5-32, Gupta 2-11, Bennett 1-12
Warringah won by 2 runs.
Round 10 saw Warringah take on Pennant Hills in our first home game of the new year. Peeling back the covers and hardly noticing the difference between the outfield and the square, certainly was a shock; especially after the rolled mud wickets we saw pre Christmas. The Men In green eager to have a bowl first!
Unfortunately, I lost the toss and we were sent in to bat. Jarod and Tully opened up and were well placed at 0-40 before losing back to back wickets. Pennant Hills bowled well, with a few very experienced grade players they had recruited headlining their attack. They bowled tight lines and set straight fields, bogging the new batsman down. The men in green struggled to rotate the strike frequently and the dot ball pressure saw the end of a few other batsman. Unfortunately, a reoccurring issue for our top order, with no big partnerships being built and losing wickets in clumps. After a steady platform at the top, we saw ourselves again fall to 7-98 Tully top scoring with 15.. Our tail has wagged a few games this season, and again, thankfully getting us out of trouble! Aiden Bennett on debut looked the goods with a run a ball 18 and Johno 17. But the highlight was Ben Wigney- 27 runs off 31 batting at 10 taking the MiG to 154. A total we were more confident in defending.
After the break, the boys couldn’t have started any better, with Daz wrapping the opening batsman’s pad stone Infront of middle. 0-1. At 3-34 and taking the big wicket of Pennant Hills captain, we were confident if we kept the foot on the throat, we could go through them!. As the wicket slowly flattened out, penno put together a few small partnerships and looked in control of the game with the score at 5-141 chasing 154- overs not in the question. We tried ‘burgling’ a wicket, bringing on our up and coming leggy Barney, but the time was right for Daz and Wiggers to enter their second spell whilst Tejas dotted up the other end. We kept saying that all it took was 1 more wicket, anything could happen. Tejas wrapped their ‘set’ batsman on the front pad (definitely missing) but the MiG went up in hope! Given.. the breakthrough we needed!
Daz from the other end, bowled with pace and accuracy; really showcasing his professionalism with the ball in hand picked up 2 more wickets consecutively. Penno 7-144. A few younger players for penno entered the crease, certainly looking anxious about the situation!. Tejas also bowled well (2 for 11 off 5) picking up Pennos last real hope. He held out to long on trying to finish the game off with a 6.. Brain Snap (with 5 guys out of the inner ring and singles everywhere)!!
Daz cleaned up the tail, collecting his first 5fa for the club after weeks of 4fas. The Men in Green bowling Penno out for 152 and taking 5/11 to close out the innings. After what was quite a heated game due to a lot of sledging, profanities and personal attacks from a player from Pennant Hills- the good guys certainly got the Win and much needed 6 points to keep our season alive. Back in action in a few weeks after our allocated bye round.
Round 9
Warringah vs Balmain-South Sydney
Match abandoned without a ball bowled - washout.
Round 10
Warringah
2-162 (35.3 overs)
Grace 52*, Chapman 48*, Singh 46
Pennant Hills
161 (48.5 overs)
Parkinson 2-26, Panchal 2-29, Singh 2-31
Warringah won by 8 wickets.
After a drive through some rain to get to Pennant Hills oval, the MIG found a very lush damp outfield and a nice even grass covered wicket. After winning the toss and bowling Roy and Parko started well, having penno 2-8 off the first 9. Some small partnerships developed but regular enough wickets fell to restrict the Pumas to 161 all out in the final few overs. No single bowler taking more than 2 wickets but 7 bowlers used gave a strong contribution. The very very slow outfield disguised what would have been a 200+ score as a creepy chase of 161. So some good application was needed by the top order. Newly blossoming opening partnership of Blaney and Chappo started well, pinching 1s easily and seeing off the opening bowlers. After Blaney fell, Singhy entered and moved the focus away from running. Singhy was robbed of a 50 by the umpires but his run a ball 46 took the migs to an almost unloseable position. Jasper walked to the crease for his final game to meet Chappo not out on 44 and the migs needing only 56 more runs. Clearly in the mood to go out in style Jasper took only 26 balls to hit 52 of the last 56 runs. Unfortunately, stealing Chappo's (48*) hard working anchor half century from him with a 6 to win the game.With the annoying Bye next week 2nd grade will look to win their remaining 2 games and push for a high finish and a finals berth.
Round 9
Warringah vs Balmain-South Sydney
Match abandoned without a ball bowled - washout.
Round 10
Warringah
8-166 (45.3 overs)
Watts 39*, Day 28*, Chick 28
Pennant Hills
165 (43.5 overs)
Day 3-10, Donato 3-29, Wilson 2-14
Warringah won by 2 wickets.
Round 10 saw the MIGs face up against Pennant Hills at a home game that was closer for the opposing side. A cloudy, cool morning with a slightly wet outfield combined with a green-top was still convincing enough for the opposing team to bat first, a toss to lose for the side. Pat Day’s (3/10 off 8) and Charlie Wilson’s (2/20 off 9) impeccable bowling showcased a sign of regret in the Pennant Hills side determined to bat in the best bowling conditions, both picking up 2 wickets each before drinks leaving the side 4/29 at the break. A good score for the Men in Green but a freak accident from a thick edge flying through the slips corden taking out Liam House saw the boys go from fielding 11 to 10, Housey recovering bravely to return to watch the start of our batting. A surprise concussion fill-in of Matt Melville saw the boys return to a full line up, seeing an even more dominant performance in the field. Anthony Caruso (2/27 off 9) and Ruben Donato (3/29 off 7) provided pivotal in breaking up the middle order and stumped anymore partnerships, along with Mitchell Norton (0/36 off 6) and Seth Thompson (0/35 off 5) providing a supporting and pressuring role that helped maintaining Pennant Hills to a score of 165 all out in 44 overs.
The return of Housey saw the boys fire up to start the run chase in a quick-fire fashion with Mitchell Norton and Kye Broome opening the batting, Mitch getting a swift 12 after being out there for a couple of overs and Broomey showcasing some power hitting in some monstrous sixes over the midwicket boundary, getting 22. Jack Chick continued the aggressive nature by blasting the fence and taking on the spin with a strong 28. Ruben Donato with what appeared to be an unlucky decision, caught behind for 0 saw a small collapse with Luke Watts and Kel Morrison both new to the crease. Kel provided support with 9 and then Seth too with the luck not in his favour for 0 saw the boys fall to 6/91, and in came the concussion substitute Matt Melville.
Playing such an important role as another concussion substitute seen in an Ashes series (cough cough, 2019) Matt combined with Luke to consolidate and get the boys within a better position, falling to a brutal yorker on 18. With Charlie Wilson falling the next ball, again luck not in our favour, the opposing team were on a hatrick with Pat Day coming out. Pat saw out the hatrick ball, and in fact, saw out the rest of the innings alongside Luke Watts, the two pumping the fence left, right and centre to get the team over the line with 5 overs to spare, Pat making an impressive 28* and Luke Watts the Wall making 39*. A great game to watch and to play saw a nail-biting win for 3rd grade, followed up with cheering the club song for another game.
Round 9
Warringah
7-216 (50 overs)
Downs 92, Kasmar 63*, Labador 19
Balmain-South Sydney
113 (39 overs)
Martin 3-17, Burke 2-21, Caruso 2-22
Warringah won by 113 runs.
With Frank Gray Oval receiving a nip/tuck and Weldon Oval unable to handle its drink after a heavy Friday Night, The People’s Grade found themselves at LM Grahams Reserve for their match against Balmain-South Sydney. With the pitch looking slightly patchy but the outfield looking solid, 4th Grade, under their 4th captain of the season in Reg McCracken, were all prepared for their match-up. But Balmain-South Sydney weren’t. With the time at 9:55pm, we had received word that the Club Secretary, who had received notification of the ground switch but has also been on holidays, failed to inform the team of the ground switch and they had been warming up at Weldon Oval, wondering why there was no Home Team and no Umpires. After some frantic phone calls to ensure that 5 players were available for 10:05, the away side managed to high-tail it from Curl Curl to North Manly for an immediate Toss. Reg did win the toss and, using the knowledge of the previous day play, decided to have a bat.
Vehaan Akbarally and Alfie Gatehouse went out to bat and were pretty much back in the sheds, along with Bill Martin, with the pitch playing up very early, leaving Warringah in early trouble at 3/6, leaving Reg to ponder if he had made the right decision as he went out to bat with Jimmy Downs. The 4th Grade collapse period had already started. The only one who was quietly confident was Ben Rowse, who stated that an early collapse from 4th Grade meant that it was unlikely that it would happen again.
There were signs of a rebuild, until Reg was caught off a leading edge for 11. From that point on, the rebuild took full steam, with the cornerstone of the rebuild being provided in the form of a brilliant 92 by Jimmy Downs, who played a measured and classy innings, while Dustin Labador (19) provided some support. However, the rebuild was then complete when Noah Kasmar joined Jimmy Downs for a brilliant 92-run stand that took Warringah past 200. While Jimmy was eventually dismissed 8 short of his hundred, Kasmar kicked on and picked up a half-century of his own to take Warringah’s tally to a very respectable 7/216.
Balmain-South Sydney then came out to bat and it was clear that they wanted to win the match from the get go. While one of their opening bats decided to get bogged down, the other went for more than a fair share of off-side slashes, especially in his battle with Vic. Vic would eventually get the last laugh as he went for one too many and skied one to Vehaan to get Warringah going. Vic then went bang-bang, trapping the Number 3 in front. By the first drinks Break, Balmain-South Sydney were 2/31 off 20 overs, with Harry Burke unlucky to get a wicket in his first 6 overs but bowling brilliantly to only concede 5 runs.
After the drinks break, Balmain-South Sydney sent out their 2nd big hitter who had more success than their first. After a small difficult period, Warringah then regathered the momentum. Following a very heated spell from Patrick Day, which resulted in the remaining opening bat getting pinked on 3 occasions and sniffed on another two, it was Bill Martin who then started to run riot, in tandem with Ben Rowse, triggering the big collapse from Balmain-South Sydney, that saw them 7/92 at the second drinks break after 35 overs. However, the 2nd wannabe master blaster was still at the crease causing some headaches.
The 2nd drinks break was the perfect tonic as a change of bowling to bring Harry Burke and Pat Day did the job, with Harry’s unnerving accuracy bringing about the downfall of the 2nd wannabe master blaster and opening the possibility of the Bonus Point. Patrick then got in with a wicket of his own before Harry finished the match off. A brilliant display of accurate and patient bowling by the team meant that Warringah walked away with a massive Bonus Point win by 103 runs and, with only one other match getting on, The People’s Grade has vaulted from 7th to equal 1st and re-trenched themselves as Premiership Contenders!
Round 10
Warringah
55 (23.5 overs)
Davies 10, Pavely 10, Downs 9
Pennant Hills
136 (48 overs)
Kuchel 3-9, Pavely 2-16, Osbourne 2-23
Warringah lost by 81 runs.
The people’s grade would be bowling first against Pennant Hills, hoping to carry the momentum on from last weeks’ bonus point victory over Balmain. H.Sharma and
J.Osbourne took the new ball under promising overcast conditions and a wicket that had a bit of moisture after some rain drizzled down in the warm up. Hurshwin (0/32 off 7) was extremenly unlucky not to pick up a wicket, having multiple close calls turned down by the umpires as well as some chances put down in the cordon. J.Osbourne was rewarded for his consistency, grabbing 2/23 off 9 for his troubles. B.Rowse (1/27 off 10) and F.Pavely (2/16 off 6) tied down some of the batsmen and they too were unlucky having also had chances put down by the green men. M.Kuchel was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3/9 off 10 overs including four maidens! Having put down approx. 8 chances in the field, the boys perhaps could have been chasing a much smaller total, however a target of 137 was certainly achievable.
The bowling would be the only highlight of the day for the MIGs, and perhaps the story of our batting should be kept short. A shocking batting performance saw 4 wickets fall in quick succession at the top of the order. The boys failed to stabilise from this moment on and wickets fell in consistent clumps from there on out. 55 runs and 24 overs later and we were all out.
Round 10
Warringah vs Georges River
Match abandoned without a ball bowled - washout.
Round 11
Warringah
8-296 (50 overs)
Goldsworthy 135, Brewster 59*, Tipton 43
North West Sydney Gold
98 (??? overs)
Osbourne 3-7, Higgins 3-209, Tipton 2-0
Warringah won by 198 runs.
Metros paid NWS a visit on a still, hot Sunday. Lost the toss and sent in on a grassy but dry pitch. Large boundaries and a bit slow. Their opener bowled the slowest opening bowler over I’ve ever seen until over 2. Bowler one bowled tight lines and managed to pick up a couple of snicks to get rid of Burgo and Zac but I felt for Harry OS who only managed to top edge one of the worst balls bowled ever from bowler 2. No training for it since u11s. At 3/32 I was thinking this may be one of those days. Thankfully Robbie Tipton (40) and Ollie Goldsworthy (135) straightened things out with an excellent partnership. The running btw was very good and they picked off the numerous bad balls with ease. Robbie edged the spinner which brought Will Brewster to the crease (58no). Will started carefully before opening the shoulders and working the ball nicely into gaps on the big ground. Again, in the conditions the running was excellent. Ollie G played a dominating innings. He only hit 11 fours which highlighted his fitness with 91 laps of the pitch just for his own knock. Double that for the other player so in 46 overs close to 200 laps in stifling conditions. Often at speed. Great work Ollie. Ollie brought up his ton with a great pull shot and it was expected that tiredness caught up with him when he got out.
Sentarou was playing his first game of the season and he hit the ball well for a quick 16. A few bits n pieces left us with 296 from our 50. The only bad thing was our inability to hit the free hit. They bowled 8 no balls and I think we got out 3 times and scored 2 runs from those 8 opportunities.
Knowing they were a batting side we wanted early wickets to ensure a win. Ryan Osborne (3/7) and Lachlan Jurcevic (1/19) did this by attacking the stumps at good speed. Lach knocked over their captain who scored 120no against us last year and after that it was a procession. All out for 98 for a double bonus point win. Senatarou worked up some good pace, Ollie Higgins (3/20) bowled his inswingers with guile, Archie (1/10) spun it and Robbie knocked them off in 3 balls with 2/0.
Obviously convincing, I think we got the opposition on a bad day, I expect future games will be tougher. But all the same, we did just about everything right so a good win keeps us well placed.
Round 14
Warringah
5-151 (40 overs)
M Melville 61*, Gatehouse 48, A Greenland 20
Burwood
69 (27 overs)
Clift 4-12, G Davies 2-3, Brown 2-16
Warringah won by 82 runs.
Match report to come.
Round 5
Warringah
1-78 (12.4 overs)
Ahmed 36, Powe 30*, Colyer 4*
Lindfield
76 (36.5 overs)
Vinter 3-8, Ahmed 3-12, Wigney 2-12
Warringah won by 9 wickets .
We'll forgive Greeney for not getting a round wrap in before publishing. To be fair, he's just been hand-balled the club captaincy, had to MC the Golf Day, and has a Quarter Final to prepare for! Fair to say their win against Lindfield was convincing, with more great form demonstrated by the bowling unit as well as Daz and Blaney at the top of the order. Go the MIG24s in their Quarter Final!
Round 7
Warringah
6-203 (40 overs)
Allsop 41*, Brady 41*, Waddington 32
Hawkesbury
9-160 (40 overs)
johnston 3-29, Hooker 2-22, Waddington 1-16
Warringah won by 43 runs.
Next match is Round 8, Sunday 29 January vs Pirates at Weldon Oval.
Round 7
Warringah
5-217 (39.4 overs)
Melchiore 33*, Waddington 31*, Allsop 30*
Old Ignatians CC
8-216 (40 overs)
Waddington 3-38, O'Brien 3-51, Park 1-28
Warringah won by 5 wickets.
Next match is Round 8, Sunday 22 January vs Parramatta at Mike Pawley Oval.
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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 2022-23 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
