Welcome to the MIG round wrap, March's 1st edition. Being March we know there's a lot of excitement and anticipation for footy season, but that's nothing compared to finals season for cricket! This wrap includes the final round of the season in the lead up to Quarter Finals. Unfortunately, the 2022-23 journey stopped here for two of our teams, missing out on qualifying for the finals despite some mammoth efforts. But read on to uncover the action from the six remaining Warringah sides as the finals gets into full swing.
LAST TIME...
We'll focus on the most recent match ups in the interest of getting you to the current action. First Grade's final game of the season is against Georges River, as is the case for Third Grade. Second Grade qualified 2nd and will face Auburn in their quarter final. Fourth Grade qualified 5th and will face Roseville in their quarter final. We are excited to see our Tim Creer Cup (aka 5th Grade), qualify for finals in their first season and they are up against a strong North West Sydney side. Metro Cup still have a round to play before finals, which is against Randwick-Petersham Green. Our Masters and Classics sides are very much in contention for finals action, and have matches against St Clair United and Georges River respectively.
- Last year's 1st Grade last played Georges River all the way back in 2020/21 with 2021/22's match washed out. That match also ended without a result, with day 2 washed out. We still got to see Sony and Ned notch 50s.
- 2nd Grade played Auburn earlier this season in Round 7. It's a match we would rather not talk about (WCC rolled for 51, chased easily by the Eagles). Keen to turn this one around!
- 3rd Grade are identical to 1st Grade - last year's match against Georges River completely washed out, and the year before had day 2 ruined, but WCC looked to be on their way to a win (WCC 3/46 vs GR 106).
- 4th Grade played and won against Roseville in round 3 of this season (255 vs 185) thanks largely to Jimmy Downs' 76, Mitch Norton's 61, Harry Verma's 51 and Pat Day's 3-17.
- Last year's Metro team matched up against Randy Petes Green in the rained out QF, advancing through as the higher ranked side. Prior to that they won in round 10 (4/125 vs 124) with Veehan Akbarally scoring 53 and Pat Day claiming 3-17.
- 5th Grade have played against North West already in round 2 this season, but North West were far too strong being run out winners (9/124 vs 1/126).
- The Classics' chaps played Georges River in round 5 last year, going down (103 vs 148), but Mr Jewiss 3-24 gave them a sniff.
- The Master's men haven't had the opportunity to play against St Clair United in a few years. Their 2021/22 match up was washed out.
A lot on the line and much to play for if you're wearing Green. Go the Mighty MIG!
Round 13
Warringah
155 (50.4 overs)
Greenland 70, Ahmed 20, Vinter 14
Georges River
6d./283 (72.4 overs)
Vinter 2/64, Ahmed 2/64, Wigney 1/24
Warringah lost by 133 runs (1st innings).
Match report to come.
Quarter Final
Warringah
160 (52.3 overs) & 1/19 (4.3 overs)
Bennett 38, Chapman 30, Chick 27 &
Powe 13
Auburn
94 (48 overs) & 84 (30.4 overs)
Gupta 4/16, Gerry 2/23, Molyneux 1/0 &
Molyneux 4/17, Outred 3/21, Parkinson 1/16
Warringah won by 7 wickets (1st innings).
Warringah 2nd grade looked to defend home ground advantage against a notoriously steaky and hostile Auburn side. With almost 200 overs of cricket available WCC wanted to cash in on any assistance for the bowlers during the game. Looking at the pitch it looked like that would be some seam on day 1 rather than spin later in the match. 2s are equipped with a litany of spin and seam options, but when given the choice Parko decided to bowl first to try cash in.
Cash in is just what the boys did, a couple of early wickets helped the migs but it was Tejas's suffocating spell of 4-16 of 16 that was decisive. The other wickets were shared among the seamers to dismiss auburn for 94 halfway through day 1. Auburn boats an excellent new ball partnership so the WCC top order had their work cut out to stunt the opposition. The top 3 soaked up a combined 140 balls and chipped away at the 95 run first innings target. Their work was capitalised on by a positive Rishi, Aiden and Gus who helped 2s take the lead, all going at a run a ball against the flagging auburn attack. Day 2 ended with WCC 7 down with a 60 run lead.
Auburn arrived at Weldon for day 2 full of chat about "smashing some runs" and blaming their first innings collapse on the pitch. The nights rest had helped their bowlers out a lot, but not as much as it had helped the condition of the ball. Which had amazingly begun swinging again, quite a lot. The mig lower order were not much chance and fell quickly, leaving a 66 run lead and Auburn spirits buoyed.
Unfortunately for auburn, although the pitch had flattened out over the day and a half, the skill of the WCC bowlers remained. Auburn wickets tumbled; 1/0, 4/23, 6/43. The golden duck of the particularly vocal wicket keeper sent the crowd wild. The only downside was he couldn't receive back any of what he dished out. After Roy (3-23 off 6) had destroyed the top order, Molly (4-17 off 10) dismantled the middle and lower. Despite their confidence Auburn crumbled against the depth of talent in the 2s line up, all out 84.
Chappo, Blaney and Davo knocked off the required 19 runs in quick time to cap of a dominate win. What would have been 10 points in the regular seasons, now locks in a home semi-final against a very quality Georges River side next weekend.
Round 13
Warringah
172 (60.4 overs)
Gupta 45, Powe 30, Chick 26
Georges River
65 (32.4 overs) & 1/47 (25 overs)
Outred 3/14, Bennett 3/15, Singh 2/14 &
Molyneux 1/11
Warringah won by 7 wickets (1st innings).
The mig 2nd graders turned up to Georges River in a game that would decide who finished 2nd place in the regular season. The pitch looked its usual straw coloured and the weather was very hot. Unsurprisingly the GR skipper had a bat after winning the toss. However when Roy's 2nd ball exploded and jagged off a length there were some murmurs around the ground. That was only the start of the seamer friendly action. Batters were getting turned completely inside out by balls that should have missed leg, missing off instead. Only the number 10 that swung from the hip looked any danger to the mig. Roy and Adien came away with the star figures but all seamers bowled well to dismiss GR for 65.
Blaney and Chappo had the inevitable task of 1 over before tea. The pair saw that off and then another 13 overs to take the sting out of the bowling attack on a still very difficult pitch. Blaney especially grafted and dug in to get a immensely valuable 30. By the time Tejas and Aiden came out to bat, River was very flat, however the pitch still was not. The pair took on the bowling and won, scoring 45 and 22 at almost a run a ball. Week 1 finished rather meekly with Davo and Chicka seeing us to 6-134 overnight.
Week 2 was a formality, neither side had anything to gain from 2nd innings points. No real highlights on the second Saturday of the game other than a couple of niec flicks from Chick and booming drives from Davo. The mig were dismissed for 172, and just had to bowl 25 to get to tea, so there was some heavy workload management enforced for the quicks even though the pitch was still unreasonably seamy, a couple of GR batters were struck in the arm and ribs by the balls they were playing off the front foot. Molly was the only wicket taker as the day petered out to hand shakes and jokes between the sides.
That result meant that WCC 2s finished a strong 2nd place heading into a qualifying final next week at Weldon Oval.
Round 13
Warringah
6/223 (78.2 overs)
Broome 64, House 39, Donato 37
Georges River
222 (71 overs)
Sharma 3/37, Donato 3/40, Kirkham 2/30
Warringah won by 4 wickets.
Day 1:
A hot sunny day with little-to-no clouds and a dried up pitch got the men in green excited for what was ahead of them. As covers taken off and hessian removed the men gather round to see rock-hard turf with little to no cracks, perfect batting conditions. However with an unfortunate loss of the toss the men get ready for a day in the heat trying to prevent a big total from the opposing side.
Warm-ups went underway followed by a positive chat from the skipper preparing the men for what would be a thrilling match. With Charlie Wilson and Cooper Hatvany as our opening bowlers each pressure the opening pair with many chances taken but none given out the opening spell comes to a close without any wickets. Harry Kirkham is next on to bowl, debuting for 3rds, he brings his A-game collecting a total of 2 wickets one being the opening batsman. The boys push on from keeping them down to 2-125 at drinks to finishing the innings at 10-222 with 9 overs to spare.
Opening batsmen Kai and Liam head out to bay with 7 overs remaining in the day. Holding their ground the day ends on 0-5, setting the boys up for what was yet to be known as the deciding partnership.
Day 2:
As MIGs arrive on day 2 the covers were already off. After being told from teammates massive downpours of rain hit the ground soaking the pitch creating mud and a soft surface all over the turf pitch. Fortunately for the men someone had taken off the covers along for the most drying possible of the pitch. Again fortunately for the MIGs it was enough to get the pitch back to normal giving us the best advantage on taking home the win.
Kai and Liam head back out on day 2 to continue building their partnership. After knocking the balls around for countless overs their partnership comes to an end after Liam gets out caught. However, their partnership of 113 sets us up for victory. With Kai ending up getting 64 followed by Skipper Ruben getting 37 the men are in the game ready to win.
As time goes on the MIGs keep getting closer and closer to victory. As wickets fall nerves rise , but we keeping pushing on. All of a sudden we’re 5 wickets down with 20 overs left. Zaney Molinia goes in to bat, another debutant, with about 30 runs needed he starts off strong batting with Seth Thompson. Unfortunately after a few good runs from the two Seth gets out caught behind. Bringing harry kirkham into bay the two debutants are set up to bring the game home. Zaney starts strong himself hitting a boundary and followed by rotating strike. Harry and Zabey continue rotating the strike until about 13 is needed. Zaney is facing the last ball of an over, unbeknownst to everyone else he smashed the ball off the ropes for 6 bringing the runs needed to only 7. After a single from the next over Zaney’s back on strike. With 4 wickets in the sheds the pressure is not on him, he takes his time blocking out the first two balls of the over and then all of a sudden with boys from 1st grade watching he heaved the ball over the boundary for a massive 6 winning the MIGs the game.
A great win for warringah unfortunately not putting them in the final they still proved to themselves and the opposing team that they are strong contenders.
Quarter Final
Warringah
86 (39.2 overs) & 197 (90 overs)
Downs 36, Kuchel 9, Verma 9 &
Downs 82, Kasmar 28, Day 24
Roseville
75 (37.1 overs) & 8/116 (25 overs)
Day 4/38, Caruso 3/11, Rowse 2/12 &
Day 2/27, Caruso 2/36, Kuchel 1/11
Warringah won by 11 runs (1st innings).
The quarter finals saw the MIGs facing second place, Roseville at their home ground of Roseville Chase Oval. A sunny day and an interesting pitch and when the toss was won we decided to bat.
A start to forget as Regan McCracken got hit hard on the arm by a ball that flew off a length, causing him to retire hurt immediately. X-rays then proved it to be a hairline fracture, the end of a successful season that saw us into the finals with his impressive 110* from the last game. Everyone's heads lowered and the pressure of the importance of the match saw quick wickets fly and they continued all throughout our innings with no one else getting in the double digits other than Jimmy Downs the rock of the innings, hitting a crucial 36 showcasing some fine strokeplay. Jimmy opened the innings and batted with everyone all but our number 11 Anthony ‘Vic’ Caruso, who scrapped us to a total of 86.
The boys were fired up after not succeeding as we would’ve liked to with the bat and it showed straight away with a fiery wicket from Vic Caruso early in the innings, and the guy that scored a hundred against us in round 3. Wickets kept falling, another for Vic and one for Harry Burke until their middle order set up for a block-a-thon. Pat Day saw the breakthrough with removing the opener and from there the flood gates opened. Wicket after wicket saw the MIGs fire up even more as they were falling short of our first innings and they kept falling, 3 more to Pat, another for Vic and 2 for Ben ‘Rowser’ Rowse. Some impressive catches, a screamer from Jimmy Downs at second slip the ball after a pull shot falls short by a foot from the boundary, leading to it being a dot ball. Another from Rowse with an incredible caught and bowled low to the ground, another wicket that saw us remove them all out for 75 before the end of the day's play. An incredible effort that saw the boys get first innings points on day 1.
Our second innings started with the end of the first day, with Matt ‘Kuch’ Kuchel as the stand-in opener saw us at 0-40 at stumps on day one. Day 2, and Kuch and Jimmy kicked off where they left off, with Kuch departing shortly after the day's play for 16. A “Pujara-like” innings from Himanshu that impressed all with his 2 from 56 balls showcasing immense patience. This was further followed by Noah Kasmar joining Jimmy at the crease, both playing their natural game. Jimmy impressed all with his strokeplay, even including a monstrous straight six as he kept driving immaculately towards 82 off 165. Well played Jimbo. Noah Kasmar followed suit with his calm manner of rotating strike constantly towards 28 off 80. Mitch Norton couldn’t get anywhere with a 22 ball duck, Pat Day and Harry Burke both reaching into the 20s with impressive stroke play, and Kev and Vic both getting removed in the same over saw the MIGs get all out for 197, not bad for 10 batsmen.
With a lead of 208 and Roseville only having 25 overs left in the day to chase they had nothing to lose but had to throw the bat at the ball. This produced quick early wickets, even the first ball of the second innings from Pat to remove the main opener for another duck. Other wickets fell as their keeper hit some sixes along the way but the opposition wasn’t near the required run rate as wickets just kept tumbling. They ended up at 8 for 116 at stumps with 2 wickets for Pat, 2 for Vic and run out to his name (arms aloft), 1 to Harry, Kuch and Mitch. All in all, a great game for the boys that put us in a position for a home semifinal at Frank Grey. Best of luck boys!
Round 13
Warringah
4d./207 (50 overs)
R McCracken 117*, Norton 37, Kuchel 20*
Georges River
104 (40.5 overs) & 7/123 (54 overs)
Day 4/31, Norton 3/14, Caruso 2/15 &
Caruso 4/14, Day 3/31
Warringah won by 7 wickets.
Match report to come.
Round 13
Warringah
5-213 (??? overs)
Akbarally 71, Seward 57, Kapoor 42
Randwick-Petersham Green
212 (??? overs)
Buchanan 3/29, Kapoor 2/18, Matheson 2/21
Warringah won by 6 wickets.
Metros lifted for this must win game. Losing the toss we had a bowl v Randy Petes and they got off to a slow, cautious start, crawling to a 40 odd opening partnership. We got the run out to get us underway in the 21st over but their number 3 hit the ball with some intent. Zac Buchanan (3/29 off 11) and Will Mathieson (3/21 from 14) were both tight and unlucky in their opening spells. Robbie Tipton (0/11 off 9) also kept it very tight. Lewis didn’t have his best day out following his rager at Terry Hills pitch & putt. Maybe trying out Old Tom Morris’s idea of it takes 18 gulps to down a whisky bottle ?? It took us till the 37th for Will to get the edge to make it 2/95. On the stroke of tea Myles Kapoor (2/18 from 8) bowling his hybrid Derek Underwood style finger spinners dropped a bit short only for the #4 to hit it down deep mid wickets throat. In the meantime the #3 was getting stuck into all the bowlers. Archie Rochford bowled well and his figures of 0/53 from 15 were not indicative as he went for 28 in just 2 decent overs. Sentarou also copped it (0/46 off 11) so it was with some relief that the #3 hit a high ball to Evans at mid on who took a handy catch. Thanks to Kev & Bourkey for that one after a good fielding session on Thursday!
After this dismissal Randy Petes didn’t offer a lot. Zac and Will bowled sensational spells of fast, accurate bowling to pick up 3 bowleds, an LBW and a snick to get them all out for 212. And who could forget Toby’s 1.5 over spell of 1/3 to finish them off ?
We were presented with a flat pitch day 2 and Alfie Gatehouse (17) and Toby (57) looked in great touch. Alfie played an interesting shot to steer straight to point to make it 1/31. Veehan (71) joined Toby and they batted well to get us to 104 before Toby was unlucky to just have his leg bail drop off after trying to sweep the leggie. Toby played a great knock and looked like he wanted a big one. Myles (42) joined Veehan and they saw us through till tea without any issues. After tea Myles put on a masterclass of strokeplay to rush to 42. Some well timed deft cuts & some strong pulling the highlights. It was great batting but it must be said that their partnership was 82 before Myles was run out so Veehan obviously kept up. He looked like a rock in defence early and dealt with the bad balls really well. As his innings progressed the running btw improved and he timed the ball beautifully to hit 10 boundaries, almost all of them along the ground. He fell just as we were about to pass them LBW to their handy leg spinner. Lewis (5) also fell in this period so care of Zac and Will we were able to pass them 5 down and secure 4th spot. Less than a win from minor premiers and less than a win from 7th spot. A very tight table and anything goes in the finals. We’ll be playing St George. See you all at training.
Round 19
Warringah
9/105 (29.3 overs)
Higgins 30, Akbarally 28, Martin 16
Auburn
8/210 (29.3 overs)
H McCracken 4/38, Clift 2/26, Matheson 1/27
Warringah lost by 105 runs.
Round 20
Warringah
8/195 (40 overs)
C Conners 77, Martin 30, S Conners 29
Pennant Hills
8/196 (37 overs)
Brown 3/23, Zanella 2/38, H McCracken 2/43
Warringah lost by 2 wickets.
Quarter Final
Warringah
83 (39.4 overs)
Cruickshank 19, Watts 16, Higgins 10
North West Sydney
4/84 (30.2 overs)
Olde 3/18, Watts 1/10
Warringah lost by 6 wickets.
Round 10
Warringah
8-267 (40 overs)
Brady 53*, Wyatt 42*, Davies 40*
St Clair United
100 (30 overs)
Johnston 2/14, Davies 2/22, Egerton 1/6
Warringah won by 167 runs.
Round 10
Warringah
112 (34 overs)
Waddington 32, Stolk 13, O'Brien 13
Georges River
8/158 (40 overs)
Waddington 2/17, Barrow 2/24, Lyon 2/26
Warringah lost by 46 runs.
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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.
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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
