%20MIG%20media%20banner.jpg)
Hello and welcome to the MIG semi finals round wrap,
We had 4 teams in the mix to secure a Grand Final spot. 2nd grade, who last year made the Grand Final going down to Burwood had to play them again in their semi. 3rd grade who comfortably defeated Balmain-South Sydney in their quarter final had to play their grade's minor premiers. 5th Grade who squeaked home against Strathfield last week play Georges River in their semi final. Finally, we have the people's grade (or Kev and Rowsey's grade if you ask them) - 4th grade, took down North West Sydney for the second consecutive match, played Burwood in their semi final. Which of our MIGs will still be in it to win it next week? Read on to find out.
But first, to great community news for the MIG - This year’s Junior Initiative award went to Warringah Cricket Club for organising a Gala Day with a difference, aimed at engaging the local junior cricket community throughout the Northern Beaches. The event was held at the club’s home grounds — Weldon Oval, Frank Gray, and Mike Pawley Oval and featured a carnival-style atmosphere with “hit the sign” prizes, a BBQ lunch for all participants, and a vibrant, inclusive environment. Well done to all involved!
Be sure to visit our sponsor's page to learn more about who they are, what they do, how they can help you or if you would like to inquire about our sponsorship packages. Additionally, if you would like to learn more about who the amazing people are that make our club tick, you can do so in the Positions of Responsibility section on our About Us page.
It's off season now for the MIG1s. They had a strong finish to the season, ending up in 7th spot just outside of a finals berth.
Semi Final
Warringah
97 & 7d./123
J Colyer 35, J Terry 12, C McKay 11 &
S Cook 24, J Terry 24, L Johnson 16
Burwood
132 & 0/33
J Terry 3/23, B Morgan 2/8, C McKay 1/5
Warringah lost on first innings.
We couldn't pry a report out of the MIG2s for their semi final loss. They are of course, forgiven. Back-to-back difficult finals weeks on the back of a long but successful season where they took out the minor premiership. But to have to travel out to Ron Routley and fight against Burwood in conditions unfavourable to the style of play that has seen 2s be so successful this year, and then unfortunately bow out, they're forgiven for forgetting to sort their match report. But if one word could summarise their match, it might be 'grind'. Check out the scorecard!
Semi Final
Warringah
179
R Donato 68, W Toohey 36*, M Singh 16
Southern Districts-Mt Pritchard
6/180
M Singh 3/33, H Burke 2/42, M Kuchel 1/22
Warringah lost by 4 wickets.
Semi Final time wasupon us for the 3rd Grade boys and after the minor premiers Mountieshad lost the previous weekend, we were set to verse them as the new #1 seedwith the opportunity to advance and host a grand final. The goal was to rightsome wrongs of our qualifying final by putting a better batting performance on.
Ruben entered the middle for the toss (already late) and we were made to wait for its result as the umps had a good old chat for almost ten minutes. Finally, the coin went upand the team had got what they wanted; we were having a stick. The aim of thegroup was to keep the opposition out there for all day in what was blisteringheat. We all know how good Weldon is to bat on, so the boys were hoping to makethe most of the opportunity.
Ruben and Jimmy settled the early nerves in the first 9 overs before Jimmy smoked one to aleaping short cover. Singhy joined him at the crease and the pair really dug inwith a harmonious partnership. Ruben was the main aggressor with some exquisitestroke play culminating in 14 boundaries, hitting some lovely lofted drives toput the MIG in the driver’s seat in this match. Though in the last over beforelunch his wicket fell for a very well made 68 to leave us 2/97 at lunch.
Unfortunately, this is where the momentum that been created with the bat ended as we were unable tocapitalise on the position that we had gotten ourselves to. After lunch, Singhy’sand Alfie’s wickets fell in the same over and we were left in need of apartnership to resettle ourselves. However, the wickets continued to tumble, anda batting collapse left us at 7/130 before the next drinks break on a flatWeldon wicket where batting should be at its easiest. Will Toohey dug in with the tail as we had to reset and try to extend the innings for as long aspossible. A final wicket partnership between Kuch and Toohey allowed us tocreep our way up to 179 off 74.3 overs, Toohey finishing 36 not out, showinggood maturity at the crease. A total that we knew was well under par but atleast something to bowl at. It was important for us to strike late in the daywith the 19 overs we were given with the ball, so that we could take somemomentum into Sunday.
H Burke and M S Bhatty opened up with the ball applying the early pressure after a motivational speechfrom Kuch in the huddle. Singhy struck in the 10th over, caught atsquare leg by Burkey staring straight into the blinding sun. The boys were upand about, fired up for a big push at the Mounties top order. Not long after,Burkey found the front pad of the other opener and then in the second last overof the day, Singhy snicked off the #3, straight to Toohey and the MIG wereroaring. Kuch sent down a threatening last over of the day and we walked off ina strong position at 3/31 with a whole day to play.
After a big Saturdaynight dinner and a good night’s sleep, the boys arrived at a scorching WeldonOval for a pivotal day 2 of this semi-final. The equation was simple, 149 runs,7 wickets. We knew the wicket was flat and it would be a long day in the fieldas our opposition looked to take a conservative batting approach. The openersfrom Saturday evening resumed and it did not take long for Singhy to strike,caught behind again by Toohey. Then enter the Mounties skipper. However, hedidn’t last long as Burkey found the outside edge and a brilliant low catch wastaken at first slip by Singhy as MIG were all over Mounties at 5/44. Amonumental push was on the cards to try and roll through the rest of this orderto get ourselves off the field in the 37-degree heat.
Again, unfortunatelythis was the last of the momentum we were able to create. A missed opportunityat fine leg didn’t go our way and the next Mounties pair dug in and we enteredlunch 5/79, still in the drivers seat. Kuch finally found the outside edge ofthe nightwatchmen and a couple of juggles before Ruben held on to take acrucial breakthrough at 6/88. The boys toiled away, keeping spirits high but acouple of close turned down LBW shouts and dropped catches meant we weren’table to make any more inroads in the gruelling heat. The opposition managed toknock it around to tea, before we made a final push with the second new ball asanother difficult chance went down. Mounties accelerated above their 1.5 run anover scoring rate they’d been going at all day to reach our total after 94.5overs. Whilst it was difficult to create chances, we just were not able tocapitalise on the ones that we did. Enough were generated to win the game butit just wasn’t MIG’s day. The chat on the field was up all day and the effortfrom all 11 couldn’t be faulted.
A match where we hadso many opportunities to put it away, but we just weren’t able to capitalise. TheMIG had gotten themselves to winning positions in both the bowling and battinginnings but fell short. This one is going to sting for a while but there aremoments we can learn from and use as motivation going into next season. I thinkit’s a reminder to us just how hard it is to make a grand final, something thatmay have been overlooked given the success we often experience at this club. Andfurther to that, how hard premierships are to win. Overall, a great season forthe 3s boys, just not the final result we wanted.
Semi Final
Warringah
177 & 0/25
B Rowse 36, K Davies 23, S Roche 20* &
R Jayaram 11*, M Norton 7*
Burwood
95 & 106
S Roche 5/18, C Wilson 3/32, R Tipton 2/15 &
S Roche 5/10, R Tipton 2/23, M Norton 1/10
Warringah won outright by 10 wickets.
Welcome to the Sam-Roche report...errr, sorry, the 4th Grade match report. But this report's opening line does kind of sum up the match, Rochey was on fire with bat and ball. Two five wicket halls and a 20 not out (off 100+ balls to halt the possibility of a Burwood reverse outright) - Rochey was on fire. Others chipped in of course, it's a team game afterall. Here's a few stand out moments from the Semi Final outright win to see the MIG4s into their fifth consecutive grand final:
1) Particularly well-bowled by Charlie Wilson, whom we sadly lose on qualification rules for the GF. Thanks for a great contribution to the back end of our season Chuckie!
2) Ollie Goldsworthy's sharp gully catch. Seriously sharp to keep the momentum swinging our way - the great slippers over the years (Mark Waugh, Steve Smith and co) would have been impressed with Ollie's snare.
3) Captain Kev remembering how to use his bat again, holding our first innings together as wickets fell in pursuit of a small total. Even better was his two slap shots straight down the ground as the chase entered single digits. Hitting form at the right time Kev!
4) Rowsey doing Rowsey things in finals. He gets picked as a bowler and companion to Kev all year, but come finals figures out a way tohang around and drag the team into winning positions. Our number 10 was the match high scorer, but it was the timing of it that hurt our opposition most.
5) Ryan Osbourne had just about the unluckiest match you'll see. He bowled brilliantly and with literally no luck at all. All of our dropped catches, bar one, were off his bowling. Rhino will fair better in the GF because he's surely used up all his bad luck.
6) Our favourite call - Rochey was bowling up a storm and one of Burwood's better looking batsman was overheard saying "He's not as quick as last year". Next over Rochey smashes one into his pads and he's given out LBW. Rochey got him again in the second innings just for good measure.
The MIG4s will take on Epping, the same opposition as last year, in the GF in what will undoubtedly be a hard fought match, win lose or draw. Get down to Weldon this weekend to see if the MIG4s can pull off the 5 in '25!
Semi Final
Warringah
7/215
W Cunningham 81, C Conners 79, Z Dowthwaite 14
Georges River
168
J Olde 3/29, W Cunningham 2/10, P Clift 2/38
Warringah won by 47 runs.
5s have been lucky with the weather this season; any hot Saturdays we were playing Sunday and vice versa. To be fair, we were lucky again given how much hotter it was on Sunday compared to Saturday, but it was still the hottest day of cricket we have had all season. This made it one of the more vital tosses of the year and when the coin rolled for six inches on it’s side, fate was with us. Toss won, and Clifty politely requested that Georges River take to the field first in the heat.
Looking at the field for the start of the match you would have been hard pressed to believe that it was a semi final between the teams who came first and second on the ladder. GR started the first over with only eight players on the field. Zac Dowthwaite and Cooper Swinney started us off and looked to take advantage of the lack of fielders nudging 11 off the first. For the second over, Georges now had 9 and for the 3rd over they had ten. When they finally had their 11th player in the 6th over, they also managed to take Zac’s wicket for 14 to see us 1/26 off 6. Cooper fell for 9 in the 7th over leaving us 2/30 and when Zac O’Sullivan fell for 8 in the 11th over we were 3/39 with Will Cunningham joining Caleb Conners at the crease (as a quick aside, we had two Zac’s, two Cooper’s and two Conners in the match, so there’ll be a lot of full names in the report!).
I think I’ve used words or phrases like this before, but what came next was, if not a masterclass, then at least a very good lesson in how to control a batting innings in an important match in oppressive conditions against a fielding side who had an average age close to, if not over, double that of ours. Caleb and Will took stock of the wicket, and made certain to ensure they were getting used to the conditions. After 15 overs we were 3/50, and at drinks at the end of the 20th we were 3/66.
Some insightful words from Steve at drinks, along with some tactical encouragement from the skipper seemed to set the right tone after drinks. Clifty made sure to keep the lads hydrated with water coming out every four overs along with the messaging the lads were looking for. At 24 overs we had moved to 3/98 and at 28 we were 3/121, going at almost 6 an over post drinks. Caleb waited until the 30th to launch the full blown assault, but the reality was 6 an over was solid. By the 32nd over at 3/147 with a lot of good running and a small smattering of boundaries, Will had brought up his half century in the 32nd and Caleb had brought his up in the 29th and the partnership was motoring. At the end of 36 we were 3/172 and both lads were really starting the feel the hurt of batting and running for that long, but they kept pushing through it. Will taking 17 off 4 balls in the 37th helped reduce some of the running but he finally succumbed in the 38th over for a stunning 81 in a partnership of 153 for the 4th wicket. Seth was selflessly run out in the 39th over for 7 and Caleb fell in the 40th for a brilliant 79. Another selfless run out to Harvey for 4, and Cooper Dickson ending on 2 not out with Jimmy not facing for his 0 not out saw us finish the innings at 7/215. A wonderful partnership and a frantic finish to get us up to a formidable score in the circumstances.
One of the GR players commented that ‘it was unfair’ that we had 16 year olds running 40+ year olds ragged and ‘could we play the second innings on Sunday?’It was a good thing we had put on a total of that size, because what happened in the field was well below par. We certainly had moments of good play, but there were many days when we wouldn’t have got away with this performance. There is a school of thought that if you can play badly and still win, it’s the sign of a good team, but in fairness to GR, the conditions crippled them and let us get away with it. We dropped chances throughout the innings, 5 of which were sitters, a further three were in the medium to tough range, and another two or three which we didn’t lay a hand on that hold have at the very least got hands too.
Some inner reflection after play and over the early part of the week are definitely needed to understand ourselves better in preparation for the upcoming Grand Final because we are definitely a better side that what we showed on Saturday.That said, Cooper D and Jess Conners opened up for us with Jess trapping one opener in front with the third ball of his spell. Cooper got the other opener bowled in the 7th over to have them 2/24. Coop finished with 1-19 off 5 and Jess with 1-23 off 4. GR moved on to 2/43 off 9 when Clifty brought Jimmy Olde into the attack at one end, and batting hero Will on at the other after a bit of extra rest for him. Jimmy bowled with menace and Will gave his all with the energy levels he still had taking 0-7 off 4 in his first spell. Jimmy had 0-10 off 4 and 0-17 off 5 before another double change saw Harvey at one end and Clifty enter the attack at the other but no further joy was had before drinks with GR 2/77 off 20. With the number of drops we’d put in and some lacklustre lines being bowled, the break couldn’t have come at a better time. After another important Wuddle and a pledge to give everything we had Harvey continued but was a little off line and length finishing with 0-13 off his two. Clifty continued and Cooper Swinney came on at the other end and immediately had the right ideas and plans keeping the ball full outside off and demanding the batters work very hard to score off him.
Clifty finally got a breakthrough in the 26th over with a sharp catch taken by Seth placing the game well and truly in the balance with GR at 3/109 off 26. At the other end Cooper took care of the other set batter with a really good stumping taken by Caleb to make it 4/111 off 27. Clifty lost his way in his 5th being dispatched the journey twice in the over. Cooper kept going, and Jimmy came back on to bowl his last three, picking up a vital wicket in the 30th over caught in the deep by Zac O. GR 5/135 off 30 and needing 81 from 60 balls.The task became simple for us. Every batter in their line up was trying to drag us to the leg side for big runs. We had to keep the ball aimed at the wide line on the off side. We executed relatively well from here on out, but there was still a few missteps in the field. Young Olde picked up his 2nd in the 32nd after 5 of the previous eight balls were dots and GR were now 6/139 off 32 needing 77 from 48. Coop worked hard to give away only 2 from his first 5 balls, but went over the rope to end the over, then Jim went the distance next ball, but it was the price to pay for the next 5 balls going for zero including another wicket caught in the deep. Olde finished with 3-29 from his 8 in brilliant performance. Coopers next went for just 6 and GR were sitting at 7/159 off 35 needing 57 off 30. Clifty reintroduced himself and took 1/6 off the over and then Will came back on at the other end and cleaned up the tail in consecutive balls to finish Georges River off for 168 finishing with 2-10 off 4.4 and Clifty taking 2-38 off 6.
Sometimes the result is the most important thing, and that is never more true than in a semi final. We won. We get to go on to the big dance. We have taken stock of what happened, we will learn from it, and we will put it in to action this weekend against Pennant Hills. Commiserations to Cookie and Ruben and the lads in 2s and 3s. We know you’ll go one better next season. Well done to Kev and the 4s boys and bring home the five-peat. Go the MIG
It's off season now for the MIG-Metros. They had a number of strong performances throughout their season, but a few close results not going their way had them finish outside the finals spots.
It's off season now for the MIG-Chaps. They had a great first season in green, ending up in 9th spot just outside of a finals berth.
Frankie's season is wrapped. Grand Finalists in 2024/25, a great season from our U24 Greenmen.
Round 11
Warringah
4/95
P Dolby 45*, G Davies 21, A Kelly 14
Strathfield
9/252
J Egerton 3/34, B Johnston 2/37, M Turner 1/35
Warringah won by 6 wickets (DL method).
Final place on the table: 3nd
Warringah Masters turned up to Frank Gray Oval for the Battle for 2nd place versus their powerful foes from Strathfield. BJ did his usual and lost the toss which meant Warringah were forced to field in scorching and oppressive conditions much to the audible groans of the MIG players. Little did they know that BJ’s strategic lost toss would prove invaluable later in the day.
Strathfield came out blazing as hot as the Curl Curl sun. Helped by a couple of early dropped chances, again more on this later, Strathfield were 0/45 after their first 5 overs. BJ turned to Edgo and himself to take the pace off the ball both to and from the bat. This plan worked with Edgo claiming 3 for 34 (8) and BJ 2 for 37 (8). Edgo went off the field for a well earned rest but only lasted a couple of overs resting under the gazebo before having to replace Waity who left his groin somewhere in the Frank Gray outfield. Strathfield continued to go hard in the latter part of their innings before Dolbs came up with a cunning strategy of dropping even more catches, some of which looked very blatant match mixing to prevent Strathfield’s gun bats from returning to the crease to do too much damage. Strathfield’s innings concluded at 9/252 off 40 overs. The Warringah boys retreated to the shade for Waity’s lifesaving ice cold calippos after a tremendous toil in what can only be described as inhumane conditions.
Here’s where things began to get interesting. The umpire removed his shoes and hung out by his Kawasaki. He informed both teams that both of his weather apps showed the temperature was over 36 degrees and play would not resume until it dropped beneath the magic figure. The Warringah boys wondered what temperature it was during our fielding innings during the heat of the day. The umpire responded that he didn’t know as he didn’t take his phone out to the middle!? A long 2 hour wait ensued, with much discussion over various weather apps with Big Al discussing the virtues of Willy Wonka’s weather app. As the minutes ticked down to the 5pm cut off, at 4.56pm finally the temperature dipped and play was to resume. Warringah were given the revised target under the Duckworth Lewis Sterling Bureau of Meteorology App method of 95 runs in 15 overs with all 10 wickets in hand !
Warringah lost a couple of early wickets including WillyWeather Al (14) before a great partnership from Dolbs and Gravies (21) got us back on track and ahead of the required run rate. A monster 6 from Grant put us close to the target before Mark T Bone Turner and Dolbs closed it out with an over to spare. Dolbs hit the winning runs via a massive 6 and ended up 45 not out in an entertaining match winning innings. Somehow Warringah won what seemed an unwinnable game at the halfway mark and finished the season in clear 2nd place, celebrating hard at the Bowlo and lauded Dolbs ‘dropped catches win matches’ mantra. So that concludes an enjoyable Masters season. Special thanks to skipper BJ for all his hard work and poor tossing throughout the season. See you all next season !
Round 11
Warringah Classics next match vs. Castle Hill RSL at Mike Pawley Oval, Sunday 23 March.
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
Lachlan Molyneux, Noah Kasmar and Dusty Labador
clubcaptain.warringahcc@gmail.com
Club Secretary
Nic Johnson
secretary.warringahcc@gmail.com
Club Treasurer
Jeff Downs
treasurer.warringahcc@gmail.com
