Manly 11-63 in 35.0 overs (F McNamara 4-13, Z Hart 2-8, G Lowy 2-15) def by Sutherland 7-65 in 35.0 overs (F McNamara 21).

Round 6 of the U11 Presidents Cup saw Sutherland take on Manly at home.  After arriving at Como and finding a series of lakes on the field, the two teams, together with the umpires, relocated to Corea Street, Sylvania.  Sutherland won the toss and elected to bowl first in fine, sunny conditions.

With a very lush outfield greeting the two teams, tight bowling with minimal sundries was  always going to restrict runs to a trickle.  Our frontline bowlers, Zac Hart, Tom Church, Guy Lowy, Finn McNamara, Kobi Marcellino, Josh Mathews and Josh Matwijiw all bowled well and we had Manly 4-27 at the 20-over mark. 

Three of the first four Manly wickets fell to run-outs … it goes to show what can happen when tight bowling is supported by good, competent fielding.  Well done to Finn McNamara, Kobi Marcellino, Cody Philipson, Nathan Abbott, Dan Entwistle and Lochie Fraser for their inspired fielding and wicket-keeping.

Manly were bowled out in the 35^th over for 63 with Finn McNamara (4-13), Zac Hart (2-8) and Guy Lowy (2-15) the wicket takers.

Sutherland took to the crease after lunch in fine conditions.  The Manly bowlers produced some good, tight, bowling and run-scoring on the lush field proved to be a challenge.  In the end, a patient innings from Finn McNamara (21), supported by Cody Philipson (9) and Zac Hart (7no) saw Sutherland home in the 35^th over.

This Sutherland U11 Presidents Cup team really did produce some good cricket as the season went on, their only loss being a narrow nine-run loss to Central Coast way back in Round 1.

I’d like to thank Coach Scott Philipson for the significant amount of time and energy he put into the team this season and I’d like to thank our scorer Steve Marcellino for taking the scorer’s role into the twenty-first century and recording details of every ball bowled on his iPad.  I’d also like to thank all of the parents for their support throughout this Rep season.

A fine day at Castle Hill saw us lose the toss and asked to bowl against the hosts. Tight bowling from our opening bowlers Dylan L (1/13 off 10 overs) and Stephen C (1/20 off eight) saw us strangle Hornsby early. Despite wickets being hard to come by, our bowlers continued to  keep pressure on the top order batsmen. Spinner Adam B bowled 13 straight overs finishing with figuresof 2/39. Some lusty hitting by Hornsby at the end saw them finish at 4/137. For the most part our fielding was quite good but we did have some lapses in the field. Our other bowlers Matt Z, Sean B, Paul F and Jake C bowled disciplined line and length which frustrated the opposition and kept the target score to a very obtainable total.  

Unfortunately we lost our 2 openers  before too many runs were on the scoreboard. Matt Z played a great anchoring innings (22 runs) with steadying partnerships alongside Jackson R-Y, Tim B and Stephen C. A trailblazing innings by the captain Stephen C saw him bludgeon 40 runs in quick time and we were well on our way to victory upon his dismissal. A solid unbeaten 8th wicket partnership of 20 between Paul F and Jake C saw us pass Hornsby’s total in the 47th over.

Of the only 3 games completed, our boys won 2 and lost a close one. Congratulations to all the boys on their performances as well as the pride that the took in representing Sutherland. Thanks to coach Rick F for all his efforts and guiding the boys throughout the competition.

At last some fine weather and off to Manly we went. A correct call by Mat at the toss and the Sutherland opening batsmen were padded up and ready to get things underway. Michael and Jordan gave us a solid start until the loss of two quick wickets saw Shaun join Jordan at the crease where he increased the run rate with some good hitting before departing for 12.  

This brought Mat in who played a terrific captain’s innings and combined with Jordan for a solid partnership until Jordan was caught after a well made 27. Liam was moved up the order to get the run rate up and didn’t let us down, both he and Mat finishing with 35 runs apiece, Liam remaining not out. There was a rush of wickets towards the end as we attempted to get every last run in the final overs and at the completion we were left at 7 for 132, a reasonable result on a slowish outfield.

The Manly run chase began with their opening batsmen attacking our opening bowlers which left the boys a little shell shocked until a spectacular catch by Patrick “ramp champ” Heptinstall at first slip lifted team spirits and got the talk going again. Liam followed up quickly with his 2nd wicket after a catch behind by Dom to get us back in the game however Manly’s hard hitting opening batsman was still at the crease and moving the score along with some big hitting. Afternoon tea was taken after 20 overs with Manly well placed at 2 for 62. When play resumed our spin twins Patrick and Dom were introduced, bowling well without luck, and Manly moving to 2 for 92 until the game change dramatically. The boys then took 8 wickets for 19 runs to reduce Manly to 10 for 111, Patrick taking 4 for 21 off ten and Dom 3 for 28 also off ten overs. Angus hitting the stumps with a great throw from cover to provide the other wicket. So it came down to Sutherland requiring 1 wicket and Manly needing 22 runs for victory.  Despite some good bowling it was not to be and the final Manly pairing got them over the line with 6 balls to spare.

Overall it was a very exciting game of cricket with Sutherland out of it before the boys put in a wonderful effort to get us back in the hunt only for Manly to claw back right at the end. Unfortunately our catching really cost us this game, dropping their top scoring batsman (67) 5 times as well both of their last two batsmen once each. Enough said about that.

Our last game against St George next week, let’s play like we know we can. 

Peter (Coach)

Our game was moved at the last moment to a beautiful sea side ground at Collaroy. Our Captain Jesse won the toss again and staying to script again elected to bat.

Our openers Luke Gay (22) and Tim Brandt (25), smashing a short pitched delivery for six, worked well together setting our batting platform, seeing off Manly’s opening  and  first change bowlers. Unfortunately for us Manly brought on their spinner. Manly’s spinner taking the wickets of Tim, Luke, Jesse (7) and Macka (0). Looking to consolidate our innings, Brady (17) batted well developing a valuable partnership with MC who scored a quick fire 23 looking to lift the run rate. Good batting by Josh (5) unfortunately run out with a mix up, saw Christian (5n.o.) and Daniel (2 n.o.) batting out the 50 overs reaching a total of 127.

Our bowling and fielding this week was very good but only in patches. The opening bowlers Nik 2-13(5) and speedster Jack 0-17(4) were supported well with further tight bowling from Daniel 0-3(3) and Declan who succumbed to a back strain 0-8(3). Manly’s number 3 who also hit a six took up the fight. Hitting the ball hard, through the line, Jess 1-11(7) decided to bowl himself and our leggy Kyle 1-18(4) taking the pace off the ball. This frustrated the Manly batting and Christian with some excellent bowling getting BBF of 3-6(4) with further support from Josh 1-8(3), Tim 1-4(3) and Luke 0-9(3).

In the field another classic catch was taken. Not by the usual suspect Josh who also had a good day himself with a catch and a direct hit run out, but by Declan Casey. A classic and we needed the wicket as Manly were starting to develop a partnership at the time. Good catches were taken by Daniel and Kyle with Kyle also contributing to a run out. MC taking a good catch at square leg also supported the bowlers with some great fielding preventing Manly from scoring. Our keeper Macka had another tidy game taking two catches behind the stumps.

This season the U12 Presidents finished the year undefeated. We bowled out every team we played, with no Presidents opposition team scoring more than 100 runs against us. This is a great effort by the boys, who work well in the field as a team, giving each other great support.

We would like to thank Manly who were very hospitable and provided a lovely BBQ lunch.

As this was our last game this season, with the bye next week, I would like to thank the boys who have a great attitude making it easy to coach and the support from their parents. I would also like to thank Mark Holmes who does a tremendous amount of work as Manager and our scorers this year, Damien Gay, Lisa Brandt and Alison Morrison. I also can not forget to thank Kim Newton our Social Manager.  We have a very good social parent group. This is largely contributed by the social events organised by Kim, including our stay at Penrith.

Thank you to the SSJCA for giving me the opportunity to coach this team. I have met some wonderful people and great kids. Not only have I enjoyed seeing the boys succeed but also made some good friends.

Steve Croft

Sutherland 10-113 in 39.5 overs (L Fraser 18, N Abbott 12, T Church 12, Z Hart 12) def Penrith 11-108 in 40 overs (Z Hart 4-16, K Marcellino 2-13, J Mathews 1-9, T Church 1-21).

Round 5 of the U11 Presidents Cup saw Sutherland take on Penrith at home.  After losing the toss, Sutherland were asked to bat first in fine, sunny conditions.

Our new opening combination of Kobi Marcellino and Cody Philipson delivered a solid opening stand of 18 runs in six overs which was more than satisfactory given the very lush and slow outfield.  Indeed, most of our batsmen made confident starts to their innings, only to perish trying to hit big shots.

Special mention goes to Lochie Fraser (18) and Thomas Church (12) coming in at six and seven who both concentrated hard and made sure Sutherland batted through to the 40^th over.  Nathan Abbott (12) in the top order and Zac Hart (12) in the lower order made useful contributions, allowing Sutherland to finish with 113 runs.

Penrith took to the crease after lunch in hot conditions.  Our bowlers produced good, tight, line and length bowling for the most part and this enabled Sutherland to maintain pressure on the Penrith batsmen.  Our first wicket finally came in the 21^st over by which time Penrith were well behind the required run rate.

Zac Hart bowled very well taking 4-16 from his six overs.  Thomas Church, Kobi Marcellino, Josh Matwijiw, Guy Lowy and Josh Mathews all bowled well in the hot conditions.

To their credit, Penrith tried hard to increase their run rate and were within 9 runs of Sutherland with one over left to bowl.  Thomas Church, however, bowled an excellent final over, conceding just four runs and Penrith finished five runs short of the Sutherland score.

After an enjoyable team stay at Penrith Panthers it was a hot, humid day when we stepped outside our hotel on Sunday morning.  On arrival at the ground we soon realised that gumboots would have been the most suitable attire for the day.  We were in for a long day at the office.  We again won the toss and elected to bat.  We knew the runs were going to be hard to come by.  The ground was slow, wet and heavy.  The grass was long.  Singles were the order of the day, any 2’s would be a bonus.

 Our openers Luke and Tim started off nicely until Timmy was out for 3.  Bring Jesse to the crease who looked confident from the start.  Jesse and Luke steered the ship nicely.  Jesse batting really well, quick singles and a few 2’s.  Unfortunately he was run out on 18.  MC (5), MAC (2), Brady (4) and Nick (1) decided it was a tad hot out there and wanted to give others a bash. Luke battled it out very professionally today. He knew he had to stay out there as long as he could.  He got a fantastic 28 runs.  Well done Luke.  In came Josh.  Looking the goods and batted beautifully for his 11 runs.  Played some great shots and was unfortunately out lbw.  Jack & Christian both batted well.  Some great shots and did their job, Jack lbw for 7 and Christian having a crack and went for 9. We knew it was hot and we knew it was tough out there but we wanted to bat out the overs.  Declan was told to bat patiently and stay in.  That he did.  Superb knock from our opening bowler.  He was bowled for 8 having a red hot go.  Well done Declan.  Daniel not out, holding the other end on 0.

After a much needed rest, the sun came out and it was even hotter!!  We wanted to get this over and done with.  The boys had watched the Sydney 6ers the previous night and all they wanted to do was get 2 wickets in the first over like Brett Lee!!  A wicket first ball was another request from our captain.  Well Jack didn’t disappoint.  A perfect opening spell.  2 wickets in the first 2 overs!  Well done Jack. He ended the day with 2 wickets for 7 runs off 5 overs.  Well bowled buddy.  Nick was tight at the other end.   Unlucky not to get a wicket and only going for 4 runs off his 3 overs.  Dynamite Declan….who had a sore back, sore ankle and had just batted had a blinder.  At one point Penrith were backing away from his bowling.  He was bowling that well they just didn’t know what to do.  Declan ended the day with fantastic figures – 3 for 3 off 5.  Josh was unlucky not to get a wicket with 4 runs off his 3 overs.  Christian bowled great and again unlucky, 3 overs for 2 runs.  Daniel 4 overs for 7.  The pleasing things was seeing our 2 spinners MC and Brady having a crack today.  The coach threw them the ball and after being told “if you went for more than 2 you will be hooked..” the boys knew they had to keep it tight.  Brady, getting his 1^st rep wicket 1 for 5 off 4.  MC, the ever improving spinner unlucky not to get a wicket for his 4 runs  off 4 overs.  The ever consistent Timmy with fantastic figures of 2 for 2 off 3.  Our run getters didn’t want to be left out with Luke bowling 2 overs and only going for 2 runs and Jesse his usual tight self 1 for 1 off 3.

 The pleasing thing was our fielding in this heat.  Some fantastic run outs today.  MC with a blinder of a direct hit and two great throws by Brady finished off well by keeper Macka securing the run outs.  Josh Perritt another cracker of a catch.  Each week Josh shows us his fantastic fielding skills.  It would have been easy for us to fall asleep out there today, it was hot and it was slow but to our boys credit they flicked that usual switch they do when they go out in the field and we eventually bowled Penrith out for 41. 

 MAC kept fantastic out there today, not letting a bye through.  Well done MAC.

 Our deserved man of the match was Declan Casey having a wonderful all round game.  There were a few contenders out there but Declan really played well.

 One game to go boys, we are on top so let’s stay there.

 Another proud moment was when the umpire called our manager aside to make a comment he wanted passed onto the team and parents that “he has never umpired a more courteous and respectful bunch of boys.  They are a credit to your association and your parents.  You have a great little captain there in Jesse…….thank you”.

 To Penrith’s credit they are a much improved side from last year.  They bowled really well and the fielding was great.  At the end of the day it was fantastic effort in the field that got us over the line again.

 Well done boys.

Finally the weather gave us a chance to play a full game. Transferred from Penrith to Ludenham to find a dry ground, the boys were eager to get on to the pitch. The loss of the toss saw us sent into bat. Runs were difficult to come by early but James K. started to find the gaps for the 1′s and 2′s.

A 61 partnership between James anf Jackson R-Y saw us at 2/77 in the 31st over. Jackson received an unfavourable LBW decision on 24 and James went on to make an impressive 48, leaving the wicket on a harsh run out decision.

Captain Stephen C. blasted a quick fire 25 which saw Sutho 6/113 in the 39th over. The tail was not able to wag as well as we would have liked, being dismissed for 139 after 48 overs.

Great line and length by all our bowlers and smart fielding  had Penrith 6/89 after 28 overs. Dylan L, Stephen C, Paul F and Adam B the wicket takers. Unfortunately Sutho were unable to get through the tail with Penrith passing our score in the 46th over with 7 wickets down.

The game ebbed and flowed and had both team’s spectators twitching in their seats until the end. The result could have gone either way. This time it went to the opposition.

Well done boys. We just faded at the end of our batting innings and our fielding suffered at the end due to the heat, but again each one of the boys played for each other. Hopefully Dylan’s hand injury repairs itself quickly.

For game 5 the Sutherland U14 Presidents travelled west on the M4 to Penrith for what we hoped would be a rain free day for the team to have the opportunity to finally finish a game. Showers were forecast for later in the afternoon and the forecast temperature was for 30°C so the plan was to field first if we won the toss just in case the game was again reduced by rain, and we also didn’t want to be fielding in the afternoon heat.

Upon arriving at the Jamison (3) ground we found it in nearly an unplayable condition – the grass was very long and there were sections of the field under water, though you couldn’t see it because of the long grass. A quick call by the local umpire found a smaller and dryer oval a few kilometres away so some parents rushed off to this ground with the team leaving other parents to pack up our gazebos and other belongings. We found ourselves at a little oasis – Blue Hills Oval – a small oval (used for U12’s) surrounded by a white picket fence, plenty of high ground to the east so spectators and teams could sit up higher affording uninterrupted views of the field.

Penrith won the toss and had no hesitation in sending us in to bat. Our openers Jordan and Michael had a quick and less than ideal warm-up and the match started 20 minutes later than the scheduled start time. Well, the Penrith bowling in the morning conditions was very, very good, getting a lot of movement in the air and off the pitch which caused our top order batsmen a lot of problems. Their fielding was sharp and despite the smaller field runs were very difficult to score. The boys tried hard to keep the runs ticking over but the Penrith attack was doing its job and there were some signs of rust in our batting. After 24 overs we were 6 for 33 and struggling against an upbeat Penrith side. The fight was tough and Shaun stayed in for over an hour to make a valuable 6 runs. Over this time Shaun gradually helped change the momentum and little by little the batting partnerships started to build. After 30 overs we were 6 for 36 – we’d scored 3 runs in 6 overs and a total of 75 was looking a reality. Wrong – Dominic, Angus, Liam and Darcy turned the match on it’s head scoring another 79 runs. The Penrith pace and swing bowlers were brought back for the last 10 overs, but by then the momentum had changed. Dom finished with 24, Angus with 21, Darcy with 16 and Liam not out 18, including a big 6 straight down the wicket. Patrick found himself needing to bat and face the last two balls against the Penrith speedsters.  A nice little flick off the last ball saw Pat not out 1 – and every run at this stage was “gold”. So we finished our innings at 115 – a fantastic effort and a target well worth defending. After all, the Sutho bowling attack had been potent in all previous matches so the team had confidence in their ability to defend this total. At this point I must thank Nicole Bramah for her studious effort in scoring for the first innings, and spending the entire lunch time reviewing the scores to find the 1 run that had alluded both scorers. You see, there was a scoring discrepancy of 1 run and with a low score to defend, every run counts. Thanks to Nicole she found the 1 run and the score of 115 stood, making the Penrith target 116.

After a reduced lunch interval Penrith started their innings and the chase for 116 runs. Not to be outdone by the Penrith bowling attack the Sutho attack was equal to the task, assisted by some great glove work (and body on the line stuff) by Dom behind the stumps. The Penrith intention was plain to see – they needed just over 2 runs per over to stay ahead of the run rate in case of rain shortening the match, and they were swinging at every ball. It didn’t rain and the forecast hot temperature didn’t eventuate, making conditions in the field more bearable than first thought. There was a nice easterly breeze blowing which kept the spectators comfortable, but I’m not sure this reached the field. While Penrith also found it difficult to score runs they would have been confident with the knowledge they only needed just over two runs an over to pass the Sutho total. Of course the Sutho team was also quietly confident and Jacob started the ball rolling in his second over by removing the Penrith female opener with a great delivery. I must confess that I didn’t see all of the dismissals – I was too nervous at different stages (Peter I’m looking forward to handing the reins back asap – this coaching caper is bad for the health). Anyway, through some tight bowling by Jacob, Darcy, Angus, Liam, great fielding and sharp catching Sutho had Penrith at 6 – 42 after 24 overs (we were 6-33 at the same stage). The dangerous Penrith top order had been removed and you could see the confidence in the Sutho team gradually build though the Penrith innings was only half way through and their batsmen were also starting to slowly build partnerships – a point that was not lost on the spectators. Michael and Patty came on after 20 overs with Patty bowling the dangerous batsmen with his fourth ball. Michael kept the batsmen pinned down from one end while Patty enticed them at the other. This was a great session to watch – you could see the batsmen getting frustrated that they couldn’t score more quickly and they started to swing at every ball Patty bowled. Patty was rewarded for his great bowling with another wicket to finish his 5 over spell. The opening bowlers were brought back on for the last 20 overs in an attempt to strangle the Penrith batsmen. And what a seesawing 20 overs this was. Three of the Penrith batsmen provided stern opposition and helped keep the spectators on edge, but the Sutho team didn’t panic, they maintained their focus and they cleaned up the last 5 batsmen for 52 runs, restricting Penrith to 103 in 48 overs. The final wicket falling when Ethan caught a high, hard (and travelling) ball at square leg from the Penrith Captain who was injured and had a runner. I thought the ball had passed over Ethan’s because he would have been unsighted as the square leg umpire was standing right in line with the ball flight. Luckily the umpire ducked in time for Ethan to see the ball and take a great catch, sparking celebrations from the Sutho team, parents and spectators. The bowling figures were impressive – well done bowlers, that was a great effort and backed up by Dom at wicket keeper and the rest of the team in the field. Jacob – 10 overs 1 for 21; Darcy – 10 overs 3 for 13; Angus – 9 overs 4 for 23, Liam – 9 overs 0 for 13, Pat – 5 overs 2 for 29; Michael – 5 overs 0 for 2.

This was a great effort boys – you had the confidence and self belief in each other, and you looked like you enjoyed it ! This was a match that could have been lost if it weren’t for your never say die attitude.

I would also like to thank all parents who helped pack up (quickly) and move to the second oval to allow the match to go ahead. As it turned out this was a great decision and good for the boys to finally play a full match, especially after the holidays when they need to blow the rust away. And a special thank you to the scorers – Nicole, Daryl and Danny; the square leg umpires – Daryl and Danny; and Daryl for helping with coaching and getting the boys ready for the game.

Joint Premiers!!

With Sutho well on top the weather intervened to decide the outcome.

On a good batting deck the boys bowled very straight & fielded well to restrict Newcastle to a modest score. Mitch 3-33, Pat 1-10, Cameron 2-31, Ross 1-18 & Dan 0-34 off 12 overs all bowled well with Cameron putting in a tremendous effort with 12 very strong overs where he hit the deck very hard.

Sutho were 0-57 off only 15 overs & well on their way to a win. 5 sixes from D.G. (46n.o.) & some excellent opening batting from Harry saw Sutho away to a flyer! And then it rained . . . & rained . . . & . . .

Congratulations to the boys on a great team effort to win the Watson Shield in your final year of junior rep’ cricket. The team was very well captained by Oliver & coached by Mark Chapman with the best band of supporting parents we could have hoped for! What a team!!!

What a game.  It had everything – all the weather elements (lost count of the play interruptions), tension, anguish, determination, and ending with a fantastic win to take the boys through to the Watson Shield final.
Central Coast had not been beaten in this series.  We were minus our captain, with Oliver Selby unable to play,  so Harry Chapman was named captain for this game.  We lost the toss and Central Coast elected to bat. We were off to a great start with Mitch Selwood, Ben Hallman and Pat Driscoll keeping the bowling tight even though the wickets did not fall early.  At the first drinks break, it was 0 for 33 off 17 overs and so something had to change and change quickly.  And it did, with the next session taking 4 wickets but coming at a cost of 69 runs but their dangerous opener was out thanks to a catch by Marcus Beattie.  With morning tea now over the boys needed to take wickets and keep the runs down.  The boys were up to the task with tight bowling by Cameron Burgess, Dan Fallins  and Jarrod Coughtrey putting Central Coast under huge pressure.  However, with a rain delay reducing the innings to 54 overs, and then some low order slogging, the runs again started to build but the boys managed to still take wickets and in the end the Central Coast was all out for 182 in the 54th (last) over.
By now the rain was on and off and we knew that we had to be in front of the required run rate at the minimum 30th over mark and then stay in front each over after that as it was impossible to tell how much of the game was going to be lost while we were batting.  We needed a strong early knock and Harry Chapman gave us a strong captain’s performance (50 runs) and guided us through the first 27 overs.  Daniel Grant looked strong early but it didn’t turn out to be his day.  Ross Hickman was solid in supporting Harry to take us through for the next 12 overs with further rain interruptions along the way. The calculators were out as everyone could sense that the game was going to be close.  Mitch Selwood produced a quick 14 and Dan Fallins a quick 18 and we were edging toward being in front, but just not quite there.  More rain interruptions, thunder, lightning, winter cold, strong winds and poor light made the elements difficult. We were feeling the pressure and all the parents were either on the edge of their seats or just couldn’t sit down – this one was going down to the wire.  We were losing wickets and the pressure was close to unbearable.  Angus Dibley batted solidly for 11 runs but we were still slightly behind in the runs. More rain, couple more overs, more rain, couple more overs and it continued.  Joel Beattie and Ben Hallman were in the middle, in the sheds, in the middle importantly keeping their heads, but the run rate was still slightly behind. Another rain shower and this time there was a chance that we were not getting back on but we needed to as we were still behind in the run rate.  Our innings had been reduced to 52 overs, then 49 overs, and ultimately 47 overs when we got back on and with the umpires declaring only 3 overs to go (it was now 6.20pm). Joel was run out taking a second run and Pat Driscoll was next in.  We still needed 9 runs off 15 balls to win.  It was knife edge stuff. Ben was batting brilliantly (33 not out) and he saw us home in the last over of the day for the boys to take a fantastic win and a well deserved place in the final.
A spectacular game from a fantastic team which included seven new faces for this season.  As coach Mark said, the boys play together as a team and he couldn’t be more proud of them.  Bring on the final against Newcastle.