GRAND FINALS and BRONZE MEDAL PLAY-OFFS THIS WEEKEND

The final game of cricket this Saturday Good luck to all teams this weekend who have made Grand Finals or the Bronze medal play off.  

MANLY MINIBASH T20

Congratulations to the U12 Gold, U13 Gold, U14 Gold and U15 Gold sides who played in Grand Finals last week, in pouring rain in some cases!   

TEAMS OF THE WEEK

Congratulations to the College First XI who this week claimed its 7^th Manly Cup T20 title in the last eight years.  Playing against Balgowlah Boys High School on Monday, the Firsts reduced BBHS to 9/96 off their 20 overs, with Josh Seward taking 4-9 and Luke Morley 3-17.  In reply, the run chase started shakily with the loss of a few wickets, but eventually steadied with handy contributions from Josh Blank (21), Cameron Powell 19* and Zac Youlten (15*) who secured the win with 4 overs to go.  A great effort for the First XI who finish the season with some silverware in the trophy cabinet.

SAINTS U13 GREENS INTO THE GF THIS WEEKEND

The Saints U13 Green team are in the big one this week.  In particular, the achievement is how we got there. 

The team was a largely random assortment of boys at the start of the season, with roughly half being existing students and half being new to school students.

We agreed at the outset of the season that we weren't playing for Australia, and that the most important thing for the boys, and for the parents, was to ensure that everyone got equal opportunity all the way through the season. 

I am proud to say that that is what happened, and in the process, every single player has improved and has made a contribution during the season. There have, of course been some standout performances at different times, but we have never had a reliance on any one person to hold up the team, because everyone got an opportunity to perform.  

The game we played last weekend made it really clear how powerful that was for the boys.  Our opponents, understandably, bowled their strike bowlers for the maximum allotted overs whereas we stuck to the formula and made sure that everyone got a bowl. 

The team know that they can win the Grand Final, which is an extraordinary turnaround from the start of the season. But that aside, I really do think that whatever happens, they have had a great team experience that they can carry into other challenges, whether they be sport or otherwise.  

As coach, Jeff Roberts has done an excellent job of creating the opportunity for the boys to perform, to enjoy themselves and to understand how a team dynamic can be so powerful.

Mat Bryant
U13 Green - Manager

STAFF V PARENTS T20 MATCH – WANT TO PLAY?

Time is running out to register for the match on this Friday 16^th March for the annual David Gilbert Shield match between St Augustine's College staff and parents.  

The match is a great social event and will be played at David Thomas (note field change), Manly Vale from 4:00pm with refreshments post match.  

Any interested parents are asked to email me ASAP to save their spot! - jscholtens@saintaug.nsw.edu.au  It will be a great afternoon of cricket and fun!    

James Scholtens
TiC of Cricket