Where's Wally - St George v Manly 1999- 2000 One Day Final
Paul Ryan | January 29, 2023
It's fair to say the St George First Grade team went into the 1999/2000 One Day Competition Final against Manly with our tails well and truly between our legs.
As fate would have it, 24 hours earlier the same two teams walked through the gates at Hurstville Oval in preparation for the 2nd day of a two day game with Manly set to chase Saints first innings total of 223.
With the Grand Final the following day both teams were looking for a win and a psychological edge.
Saints began well with Manly losing their first 3 wickets with only 53 runs on the board however that was about as much joy as we had as Manly passed our total 4 wickets down after 77 overs. Former NSW State players Shawn Bradstreet 80 not out and skipper Craig Glassock 58 not out flexed their muscles and were simply too good.
6 points and the psychological edge to Manly.
Off to Manly Oval for the Grand Final - a picturesque ground and 2-minute walk from the famous Manly beach.
Manly Oval is not a big ground. There's a walk way where people can stroll around the boundary fence, a grandstand, and a grassed hill perfect for picnics or.....a party. It’s a great place to play and watch any sport as everyone is close to the action.
As we finished our warm-up I headed to the sheds and noticed a couple of young Saints lower grade players perched in front of the grandstand. My first thought, gee they’re early and a long way from home.
They’d been on a train, ferry, and ready to roll up their sleeves in support of Saints. I’m not sure how much sleep they had the night before as they were a tad warmed up and their support was greatly appreciated.
Sorry, I have no idea who won the toss, but Saints were batting.
Did I say, we turned up with our tails between our legs?
Well, how do you think we were going at 5 for 28 after 15 overs?
Nathan Pilon 6, Brett Van Diensen 5, Nathan Catalano 1, Graeme Rummans 7 and Brad McNamara 0, all back in the sheds.
Now there’s one thing about the Manly Cricket Club, they’re a marketing machine. Most of the players within their club live close by, so along with parents, family, supporters, and sponsors you can imagine their excitement at the prospects of a win. The hill was going berserk.
There was however one notable Manly supporter we’d noticed on the hill. We’ll call him Wally.
Back to the cricket, Scott Thompson stopped the early carnage with a superb 51 and this time our tails wagged for the right reasons as we made our way to a meagre 146. It’d taken us 49.2 over to score the runs so at least the game was going to go into the afternoon.
Sunday afternoons at Manly are always fun, beers in hand.
Matthew Burton was the pick of the Manly bowlers with 3 for 15. Jamie Heath, Jonny Moss, and Billy Newell picked up 2 wickets each.
Now it was Manly’s turn at the crease and Matthew Phelps and Brian Clemow made their way to the wicket, The key for Saints was early wickets and scoreboard pressure.
Like any game of cricket, the longer they took to score the runs the more chance we had of winning.
At 0 for 30 off 10 overs, the Manly locals were letting the Saints boys know of their excitement.
It was about that time when a Manly supporter asked me a question, “hey why do they call you Ryno”?
With no time to reply, they bellowed, “is it because you have a fat arse”
His mates weren’t the only ones laughing, 11 Saints players joined in on the fun as well.
My wife, who’d heard it, got the giggles and over the years has shared this little tale with our kids. To this day all three continue to ask and answer with the same cheekiness.
Whilst Manly Oval it close to the beach, it is surrounded by busy roads, blocks of units, tennis courts, a bowling club, a memorial club, and beach side hotels.
Enter Wally.
With Manly on top and their supporters full of voice, there was an unexpected moment of cheer and laughter from the hill. Wally had left his mates and made his way across Sydney Road into someone’s unit and started waving to the crowd.
We had no idea whether it was his unit or not but it soon became clear the man dressed as “Where’s Wally” was going to keep the crowd entertained.
Another cheer, this time it’s the Saints boys and our supporters as Clemow was out for 27 and Manly had lost their first wicket with 37 runs from 12 overs.
At one down, the old pro Buzzard McNamara’s motor starts to click into gear and he removed Splojaric for a duck. 2 for 45.
What do you know, and how often does it happen in a game of cricket, there’s a run out and Phelps is out for 17. 3 for 48.
As he did more often and better than most with either bat or ball in hand Buzzard took the game by the scruff of the neck and had Bradstreet and Glassock both caught behind by Nathan Pilon for 0. Manly, now 5 for 57 and then 6 for 63 after 26 overs. Scoreboard pressure.
The noise for the hill had subsided but soon there was a roar of laughter as Wally had made his way to the Memorial Club’s front door.
Soon, in fits of laughter, we see Wally hanging out the back window of a car waving all the way down Sydney Road. Very funny.
Peter Procopis and his leg-spinning teammate McInnes take up the challenge and the game is still in the balance.
Both batsmen knuckle down for the next 12 overs but with the score on 95, McInnes loses his wicket.
Soon, Wally can be seen on top of one of the Manly Hotels hundreds of metres away. How did he get there?
Left-arm spinner Peter Wooden picks up Procopis for 24 and then two quick run outs Manly are bowled out for 108 off 45.3 over and Saints become the one-day champions for the 1999/2000 season.
It was a great bowling effort led by Buzzard with 3 for 21 off his 10 overs and Stephen Wark, who may not have picked up a wicket but bowled a fantastic miserly spell with 0 for 9 off 8 overs. Jimmy Turner and Peter Wooden took 2 wickets each.
What a day, a fantastic game of cricket, fantastic support and good humour from the crowd and of course, Wally
Where did Wally end up?
Where else but photo bombing the St George’s team photo and drinking beers with the Saints players and supporters. You’d be pleased to know the Saints early birds were still going strong as well.
Who said Grade Cricket’s not important.
Footnote:
After publishing, I’ve been able to establish Wally’s identity - Jay Trevaskis
I’ve been informed Jay was a handy all-rounder and played 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade for Manly over a number of years.
He entertained everyone on the day, was a great sport and his tweet would indicate he still is. Well played Jay
A big thanks to our scorer and team manager Phil Stelzer and Colin Clowes, Librarian at CricketNSW for the scorecard and match details
