The enigmatic Ryan Bonnor
Manly Warringah District Cricket Club | December 24, 2024
Ryan Bonnor will go down as one of the most talented all-round cricketers ever to play for Manly.
A leg-spinning all-rounder, the man affectionately known as "Doochy" could do it all.
When he was on with the ball, it was amazing to see. He had a click of his fingers that was a pleasure to listen to, and showed that the ball was spinning big. You could almost pick his variations just from listening to how loud his "click" was.
His hands were almost the size of Phil Marks, a trait also held by the greatest leg spinner of them all, Shane Warne.
With the bat, he could hit them big. While just falling short of hitting a hundred for the club, he managed 14 half-centuries for Manly, many of them at better than a run a ball. Clearing the sight screen was his speciality.
He was also an extremely astute Captain and a great leader, captaining 2nd Grade in 2011/12 to a Grand Final. His calm and relaxed demeanour always brought out the best in his team.
Bonnor has some of the great stories around him. The most famous was when, after a head-turning debut season in first grade, he turned down a NSW rookie contract for the 20023/04 season because playing professional cricket just wasn't his thing. This was after taking 44 1st Grade wickets in his debut season in NSW Premier Cricket 1st Grade.
In typical Bonnor fashion, he actually decided to not even play cricket the season he was offered a professional contract, only to return 2 years later.
The other special thing about Bonnor was his nickname. Dootchy. It came from Matt Cranney, and was derived after being called Danny Bonaduce one fateful afternoon. He came to be known as "Dootchy" for a decade, with many varieties, including different ways to spell it, brought up over that time.
Overall, Bonnor played every Grade for Manly, hitting 3,167 runs at 19.43. He took 257 wickets at 26.83, with a best of 6 for 37 in 2001/02 against Fairfield-Liverpool. He played from 1997/98 until 2013/14 with a few sabbaticals along the way.
Ryan Bonner. One of our favourite players of the modern era.
