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About Me

Manly Warringah District Cricket Club

https://manlycricket.com
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
The Manly Warringah District Cricket Club was founded in 1878. MWDCC is the second oldest existing cricket club in New South Wales. The club was an inaugural Grade Club in 1893-94 and continues to participate in the Sydney Grade Cricket Competition - the strongest non-first class cricket competition in the world.

My Activity

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Q: We would like to thank TC Web for their support of both the club and Joel Foster for the 2023/24 season. A local business committed to online excellence, the team at TC Web can take care of all your website and online advertising needs. Visit them at #bleedblue
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Q: Manly Warringah District Cricket Club Poidevin Gray Premiership winning team 1968-69

Back Row – P Stephenson, K Nichol, R Honeyman, P Spraggs, G Beard, K Turner

Front Row – R Andrew, N Coltman, P Harvey (Captain), F Turner, A Fraser, I Felton
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Q: This fortnight Howzat Building Waratahs in History Q & A is with Nathan Dodd. Nathan played 8 seasons for the Tahs from 1998/1999 to 2005/2006 scoring over 3000 runs for the club. Nathan moved into the world of coaching with his most recent position being the Senior Assistant/Batting coach for the Australian Intellectually Impaired men’s cricket team. The team competed in the Tri-Nations series in November 2023 losing to the “Poms” in the final.

How did your love of cricket come about as a child?

Like most guys I expect, playing in the backyard with your brother(s) and your dad.

Who were your cricket heroes growing up?

Brian Lara for his pure batsmanship and Justin Langer for his doggedness.
But also looked up to most guys playing for NSW as a kid.

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Q: Manly Warringah defeat Northern District by 15 runs in the 1973-74 Sydney Grade Cricket First Grade Final
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Q: Greg Bush - true competitor

Greg Bush made his first grade at the age of 17 and over the next 24 years amassed 10,171 runs playing for Mosman, North Sydney, Manly Warringah and Petersham Marrickville.

Bushy scored 15 centuries and 45 half centuries and averaged 29.14.

As an opening batsman he took on the fast bowlers with courage and skills and played across two eras – before and after the introduction of helmets.

A hugely popular figure across Sydney Grade Cricket, let’s find out more about Bushy’s time playing Sydney Grade Cricket

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Q: Manly Warringah Waratahs First Grade team in 1954/55.

You may be able to see the grass bike track around the oval.

The Team: Brooks, Walker, Robertson (Captain), Hayson, Verity, Brown, Taylor, Davey, C Demonfort, P Philpott, A Demonfort
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Q: Waratahs in History – Matt Cranney

This fortnight Howzat Building Waratahs in History Q & A is with Matt Cranney. Matt (“Son of Errol”/Loose) played 19 seasons for the Tahs from 1992/1993 to 2011/2012. A local junior who started his career at the club when he was only 14. In the clubs 146-year history Matt sits in the top 20 of the highest run scorers for the club with over 6000 runs. He is also a top bloke!

How did your love of cricket come about as a child?
Simple, my Dad Errol. We were always a cricketing family. My two older brothers and I would play backyard cricket all year round. We had a great backyard for cricket and would have friends over for backyard competitions. Future club legends like David Gainsford, Geoff Tucker and Dave Gardiner who were my eldest brothers age would terrorise me with a half-taped tennis ball, but this put me in good stead for when I came down to grade as a 14-yo and would face them in the old Grahams reserve nets.

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Q: Cameron Lawes is this week’s Manly Rentals Waratah in History. A white line fever fast bowler, Cameron was a big part of our club in the late 90’s and early 2000’s until his move up to greener pastures in Newcastle.

The man affectionately known as “Lawson” (Cameron Lawson, pad up) bowled quick and batted strong, and if not for injury could have played a lot higher level cricket.

Cameron had a great passion for our club, and was one of the leaders who helped set the club on its way around the turn of the century.

Take a read through Cameron’s time at the club.

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Cameron Lawes is this week’s Manly Rentals Waratah in History. A white line fever fast bowler, Ca ...
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Q: Manly Warringah ISC SPORT Weekend Wrap cover all the action from Saturday and Sunday is now online. Read about the Men’s Week 1 against Randwick-Petersham and the Women’s 3 from 3 to move the top of the Club Champs.

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Q: Our Manly Car and Truck Rentals Waratah in History Q&A is with the popular Ken Pitcher our first target. Ken was a great clubman in the 80’s and early 90’s and is commonly remembered as one of the nicest men to ever come out of the Peninsula. We really enjoyed the catch up. Moving forward we’ll release a Q&A every fortnight.

Today we are pleased to release the first Waratahs in History Q&A that we will be doing in the back half of the 2021/22 season. Every 2 weeks a new wrinkled Waratah will be interviewed with the results published on our website.

First up is Ken Pitcher, a long term and popular clubman who is as Manly as Manly Beach itself. We hope you enjoy the read.

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Richard Fry on Greg BushI played with Bushy for roughly 8 years and opened the batting with him for 4 years. He was extremely hard to get out when he got a start and k ...
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Craig Glassock joined the Manly Warringah District Cricket Club as a local junior in 1988 as a very promising wicket keeper batsman. He is Manly Warringah player number 1099.It didn’t take ...
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Q: This fortnight Howzat Building Waratahs in History Q & A is with Scott Patterson. Scott played 11 seasons for the Tahs from 2003/04 to 2013/2014. A local junior who started his career at the club when he was only 14. His debut in 1st Grade at the age of 18 saw him facing up to NSW legend Don Nash! A great read below which we hope you enjoy.

Who were your cricket heroes growing up?
Mark Waugh. Loved the way he played so effortlessly, particularly when playing the cover drive. First bat I owned was the Slazenger V800 to try and emulate him. Took a long time before I could hit it off the square.

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Q: Vale Alan Wright - 1951-2024.

Our entire club is deeply saddened at the passing of club stalwart Alan Wright.

Wrighty passed away on the morning of 3 January surrounded by loved ones. He was a huge part of our club over many years, winning the 2012/13 Clubman of the Year as well as a premiership with his beloved main grade. He was well remembered for his net captaincy, as well as being Craig Little’s right hand main in M3s for many years.

He continued his support of the club, often seen at Manly Oval of late supporting the Manly boys and girls.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and all of our club members that loved him so much.

We will provide information about his funeral when it comes to hand.
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Q: Tahs move into Xmas break with dominant performances – Weekend Wrap 23rd December 2023

Saturday saw the Men conclude the first half of their season with a dominant showing against Campbelltown-Camden across the grades, the Tahs taking 4 wins from the 5 clashes with the Ghosts.

M1s bounced back strongly from an agonising defeat last start, with an important away victory. Losing the toss, a decent start from Joel Foster (21) was halted by a few quick wickets to have the Tahs 4/59, before Ryan Farrell (51) and Ned Hole (38) combined for a crucial 79 run partnership to shift the momentum, Faz anchoring the Tahs’ innings while Ned took the attack to the Ghosts’ bowlers. Late cameos from Lachlan Coyte (27) and Ryan Hadley (19*) pushing the score to a competitive 222. Early breakthroughs to Hadley and Tom Kaye kicked off the bowling innings, until the Ghosts consolidated to have the game in the balance. Both set batters were soon gone though as Bertie Foreman picked up the first before being involved again shortly after with a ripping catch off the bowling of Josh Seward. From there, a consistent flow of wickets including poles to Foreman and Joel Foster kept the Tahs on top, but it was Seward who starred picking up his maiden 1st Grade five-wicket haul in a classy display of fast bowling. The Tahs victorious by 51 runs as the Ghosts were bowled out for 171.

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Q: Thanks to everyone who came along to the Saturday morning coaching clinic in Orange held by ourselves and Western Suburbs District Cricket Club as part of our visit across the weekend. A great couple of hours and an important part of the trip for both clubs
#bleedblue
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Q: Your favourite podcast, The Weekly Wicket, is back for another enthralling episode. We are glad to have you back.

The Weekly Wicket is proudly sponsored by our friends at The Cachet Group. Visit them at

This weeks drop features 2 of our club favourites in Jack and Mickey Edwards. They take us, eventually, to their initial contact with the game and their growth from Junior Reps right through to cricket becoming their career, in Mickey’s case almost by accident.

They give us some interesting insight into the life of a modern professional sportsman and how they have especially dealt with some of the focus that has come their way

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Q: Simon Waddington joined Manly Warring District Cricket Club after a playing his early grade cricket with Northern District Cricket Club. Simon is Northern District first grade player number 312 after making his debut against Campbelltown in January 1994.

In joining Simon is Waratah player number 1250.

Simon was an integral member of the 2000/01 Manly Warringah first grade limited overs premiership and has been very instrumental in the progress of Manly Warringah Women’s and Girls cricket over a number of years.

Simon played NSW 2nd XI cricket and is now plying his trade for NSW Over 50s cricket teams.

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Q: This fortnight Howzat Building Waratahs in History Q&A saw us speak with the newest Life Member of the club Tim Cruickshank (LM #53), a club member and player for 19 seasons. Tim played for the club from 1997/98 to 2016/17.

Tim is the only MWDCC player in the 145-year history to score over 10,000 runs (10,502) for the club, He amassed this total from 354 innings with a career average of 32.92. He has 14 club 100+ innings and 67 club 50+ scores as well. To put this in perspective we only have 3 players in the club history to score over 8000 runs.

Tim captained our 1st grade to their first premiership in 27 years in 2014/15.

Tim was most recently seen at the ex-player event at Manly Oval where he spent some time with his old mates enjoying the current 1st grade team having a victory.

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Q: Never fear, The Weekly Wicket is here, getting the working week quickly into gear. Sam Hole is back once again with his magnificent look at our club.

This week Sam chats to Rowan Hamman, past player, getting more and more involved with the club as part of our Partnership Program, and a successful businessman.

Rowan has a lot going on in his life these days, with work trips to the USA, an ever growing business and a bustling family life. But he still finds time to help shape our club.

He has it in his DNA with his father Stirling Hamman a well known cricket administrator in this state.

Take a listen below

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Q: Andrew Rochford announces immediate retirement

Back-to-back Premiership winning captain Andrew Rochford has announced his immediate playing retirement.

He will also be stepping down from his role on the Board.

Andrew has been a colossus for the club since coming back to the playing field 5 years ago after an almost 20 year hiatus.

His leadership on the field has been second to none. He always drove his teams to be the best that they could be, resulting in M4s winning back-to-back titles for the first time in any grade in our clubs history.

He will be sorely missed.

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Q: This fortnight Howzat Building Waratahs in History Q&A saw us speak with John Borzi, a club member and player for 8 years. John played for the club from 1985/86 to 1996/97.

“Borzi” was a captain extraordinaire with his best personal season being 1993/94. His bowling figures of 8-60 at a season average of 12.20, also his top score of 76 at the crease came in the same season.

Borzi is still seen around the grounds on occasions also attending ex-player events when he can make it.

We sat down with the “Borzi” for a chat through his time at Manly.

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Q: Our great friends at The Cachet Group bring us another episode of The Weekly Wicket. This week one of the true gentlemen of our club, David Gainsford, is up on the mic.

David was born and bred in the Bush but has lived his whole adult life on the Northern Beaches. It brings a great perspective to life, family and cricket that many of us have experienced over a long period of time.

Gainsy talks about what brought him to our club, his passion for helping people, as well as some of his great memories from his time involved in the game, both on and off the field.

Take a listen below. You can also search for the “The Weekly Wicket” on both Apple and Spotify Podcasts to get your weekly fix.

The Weekly Wicket is proudly sponsored by our friends at The Cachet Group. Visit them at

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Q: Men go 4 from 5 to return to winning ways – Weekend Wrap 14th/15th October 2023

The tables turned across the weekend with a very different series of results compared to last round, as the men went 4 from 5 to return to winning ways while the women had a frustrating weekend despite a phenomenal run chase victory in W3s.

M1’s bounced back superbly from last week’s nail-biting defeat, with a bonus point victory against UNSW. Winning the toss and bowling, Josh Seward (2/34) struck early, before it was the spin duo of Bertie Foreman (4/28) and Joel Davies (2/22) who bowled brilliantly in tandem to turn the game in the Tahs’ favour. UNSW all out for 172 inside 42 overs. The Tahs’ run chase was off to the perfect start courtesy of some clean hitting early from Matt Brewster (53) and Joel Foster (34). With the bonus point in sight, the Davies brothers then combined to seal a bonus point victory for the Tahs, Ollie finishing 52no and Joel 17no.

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Q: Another week, another episode of The Weekly Wicket. This week Sam Hole delves into the life and times of our W1s Captain, Saskia Horley.

Saskia takes us through her cricketing journey, how she has seen the Women’s pathway change over the last few years, the experiences with the Scottish national team and Middlesex county in England, and what is driving her for future success, both individually and with our W1s side.

Take a listen below. You can also search for the “The Weekly Wicket” on both Apple and Spotify Podcasts to get your weekly fix.

The Weekly Wicket is proudly sponsored by our friends at The Cachet Group. Visit them at

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Q: Manly Cricket Club training in 1958 at their home ground Brookvale Oval with a trotting track around the oval. 3 grades, all in whites. No coaches, 3 nets running with a fielding session in the background.
Terrific photo courtesy of Mike Pawley
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Q: The Weekly Wicket is back for another week with Sam Hole interviewing one of, if not the, greatest ever contributors to our club, current President Andrew Fraser.

Frase takes us through all the high’s and lows of his involvement with the club, his biggest highlights (which will surprise some) and what he thinks the future holds for both our club and NSW Premier Cricket.

Frase is known by many as the fun loving, always quick with a comment character, but his love for our club is greater than anyone could ever know across a 45 year span.

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Q: This fortnight Howzat Building Waratahs in History Q&A saw us speak with Robert Parkinson, a club member for 7 ½ years. Rob and his brother Sean moved down from Taree to play for the Waratah’s in 1989.

Rob and Sean have a unique record with Manly taking all 10 wickets between them on their debut in 5th Grade.

Rob has lived in Newcastle for the past 26 years. Rob plays in the Newcastle Grade cricket competition with his sons Will & Noah, they play for Newcastle City Cricket Club. Rob captained the 3rd grade team last season.

We sat down with the original “Parko” for a chat through his time at Manly.

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Q: The Manly Warringah Waratahs are giddy with excitement to announce that the club is diving head first into the realm of Podcasts.

Yes that’s right, the Tahs are doing what we believe to be one of the first Podcasts for Premier Cricket clubs around Australia with a new Weekly Podcast called “The Weekly Wicket”, proudly sponsored by our friends at The Cachet Group. Visit them at

The Podcast will be hosted each week by our MC for all occasions, Sam Hole.

We have some great guests lined up over the coming weeks, but we start if the series with a look into the career of our Men’s First Grade skipper Jay Lenton.

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Q: Our latest Howzat Building Waratahs in History Q&A we speak with Sam Mesite, a club member for over 50 years and still contributing as a member of our coaching staff. Sammy has performed almost every role across the club during his time and has a unique and long term perspective on both the club and Premier Cricket as a whole.

Sammy is one if the great men of our club and you won’t find to many bad words said about him. On the field he was a staunch opening batsmen who never gave his wicket away easily, and off the field he lives his life in a similar way.

We sat down with Sammy for a chat through his time at Manly.

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Q: Gage Roads join Waratahs corporate family

Gage Roads have continued their push into the Northern Beaches, with the Manly Warringah Waratahs delighted to confirm their partnership with the club.

They are locked in as one of the club partners for the next 3 seasons.

Proudly Independent and Australian owned, Gage Roads started their journey over 15 years ago in the Western Australia. In fact, they were named after the strip of ocean that separates Rottnest Island and Fremantle.

They are constantly inspired by their coastal home and the Australian love of the beach, and it has helped inspire then to brew some of Australia’s best craft beer and cider.

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Q: Josh Seward is Manly Warringah District Cricket Club player number 1509 after making his debut for the club in 2017-18. He made his first grade debut during the 2021-22 season.

Josh played a significant role in Manly 2020-21 and 2022-23 2nd Grade Premiership winning teams. In the 2022-23 grand final against Northern District Josh took 7 for 36 off 23 overs as Northern District were bowled out for 131.

If you can share with our readers how you would describe yourself as a cricketer?

Bowling all-rounder. A poor man's Chris Woakes or Pat Cummins.

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Josh Seward is Manly Warringah District Cricket Club player number 1509 after making his debut for the club in 2017-18. He made his first grade debut during the 2021-22 ...
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Q: We are pleased to have Craig Glassock as our first Howzat Building Waratah in History for the 2023/24 season.
Craig captained 1st grade for 5 years, starting in 1996/1997 season and continued through to the 2000/01 season. He captained 1st Grade to a premiership in the Limited overs competition in 2000/01 and was a big part of our club in the late 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s.
Craig returned to play 2nd grade in 2001/02 after suffering from a bout of chronic fatigue syndrome. He came back strong and that year in the semi-final at Manly Oval he scored his highest ever grade score of 261 breaking several club records along the way. Unfortunately, a 2nd grade premiership did not eventuate in a tight final battle!

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Q: Jason Gallian played grade cricket in Sydney for Manly (playing number 1033) and Mosman before moving to the United Kingdon and playing 259 first class games for Oxford University, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Essex.

Jason played 3 Tests for England (Test player 573) making his debut in the 3rd Test against West Indies in 1995 at Birmingham.

In his first class career Jason scored 15,266 runs at an average of 37.50 including 38 centuries and 72 half centuries. He also took 96 wickets at an average of 43.37.

Manly Warringah District Cricket Club is where it all started so let’s find out more about Jason’s journey

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Q: Craig Glassock joined the Manly Warringah District Cricket Club as a local junior in 1988 as a very promising wicket keeper batsman. He is Manly Warringah player number 1099.

It didn’t take long before Craig's talent and performances saw him move up the grades and he made his first grade debut at the age of 17 in 1991.

Playing for Manly Craig scored 5,428 runs at an average of 31.20 including 6 centuries and 26 half centuries

On the 2nd November 1994 Craig made his first class debut for NSW against Victoria at the MCG. He scored 14 and 26 with the bat and took 4 catches in Victoria’s first innings.

Craig played 4 first class games and 1 one day game for New South Wales

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Q: Manly Warringah District Cricket Club have announced their captains for the 2023-24 season.

Manly Warringah proudly sponsored by Mounties Group

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Manly Warringah District Cricket Club have announced their captains for the 2023-24 season.Manly Warringah proudly sponsored by Mounti ...
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Q: NSW Breakers star Ebony Hoskin joins Waratahs
The Mounties Manly Warringah Waratahs are pleased to confirm that NSW Breakers star Ebony Hoskin will join the club for the 2023/24 season.
A young fast bowler from Howlong on the boarder of NSW and Victoria, Ebony came through the NSW pathway system before making her debut in 2022/23 against Queensland, taking 3/34. She took a wicket with her first ball for NSW.
She has joined the NSW Breakers squad this year on a permanent basis.
Ebony has plied her trade with Campbelltown over the last few seasons but comes to Manly keen to make her mark.
“I’m very excited about joining the club, I’ve had some great conversations with the coaching staff so far and believe the club is moving in the right direction”.
“The Women’s program is still relatively new but the club clearly has big plans to become a real force.
“I also like the whole-of-club-attitude that seems to be a central part of the culture. Really looking forward to getting involved”.
We are looking forward to Ebony playing a big part of our 1st Grade side this season.
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Q: Stephen O’Keefe has informed the club that he will return to his junior club Hawkesbury for the upcoming 2023/24 season.
The man known as ‘SOK’ has been an extremely valuable member of our club since his arrival in 2009/10. His influence on our senior playing group has been immense, especially over the last few seasons.
He has helped game day warm up of our lower grade teams at Grahams Reserve when injured, contributed to training and coaching, and always been a willing helper.
He will be sorely missed.
However, as a cricket loving club, we applaud the move.
There’s no denying that the Hawks have had their on and off field challenges over the last few years. Their entire playing grounds and facilities being metres under water, not once but twice, was upsetting to see.
Now SOK wants to return to his junior club and help.
While we don’t know all the details, what we can tell you is that SOK has always put himself last. In-fact he has taken no money over the years from us, preferring to give anything on offer to others.
So, we are confident that this move is one of love. In what will probably be his last year of playing some cricket, a local junior done good returns to his roots. There’s nothing but respect there.
Across 88 matches, SOK took 155 wickets for the Waratahs at an average of 17.35. He took a career best of 9/54 against Campbelltown in 2016/17.
He hit 1,332 runs at 28.95 with a top score of 158 in 2009/10. He hit 2 centuries and 6 half centuries.
Best of luck SOK in what will likely be your final year, and we look forward to seeing him at Manly Oval soon.
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Q: David Gainsford joined Manly Warringah District Cricket Club in 1985 and became player number 1038.

From 1985 to 1997 David took 262 wickets at an impressive average of 23.31 and scored 2,453 runs at 22.27 including one hundred and 7 half centuries.

David also played first grade cricket for North Sydney and is player number 551 making his first grade debut for the bears against Randwick in the 1998/99 seasons.

David is a very proud Life Member of MWDCC and continues to make a tremendous and most valuable contribution to the club as Deputy President and Director of Cricket.

A country boy at heart, let’s find out more about David’s journey in the game

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Q: Manly Warringah District Cricket Club First Grade Premiers 1988-89

Back Row – Alan Waters (masseur), Mark Williams, Neil Tuckerman, Rowly Alexander, Gavin Fletcher, Richard Fry
Front Row –Steve Colby, Scott Grace, Greg Bush (Captain), Phil Marks, Steve Whitfield, Kerry Mackay
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Our Manly Car and Truck Rentals Waratah in History is the talents Ben King. Ben contributed a huge ...
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Our Manly Car and Truck Rentals Waratah in History Q&A is with the popular Ken Pitcher our first tar ...
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Manly Warringah Waratahs First Grade team in 1954/55.You may be able to see the grass bike track around the oval.The Team: Brooks, Walker, Robertson (Captain), Hayson ...
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Back Row - Roy Vumbaca (Club Coach), Josh Seward, Ben Bryant, Jacob O’Sullivan, Roop Dillon, Brynn Mendel, Will Harding (Manager), Andrew Fraser (President)Front Row - Tom Kaye, Lachlan C ...
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Simon Waddington joined Manly Warring District Cricket Club after a playing his early grade cricket with Northern District Cricket Club. Simon is Northern District first grade player number 312 aft ...
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Jason Gallian played grade cricket in Sydney for Manly (playing number 1033) and Mosman before moving to the United Kingdon and playing 259 first class games for Oxford University, Lancashire, Nott ...
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Our Ian Bird Photography Humpday HisTAHry takes us back to the 1975/76 season when 2nd grade, captained by Tom Purcell for the 1st half of the season and Ian H ...
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Back Row - AW Anderson (Honorary Secretary), G Beard, A Frazer, T Lee, J McPherson, P Allum, P Stephenson, J F Hodgson (President).Front Row - P Harvey, I Howell, M. Pawley (Captain), M Elli ...
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David Gainsford joined Manly Warringah District Cricket Club in 1985 and became player number 1038.From 1985 to 1997 David took 262 wickets at an impressive average of 23.31 and scored 2,453 ...
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Back Row – Alan Waters (masseur), Mark Williams, Neil Tuckerman, Rowly Alexander, Gavin Fletcher, Richard FryFront Row –Steve Colby, Scott Grace, Greg Bush (Captain), Phil Marks, Steve W ...