Ian North and David Lang had the pleasure of playing cricket in England during the Ashes series in July 2005 with another Brookvale Hotel co-sponsored club, Collaroy Plateau Cricket Club. It was during this tour that a proposal was put forward that a social match be played between Collaroy and the Manly Breakers. The match was to be played annually and known as the “Brookvale Challenge.” This vision subsequently became a reality when on 12 March 2006 at Frank Gray Reserve, Curl Curl the 45-over, 12-a-side match was played under perfect weather conditions.

The toss was won by the Collaroy boys who decided to bat first on a turf pitch that looked to be a good batting track with the surface somewhat hard and true but with a tinge of green had something in it for the bowlers. Their decision appeared to prove correct, as the first wicket did not fall until 34 runs were added. However with a change in the pace of bowling, Collaroy wickets started to fall at a steady rate which saw them slump to 5-79. A fight back by their “A” graders down the order saw their score at the end of 45 overs at 204. Best bowlers for the Breakers were Matt Fisher with 3-13 & Mark Hill with 3-30, both off 6 overs. Other wickets went to Lang, Lavery, Monin & Walker. The outfield was fast although with little knowledge of some bowlers in their line-up, reaching their total wasn’t going to be outside our grasp.

Chris Kettlewell & David Lang opened our batting with Chris taking his usual aggressive approach hitting a quick-fire 21 in no more than 6 or 7 balls before falling victim to catch in the 3rd over. Matt Fisher, Bill Serong, Lloyd Walker and David Lang got our run chase started, but with further wickets of Ian North, Jeff Monin, Mark Mullineaux and Stuart Hill, our task was looking grim. Mark Hill as not out batsman together with the fine scores by Rob Lavery (33) and Chris Sweet (46) offered our last resistance to the Collaroy attack. The Breakers were eventually bowled out for 146.

Whilst the end result did not swing our way, every Breakers player gave their 110% which produced a great contest. Man of the Match for our side went to Chris Sweet with his top score of 46. After the match, both teams then headed back to the Brookvale Hotel for post-match drinks, match presentations and speeches. The day was an outstanding success and the next annual challenge is scheduled for March 2007.