by Steve Doble and Nathan King

The Court House Hotel Port Douglas 3rd Grade Cricket team only managed an hour of play on Day One of their Two day match against Mareeba and even that was a surprise with the torrential rain that had fallen overnight and early morning. 

But when play did start, opener Dave Joyce didn't let the damp conditions hold him back. He put on a magnificent display of batting hitting 6 fours and 3 sixes finishing the day on 58 not out. 

He was ably supported by both Jack Goodall who was with him until he was caught with the score on 38 and then by Skipper Steve Doble who anchored the partnership until he too was caught with the score on 63.  Simon Cody (7 n.o.) was with him at close of play with the Muddies standing at 2 for 76.

They resume play next Sunday at the Port Douglas Sports Day at 8.30 weather permitting with a plan to consolidate the good start and then bowl the opposition out to salvage at least the first innings points despite the delayed start to the match.

The 2nd Grade Muddies were more fortunate with the weather, but with the pitch still very damp they managed to start on time at 1pm. 

On the difficult pitch the top order batters Josh McConnell (17) and Nathan King (16) managed to get the Muddies to 4 for 44 before the middle order, Haigh Varcoe (43) and Kane Uebergang (46) finally got to grips with the conditions and guided them to a respectable 176 all out.

Skipper Nathan King was keen to have a crack at North's top order in the fading daylight.  The sun continued to hide behind the low clouds giving the bowlers some movement in the air and the bounce remained uneven and difficult to read all day. 

When the Norths batters struggled to 6 for 16 by the end of the day, it proved just what a good total the Muddies had accumulated in their first innings.  Last week's man of the match, Matt Mitchell, bowled the Norths opening batsman and finished with 7 overs 1 for 7 runs, Ben Vikionkorpi took 3 for 6 runs off his 9 overs, Tony Gooding took 1 for 1 in his only over with a run out finishing the tally for the day. 

In this strong position at the end of Day One of their two day match, the Muddies' 2nd Grade must look to finishing the Norths off early to get them in again to take a much needed outright win to catch up the weather stricken start to the season.

The 2nd Grade continue their game from 1pm next Sunday at the Port Douglas Sports Ground immediately after the 3rd Grade game which will end at 12:30pm after hitting off at 8:30 in the morning.

With a strong turnout despite the rain, next weekend looks even better for fans with both teams sitting in the box seat for a win in both grades.