by Joanne Trewick

A small but committed gaggle of Mossman mums, along with the team’s unofficial mascot – Champ the dog, braved the road to Tolga on Saturday to watch their sons put up a determined effort against the Atherton Wildhogs.

Douglas Muddies Under 12 team started the game down on numbers, captain Levi Trewick losing the toss and having to use his creative flair to order the field of only six Muddies when the Wildhogs opted to bat first.

As more players arrived, numbers swelled to nine, but the 12 man Atherton team was still a formidable foe.

The boys were not deterred and got on with the job of taking wickets from the experienced batsman of the opposition who had already put 43 runs on the board by the sixth over.

The first wicket of the day fell to Tully Cartwright, with a neat catch from Ryan Doble, and it was a good while before the boys were able to take another.

Doggedly trying to stop the Wildhogs in their run spree, Daniel Davidson took a catch off Bryce Fabiani’s bowling, snatching that all important second wicket in the 16th over.

This gave the boys the momentum they needed and wickets continued to fall at a steady pace as bowlers Luke Twomey, Davidson, and Fabiani finally got the wickets they had craved earlier in the game.

There was still work to do though, and Doble, Twomey and Hugo Walker worked together seamlessly to grab a runout, while Ashton Davenport brought the innings to a sensational close, sending the bales flying on the very last ball.

The most economical bowlers were Nathan Deuble 0-5, Hugo Wlaker 0-7, and Levi Trewick 0-11, all three securing maidens amongst their three overs each.

Taking up the bat, the Muddies had a big score of 177 to chase and Doble was leading the charge, managing to keep his wicket for nine balls in the face of the Wildhogs opening pace bowlers.

Batting partner, Trewick, stayed a little longer, retiring and coming back a second time to top score for the day on 14 runs, along with Walker (also 14) who clocked his runs up quickly before being caught out.

Other significant runs were put on the board by Deuble (13 not out), and Davidson (9). All other batsman contributed what runs they could from the Wildhogs bowlers who were not giving runs away easily.

The end of the 27th over saw the Muddies at 86 runs, leaving the Atherton boys grinning in victory. For the Mossman boys, the victory was in their love of cricket, and undiminished effort until the call of last ball.

There is one more chance next week to take an Atherton team on their home ground before the year ends. Are we up for it boys? 

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