Muddies seniors C grade were the recipients of some incredibly strong Mareeba batting on day one of their two day fixture at Port Douglas Sports Ground Sunday.

Following on from their first fixture (which saw Mareeba completing an outright win) key batsman R. Adams scored his second ton of the season (104), and after a 98 in his first game, B Stallan this time managed 110 against the local Muddies.

Muddies' Skipper, Steve Doble, reflected on his decision to bowl after winning the toss, when Mareeba went to drinks at 0/79 off 17 overs.

Bronson Ryan again bowled lucklessly and debutants Aryan and Thwaite both struggled a little with their length. Doble broke the partnership with an LBW in the first over after drinks.

This was followed by 13 year old Ben Shrimpton’s first wicket for senior Muddies returning 1/27 off his first 5 overs, leaving Mareeba 2/108.

Ryan continued to beat the batsmen, eventually bowling the opening ton maker with the score 3/152 and Aryan bowled an excellent second spell also beating the batsmen on occasions, returning 0/43 off 12 overs.

The outfield was sizzling fast, benefiting from the Muddies preparation from the Bulls Masters T20 match in May, but there was no taking it away from a Mareeba team who no doubt benefited from the outfield but are also possibly bolstered by only fielding one club team in the lowest grade.

Step in newcomer, Vic, who stemmed the steady flow of runs with 0/15 from his first 7 overs, finishing with 2/30 and undoubtedly having had the chance of one or two more go amiss.

From the other end, Darren Saint, who led the fielding with some impressive efforts and athleticism, managed the return figures of 3/43.

This showed the Muddies that Mareeba were troubled by the ball not coming onto the bat unlike the medium pacers.

Set perhaps the highest score this ground has seen in this competition (8/315), all Muddies players will work very hard at training this week and have to get the right mindset of concentration to chase down the target.

“It’s easy to be daunted by that sort of score” skipper Doble said, “But that is the challenge and we can see the field assists genuine stroke play, so if we all get strong starts, we can all chip away our share.

"Batsmen placing a high value on their personal wicket will be the key.” 

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