The U14 Muddies boys were really looking forward to their game against Atherton South on Saturday, February 15.

The first game back for the year was a one-dayer against Mareeba that left the boys feeling a little deflated. The following week was rained out, so a fair bit of pent up energy was brought to this game, now also a one day match (32 overs each) instead of the original two day match planned.

Byron Schep, captain of the Atherton side, won the toss and sent our boys out to field in the stifling midday sun. Reuben Allison opened the bowling with a maiden, then Curtis White and Brayden Wall worked together to take the first wicket on the 6th ball of play, having Atherton at a promising 1/0. Spirits remained high as Reuben produced another maiden, Curtis kept his next over to a single and then Finn Stanaway sent down a ball that popped up satisfyingly into the keeper’s (Ryan Doble) hands. After that the going got tough as the Atherton batsmen settled in with determination to put runs on the board even with the outfield being thick enough to sink a boot in.

Daniel Davidson and Keel Sorensen gave temporary pause to the Athertonites just before drinks with their tidy numbers of 1/3 and 2/6 respectively off their 4 overs apiece. In the second half of play Daniel and Rex Hawkes worked together to effect a run out, then Rex took a catch off Curtis which nailed the last wicket of the day. Having Atherton at 82 runs, the Muddies felt they had a run chase ahead of them that was within their grasp.

Having opening bat, Brayden go out for a duck was a big blow, but Levi Trewick and Ryan settled in for bit with Levi executing a well timed pull shot that found a gap and gave the Muddies their first 4; runs were elusive though with tight inner circle fielding and the outfield making it a boundary or nothing kind of a day. Those boundary balls proved to be few and far between, though Keel managed to get a nice one through as the innings neared its middle.

The next few Muddies batsmen were chewed through quickly and cheaply leaving a very big job for tail ends Daniel and Rex, who came to the crease with the home team score on only 36. Thanks to their tenacity and a few more sundries from Atherton, Muddies managed to creep the score up to 56 before being bowled out in the 28th over. Atherton were happy with their 2 wicket and 26 run victory.

On Sunday, it was nose to nose with Atherton boys again for some of the team. Keel, Levi, Ryan, Reuben, Curtis and Tex travelled to Gordonvale to participate in the 13 and 14 years Taverner competition. It was in a double T20 format (versing Innisfail in the morning and Atherton in the afternoon) and highlights included some strong batting and wicket keeping performances in both games and a 4-wicket-off-4-overs haul in the second game by one of the Muddies as the combined Douglas/Mulgrave team battled Atherton.

This game ended as a loss but only by three runs.