Noble Park cricketers in the box seat

NOBLE Park bounced back from a dismal day with the bat to have Yarraville on the ropes at 4/63 after day one of their Victorian Sub District Cricket Association encounter at Moodemere Street on Saturday.
A 73-run third-wicket stand between Rod Douthie (48) and Michael Todd (23) was the only meaningful partnership of Noble Park’s innings as the Parkers fell for 155.
Andrew Brown (26) was the only other batsman to get a start, while Yarraville’s Nathan Pobega took 3/40.
In reply, Yarraville was in trouble at 4/25 with Lance Baptist and Sean Schubert each taking two wickets, but the visitors saw it through to stumps without further loss.
Noble Park’s second XI was foiled by a 91-run 10th-wicket partnership as Yarraville recovered from 9/107 to reach 198.
Dave Parker took 3/52, while Andrew Love (2/32), Andrew Borovac (2/35) and Deepjot Singh (2/46) all chipped in with two scalps.
At stumps, Noble Park was 3/66 with Nirosh Fonseka unbeaten on 30.
The thirds have a big task ahead next week after Moorabbin declared at 9/222.
Fourteen-year-old Luke Vincent was the pick of the Parkers bowlers in claiming 2/15, while Stuart Patterson (2/46) and Andrew Parker (2/64) lent some assistance.
At stumps, Noble Park had progressed to 0/3.
Meanwhile, a century to Michael Fox saw the fourths amass 6/240 against Moorabbin.
Fox made 140, sharing in a 133-run opening stand with Matt Ferguson (30) and a 106-run second-wicket partnership with Dyllan Andrews (36).
On the weekend of the 15-16 March, Pat Wright Senior Oval will host a Premier Cricket first XI match when competition powerhouses St Kilda and Melbourne clash in the final round of the Premier Cricket season.
The club was asked by Cricket Victoria to host the match as both the St Kilda and Melbourne grounds are unavailable due to the Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The honour of hosting the game will be due recognition to curator Dave Healey and the City of Greater Dandenong for presenting the ground in such great condition.