Bowlers put Belgrave in winning position

BELGRAVE Cricket Club’s first XI have given themselves a good chance of victory against back-to-back premiers Rowville on the first day of round two of the Knox Tavern Cup.
A late flurry of wickets has put Belgrave in a strong position after they posted 131 mainly due to the work of Nick Bole-Brown (32 not out), Johnno Levell (24) and Scott Vozzo (23). Bole-Brown then came out after the change of innings and snared two wickets and Michael Litterbach took his second 1st grade wicket to leave Rowville reeling at 3/2. More good quick bowling and the best spin arsenal in the grade will make it hard for Rowville to overtake the Belgrave tally on a slow Seebek Reserve.
The seconds batted their full 80 overs on the way to a very respectable 282 against Footballers. Runs came from an encouragingly wide range of batsmen, but captain Martin Wood took the honours with 90. Rick Wulz (30) and Greg Brown (41) made fine contributions and Richo was unstoppable at the death with an unbeaten 27.
Captain’s knocks were the order of the day with the thirds as well. Damien Argoon made 91 from a total of 181. Mark Kimba and Nick Feeney took wickets late in the day to make Upper Gully’s task that little bit more difficult. Some tight bowling will be required next week, but the thirds are in with a good chance of going two up.
The fourths struggled early on a large and slow Millers Reserve. Opener Matt Levell did a fine job of keeping the innings anchored and making 29 in the process and Dave McNamara made 25, but it was the batting of youngsters Jake Myers (36) and Mat Finch (28) which pushed Belgrave to a respectable 163. Knox are 1/16 overnight, and with some good bowling and fielding the fourths could post their first win.
Chappie’s fifths chased plenty of leather down at Dobson Reserve as Knox Gardens recorded 9/424. Tom Giffin and Tom Hope were the most successful bowlers getting two wickets each, but 400-plus is a daunting task. It will take some committed batting from the boys to chase down that total, but on a ground like Dobson #2 anything is possible.
The one-day grades each recorded a win in their first game of the season. The B1 boys on walkover, but the sevenths outplayed South East Wanderers, making 181 courtesy of Bedders’ 51 and Glen Newey’s 50. Young McNiell made it hard for the opposition taking 3/26 and Belgrave took the spoils to start the year with success.