Cricket back with a bang

The 2019-20 Narrabri District Cricket Association season will get underway on the front foot this Saturday with two grand final rematches scheduled to kick off the new campaign.

In first grade, defending champions Tatts will go head-to-head with the Western Imperial Razorbacks at Collins Park, and in second grade defending champs RSL will also challenge the Razorbacks at Gately Field.

In the other first grade game RSL will take on Civeo at Hogan Oval, and in second grade Tatts will meet Civeo at Leitch Oval.

This season the NDCA first grade landscape has undergone significant change.

The one day competition will be a four-team one after two clubs merged to become one.

Civeo and Crossroads formed a new club in the off-season which was officially approved at the NDCA annual general meeting last month.

The club will field one team in the first grade 45-over competition which will be called Civeo.

However, the club will field two second grade teams – one named Civeo and the other called Crossroads – which has seen the second grade competition remain a five-team one with a bye.

In the first grade one day competition each team will play its three opponents four times across a 12-round season.

Eight of those rounds will be played in 2019 from October 12 to November 30, and the final four will be played in February 2020.

While the one day competition breaks, the new-look franchise T20 competition will be played and the teams will also have a Christmas/New Year break.

In the second grade one day competition the five teams will play against their opponents three times across a 15-round season.

The five teams will have three byes each throughout the campaign.

Eleven of those rounds will be played from October 12 to December 21, and the final four will be contested in February.

In January the second grade teams will contest a three-weekend T20 regular season where each team will play the other four teams once.

The decider will be played on Saturday, February 1, between the two top-ranked sides at the completion of those three weekends.

In both one day competitions the top three teams will progress to the respective finals series.

The top-ranked team will advance straight through to the March 14 grand final, while the second- and third-placed teams will meet in
preliminary finals on March 7.

Meanwhile, in the 2019-20 Northern Inland Cricket Council representative season the NDCA will field a War Vets Cup side as well as an MA Connolly Cup team.

Both will be determined to go one better following grand final losses in their respective comps last season.

The War Vets Cup team will kick-start its campaign this Sunday with an away match against Tamworth, while the Connolly Cup team will play its first game on October 27 at home against Quirindi.