Civeo Cricket Club first XI, Narrabri District Cricket Association representative first XI and Specialised Civil Services T20 franchise key player Nick Smart had a sensational 2019-20 campaign.
The 25-year-old opened the batting with great effectiveness for all three of his local teams this season and was also handy with the ball while setting a high standard in the field.
Smart excelled in all formats of the game and at the NDCA presentation on Saturday, March 14, was recognised for his efforts when he was named the NDCA cricketer of the year and the NDCA’s district player of the season, and picked up the first grade batting average and aggregate awards after scoring 345 runs at 45.
The talented allrounder was the top scorer in all three competitions he competed in this season, also topping the charts in the NDCA Coates Hire Namoi Super Slog T20 competition and the Northern Inland Cricket Council’s premier representative 50-over competition the War Veterans Cup.
Smart also earned higher representative honours, competing for the Northern Inland Bolters at the Plan B Regional Bash, and the Central North Cricket Zone at the McDonalds Country Championships.
Smart won two grand finals this season and fell just short of playing in a third.
On December 15 he guided the NDCA representative first XI to War Veterans Cup grand final glory when the Pink Slugs defeated Tamworth by 48 runs in the grand final to finish an undefeated season in the best way possible.
Smart scored a game-best 70 runs in that match, 48 more than the next best Pink Slugs teammate.
It was the second time he top-scored in a War Vets Cup grand final win after he smashed 102 in a 72-run victory against Inverell in the 2017-18 campaign, and for the second time in three seasons he was the War Vets Cup comp’s leading runscorer, averaging 52.25 while scoring a total of scored 209 runs in four games to finish with 96 more runs than the competition’s next highest scorer Simon Norvill who totalled 113.
Smart then dominated the short format of the game.
He was picked up by Specialised Civil Services for the most money at the Coates Hire Namoi Super Slog draft night and proved his worth by scoring a competition-best 185 runs in five innings at an average of 31.
Specialised Civil Services went on to win the grand final when it downed Carla Baxter Real Estate by three runs.
Smart opened the batting in that match and scored 19 runs.
Smart’s Civeo first XI side finished second on the NDCA first grade 45-over ladder, edged out by net run rate percentage by Tatts after both teams finished on 54 points.
Civeo then went on to face the Western Imperial Razorbacks in the preliminary final for a chance to play Tatts in the decider but the second-placed side lost by one run which denied Smart the chance to win a third grand final this season.
To order photos from this page click here
