Ian McGregor’s decades of dedication to female cricket have been recognised by Narrabri District Women’s Cricket Association, which has named the premiership trophy after the Narrabri man.
The NDWCA’s 2023 campaign T20 competition grand final will be played at Collins Park on Saturday, where the Ian McGregor Perpetual Trophy will be up for grabs for the first time.
Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri and Wilga Hotel will go head-to-head in the decider after they finished the season locked on 15 points following two wins and a loss each across the three-week regular season.
The Narrabri women’s competition is two years old, but this season’s champions will be the first to get their hands on the new trophy.
McGregor told The Courier he felt quite privileged to have the trophy named after him.
“I was very pleased. I felt happy and honoured that they chose me for it,” he said of discovering that the trophy would be named after him.
“It feels very good to get a pat on the back like this for a lot of work over the years.”
McGregor, who arrived in Narrabri in 1987 and has called the town home ever since, developed a passion for coaching female cricketers during the 1970s. The school teacher acknowledged that, at the time, sporting options for females were limited, so he decided to coach sports like basketball and volleyball before focusing on cricket.
He attended 34 female Combined High Schools carnivals as a coach and convenor from 1977 onwards. During that time, he coached the likes of Belinda Clark, who would go on to captain the Australian national team and still holds the record for the most runs in one day internationals for Australia despite retiring in 2005.
McGregor was appointed the NSW CHS carnival convenor in 1981, and he played a key role in the growth of women’s cricket in the state when he helped expand the carnival from five teams to 10.
He also achieved plenty as a coach and helped many females reach their potential.
Two of the Narrabri man’s greatest memories as a mentor were coaching North West to victory at the schools’ carnival, once on the South Coast and the other time in Lismore.
Another of his fondest memories was being one of the coaches of the Narrabri West Public School opens team that won the PSSA Primary School Knock Out NSW state final to claim the Lord’s Taverners Shield back in 2011. The team then finished third in 2012 and second in 2013.
That was even more special, considering he coached that group of girls alongside Kylie Seccombe, who he described as one of the best Narrabri cricketers he ever coached.
“One of the most successful local cricketers I coached was Kylie Wilson, or Kylie Seccombe as she is now,” he said.
“She was picked in CHS ones, and they ended up winning the schoolgirls championships, and then she got picked in the team to tour England and Ireland.
“They played a whole series of games over there and never lost a game.”
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