Narrabri District Cricket Association’s Town v Country Charity Cup match will make a highly-anticipated return to Collins Park tonight, and the two teams are full of some of the best talent that the region has to offer.
The NDCA announced the sides earlier this week, both of which showcase a mix of promising young talent and experienced players, a recipe for a competitive T20 contest.
RSL quick and NDCA Pink Slugs rep captain Nathan Trindall will skipper the Town Heat side, while one of the form players of this season’s club and rep comps, Wilga Hotel Razorbacks’ Jack Tate, will captain the Country Thunder side in his NDCA Charity Cup match debut. The four NDCA club captains will also be in action as Tourist Hotel’s Luke Meppem, Tatts’ Jakeb Nipperess and RSL’s Jarrett Tough line up for Town against the Wilga Razorbacks’ Matt Bradshaw, who will make his Charity Cup debut for Country.
All together there are nine players from RSL, eight Tourist Hotel players, six Razorbacks and three Tatts men.
TEAM LISTS:
Town Heat: Nathan Trindall (c), Cooper Brayshaw, Jake Brayshaw, Zaac Brayshaw, Lachlan Cameron, Hamish Duncan, Will Ford, Luke Meppem, Jakeb Nipperess, Edward Pavey, Nick Tomlinson, Jarrett Tough and Lachlan Woolford. Manager: Rod Kirk.
Country Thunder: Jack Tate (c), Waldo Botha, Matt Bradshaw, Zack Doring, Angus Gallagher, Karl Hatfield, Max Hunter, Cody Kember, Shane Murphy, Josh Schwager, Dylan Segundo, Dylan Smith and Josh Trindall. Manager: Greg Melton.
There is plenty of batting firepower among the two sides, headlined by Brayshaw brothers Cooper and Jake. Cooper is the leading run-scorer in the local one day comp with 157 at an average of a tick under 40, and Jake is the top run-scorer in the local T20 comp with 89 at an average of 89. Jake is also the top run-scorer across all formats, including rep cricket, with a combined 357 runs in eight innings at an average of 59.5. He has the top rep score of 125* and club score of 82.
Former Town Heat, Tourist Hotel and NDCA Pink Slugs captain Lachie Cameron is coming out of retirement for the match and is also one to watch with the bat. His last Town v Country appearance was in December 2017 when he blasted 14 fours and 10 sixes on his way to an unbeaten 149 runs, leading Town to 4-231 and a 71-run win.
Other players to look out for with the bat are Tough, who top-scored with 51 in the most recent Charity Cup match in December 2018, Cody Kember, who is one of the local competition’s biggest hitters and is averaging 81 for RSL across all formats this season, and Josh Schwager, who has not had much opportunity at the crease so far this year but looked sharp in the Wilga Razorbacks’ win against RSL in round five as he scored an unbeaten 27 runs and hit the match-winning runs with a boundary.
There is also the hard-hitting Tourist Hotel gun Josh Trindall, who has the single-game boundary record to his name this year with 12 in round three when he smashed 10 fours and two sixes.
There is certainly no shortage of quality bowlers for tonight’s contest either, led by Country duo Tate and Dylan Segundo. Both men have been carving up in the one day competition with the white ball this year, with Tate the top wicket-taker in the one day comp (16) and across all formats (18), and Segundo the second top wicket-taker in the one day comp with 11. They are two of only four players to have a double-wicket-maiden to their name so far this season, which also includes Tough, and they lead the way in the maidens tally with six each.
The teams are in safe hands for the match with Rod Kirk to manage the Town Heat and Greg Melton named to manage the Country Thunder. Both of those men are coming off brilliant one day performances for their respective clubs last Saturday, which included half-centuries and two wickets each, and they will both be ready to kit up in case of any late withdrawals.
Tonight’s match will see Town and Country meet for the first time since December 2018 and the sixth time since 2015. Country won the first three games and Town have claimed the past two, and the Heat men are now looking to even it up at three apiece.
The inaugural Charity Cup match was played in February 2015 when Country prevailed by four wickets. Nine players who will line up tonight took part in that 2015 game, including Shane Murphy and Segundo for Country, and Ed Pavey, Meppem, Trindall, Tough, Cameron and Jake and Zaac Brayshaw for Town.
Murphy, Meppem, Jake Brayshaw and Trindall will become the only four players to have played in all six games.
The action-packed evening will get underway from 4pm with a junior cricket clinic. The women’s T10 Charity match will then begin at 5.30pm ahead of the Charity Cup men’s T20 match from 7.30pm.
There will also be food and drinks, live entertainment and a crowd catch prize on the night, as well as a visit from Santa and a raffle.
All money raised will go to the local Pink Up Namoi McGrath Foundation organisation.
Teams announced for the inaugural women’s T10 clash
Women’s cricket in Narrabri has gone from strength to strength since the Narrabri District Women’s Cricket Association was formed in 2023, and the third T20 campaign is currently as competitive as ever as all teams remain in the finals hunt and three sides remain in the race for the minor premiership following the round six action.
The local women’s players continue to captivate crowds as plenty of fans attend games on Friday and Saturday nights, and player interest continues to grow for each season.
Now, for the first time tonight, a women’s Town v Country T10 match will be played before the sixth men’s T20 Charity Cup game.
Players from all four NDWCA sides will line up across the two teams.
The women’s match will begin at 5.30pm, and the teams are as follows:
Town: Tori-Ann Geraghty (c), Bec Armstrong, Karen Baker, Velvet Craigie, Emily Flood, Grace Hardy, Taryn Kirk, Candice Stang, Amy Trindall and Molly Welsh.
Country: Angie Knox (c), Millie Adams, Menzie Baker, Grace Farrer, Emily Hartnett, Ava Manton, Lidia McCauley, Ness Rose, Kristie Toomey and Jade Williams.
