It was the perfect start to the 2025/26 season for Narrabri District Cricket Association’s first XI as the Pink Slugs ended a mammoth weekend of cricket with five wins to their name to sit at the top of the War Veterans Cup ladder.
Northern Inland Cricket Council’s premier T20 competition got underway with nine matches across the weekend, all of which were contested in Narrabri at Collins Park, Hogan Oval and Leitch Oval.
Eight of the nine teams lined up after Armidale pulled out of their games on Friday, and it was the hosts who ended the weekend on top.
The Pink Slugs were scheduled to contest five of their eight 2025/26 regular season fixtures across the weekend, but only played three of them after Armidale (Saturday) and Gunnedah (Sunday) were unable to field teams. Both of those were declared forfeits by NICC, so the NDCA men have secured a maximum 20 points going into their final three games, which they will play in Tamworth in December.
Narrabri had the morning off on Saturday after Armidale forfeited their round one game, so first up for the Pink Slugs was a round two contest against West Tamworth at Leitch Oval.
The hosts fielded first after new captain Jack Tate won the toss and sent Wests in, which was a crucial decision as his side rolled the visitors for 56 runs in 15.4 overs.
They then chased down the required total in just 8.3 overs to win by six wickets after losing four of their own batsmen.
The Pink Slugs had another break in the third timeslot of the day before challenging Inverell under lights on Saturday night, in which they registered an even more dominant chasing win.
Inverell batted first after winning the toss and they made 67 runs in 18 overs, before Narrabri cruised to a nine-wicket win after losing just one wicket in 11.2 overs.
The Pink Slugs were scheduled to line up for two matches on Sunday, but the first of those against Gunnedah was a forfeit win to the hosts.
They met Moree on Sunday afternoon and got a chance to bat first, winning by 31 runs after making 5-132 in 20 overs before restricting the Moree men to 101 in 20 overs.
The newly-appointed Pink Slugs skipper told The Courier that he enjoyed his first weekend as captain of the side and he was already looking forward to the team’s next three matches later in the year.
“It was a pretty good weekend for us, for sure,” Tate said.
“I think we’ve got a really talented team, and I’m looking forward to seeing how we go later in the year against the three other Tamworth teams. We will get to play against all of them on the same day (on December 7), which will be a challenge.
“I said to the guys (on Sunday) that it was a great weekend and it was really good to get three fairly comfortable wins, but I stressed that we need to make sure we keep practising all our good habits, so that when we go and play those teams in Tamworth, we’re super competitive against those guys.
“It was a good start to the season for us. It was really good to get those three wins.
“On Saturday, we bowled first in the two games we had and we did a great job of restricting those teams. To bowl Wests out for 56 and Inverell out for 67 was a great effort, and that set the tone for our batting.
“We battled a little bit with the bat in the first game. We got off to a bit of a shaky start, but it was probably the first hit for quite a few guys in the side.
“We batted much better in the second game, and we got it one down. There was definitely improvement there.
“(On Sunday) we got to bat first and we did a really good job to get to 132. We weren’t quite as good with the ball in that game. We bowled them out for 101, and that’s not a bad result in a T20, but it just wasn’t as sharp as the first day.
“Having to play three games across two days, first up, created a bit of fatigue, and that played a part (on Sunday).
“We were ready and keen to play five games, and if we had have ended up playing the two games (on Sunday), I think we would’ve been right, but there were definitely a few weary boys.”
Narrabri’s first game on Saturday established a perfect start following the forfeit win against Armidale as they dismantled West Tamworth at Hogan Oval to go two from two.
After Tate won the toss and bowled, he and his teammates got the job done with the ball. Nathan Trindall starred with 5-9 from 2.4 overs, and Brodie Heron (2-6 from two overs), Dylan Segundo (1-8 from two overs), Dillon Hutton (1-10 from two overs), and Dylan Smith (1-16 from three overs) combined for the other five.
Tate was the only Narrabri bowler not to take a wicket in that match but he played a crucial role in limiting Wests to 56 runs as he produced two maidens and 22 dot balls to finish with 0-2 from four overs.
Greg Melton opened the batting for Narrabri in the second innings and scored 14 from 13 to guide the hosts to a six-wicket win. He lost four partners before his Wilga Hotel Razorbacks teammate Zack Doring entered at number six and registered 13 from seven.
The Pink Slugs’ win on Saturday night against Inverell under lights at Collins Park was an even more dominant display.
They bowled first again, and this time all six bowlers used took at least one wicket as they restricted all but one of the Inverell batsmen to triple-digit scores.
Heron (2-3 from two overs), Trindall (2-9 from three overs), Doring (2-11 from three overs) and Tate (2-17 from four overs) all claimed two scalps each, and the other two were taken by Smith and Segundo, who both finished with 1-10 from three overs.
Narrabri only lost one wicket during their chase as Melton departed for 15, with fellow opener Nick Tomlinson (26*) and Jakeb Nipperess (14*) guiding the Pink Slugs to a nine-wicket win.
That completed a clean sweep for the chasing sides on Saturday as teams that batted second in all seven matches ended up winning.
The hosts got a chance to bat first on Sunday when they met Moree at Leitch Oval, and they impressed as they made 5-132 from their 20 overs. The game then went the distance as the Pink Slugs took the 10th and final wicket from the last ball of the innings after restricting Moree to 101 to score a comfortable 31-run victory and finish the weekend five from five.
Narrabri lost an early wicket in that clash as Hamish Duncan (1) departed in the second over, but the rest of the top order all made starts as Nipperess (37), Tate (25*), Matt Bradshaw (23) and Tomlinson (19) ensured the hosts would set a defendable total.
They then had Moree on the ropes at 6-53 after 10 overs in the second innings, but the Moree men rallied to ensure they did not lose their 10th wicket until the very end.
Segundo (4-9 from four overs, including two wicket-maidens) and Tate (3-18 from four overs) did the bulk of the damage in that match, while Duncan and Doring chipped in with the other three wickets.
The flawless start has left the Pink Slugs in a commanding position ahead of December’s matches in Tamworth as they chase the 2025/26 War Veterans Cup title.
There are two other undefeated teams after the first of three weekends of action, with Tamworth clubs Norths Redbacks and Old Boys Stars both winning all of their games.
Norths are now three from three and they are ranked second following a six-wicket win over Gunnedah first up, a forfeit win over Armidale in round two, and a 10-wicket win against Inverell in round three. The Redbacks chased 134 in 15 overs against Gunnedah and 77 in 7.2 overs against Inverell.
Old Boys are two from two after winning both of their games on Saturday. They took down fellow Tamworth club Bective East in a round one thriller as they chased down 116 with one delivery to spare to prevail by five wickets, and they then chased down 117 in 17.5 overs against Inverell to get up by seven wickets.
Bective East finished the day with two victories after they downed Gunnedah and won by forfeit against Armidale. Their win against Gunnedah was almost as tight as their loss against Old Boys as they chased down 126 with five deliveries to spare to prevail by six wickets.
Gunnedah also travelled home with a win on Saturday following their losses against Norths and Bective as they beat Wests by seven wickets in their third and final fixture of the day. However, forfeits against Narrabri and Inverell the following day have made it near impossible for them to qualify for the top four and the finals as they are now one from five with three matches remaining.
Like the Pink Slugs, Gunnedah will play all of their remaining fixtures in Tamworth on Sunday, December 7.
The regular season will then wrap up with nine matches in Armidale on Sunday, February 1, and the finals will be played on Sunday, February 22.
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