Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri wins NDWCA’s 2023 season grand final

Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri earned the Narrabri District Women’s Cricket Association 2023 premiership with an emphatic victory in the grand final on Saturday night.

The Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri team met Wilga Hotel in the final at Collins Park and became the first side to get its hands on the Ian McGregor Perpetual Trophy as it secured a huge six-wicket win.

Wilga Hotel batted first in that game and was knocked over for 48 runs in 15.5 overs by a red-hot Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri bowling attack.

The chasing side then lost just four wickets in its pursuit of the required total and it scored the winning runs in the 11th over of the game’s second innings.

It was a dominant finish to the 2023 season for the side that has been the best team all year.

Dreamtime Mirri’s captain Angie Knox told The Courier she enjoyed the season and said that she was proud of her teammates.

“I’m so, so proud,” Knox said of her team.

“It’s been so much fun. We’ve had a ball.

“We enjoyed it so much and there were lots of laughs.

“We’re competitive, but only really because we love sport.

“We didn’t think about winning the grand final (at the start of the year), we were just happy to be a part of the competition.

“And the grand final, we were just happy to be in it really, but it was good to win it too.

“We’ve learned a lot this year, of course. None of us have played much before.

“Last season was the first time I’ve ever played and it was pretty much the same for all of us.

“Most of us have only ever played backyard cricket back when we were younger and we’re not around cricket much as we don’t have husbands or kids that play cricket, so it’s very new to us.”

One of the side’s newest players is Karen Baker, who watched all of the team’s games last year but decided to play in 2023.

Baker excelled in her debut season and she was named players’ player of the competition at the presentation after the grand final.

She also starred in the first innings of the grand final as she took a game-best 4-6 from 3.5 overs.

That spell included the big wicket of Wilga Hotel’s Chelsea Hancock, who top-scored for her team with 14 runs.

Knox also impressed as she opened the bowling alongside Baker and took 3-9 from four overs.

Molly Welsh (2-10 from three overs) and Lidia McCauley (1-7 from two overs) were the only other players to bowl for the Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri side and they combined for the other three wickets.

Anni Wenner opened the batting for the chasing team and scored a game-best 16 runs. She remained unbeaten and guided Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri to victory.

Wenner (16*) and Welsh (7) were their team’s top scorers and they hit a boundary each.

Three Wilga Hotel bowlers claimed a wicket each in the decider.

That include team captain Carmel Harvey (1-4 from two overs), Hancock (1-15 from four overs) and Taryn Kirk (1-20 from four overs).

At the presentation after the match, three individual awards were handed out.

Karen Baker from the premiership- winning Dreamtime Mirri team was named players’ player, Wilga Hotel’s Chelsea Hancock was awarded up the bowling aggregate trophy, and Grace Farrer from GFS Engineering won the batting aggregate award.

Proud winning team captain Knox acknowledged the committee and the community for ensuring the season was a success in 2023.

“I enjoyed it immensely,” Knox said of the 2023 competition.

“I’ve just loved being a part of the competition and also being on the committee.

“It was good to see the competition start again for the second season.

“It was run so well by the committee and the umpires all did really well.

“I’m also so happy the community has embraced the women’s cricket.

“I’ve been told that it’s more exciting than the men’s comp.

“The men have been helpful too.

“Mark (NDWCA chairman Mark Page) came down to help us and give us tips on batting and bowling, and a couple of the men from the teams down there training would come over and give us a few little tips. We really did appreciate their help.

“We are going to go down and watch the men’s grand finals this weekend now.”

Knox said that Wahgunyah Dreamtime Mirri would enter the women’s competition again in 2024.