NDCA’s one day campaign to resume on Saturday as the race to the finals gets underway

Red ball cricket will make a highly-anticipated return on Saturday when Narrabri District Cricket Association’s 2023/24 season one day competitions resume following the completion of the T20 campaign earlier this month.

All four first grade sides and two of the three second grade sides will pull on the whites for round nine games as the business end of the season begins.

There are four more rounds left to play in the 12-round one day comps ahead of the preliminary finals on Saturday, March 2, and the grand finals on Saturday, March 9.

The second grade minor premiership has already been wrapped up by five-time defending champions RSL, which means they have locked in a grand final spot. They are currently at the top of the table with 72 points, 21 clear of the second-placed Tourist Hotel (51) and 27 clear of third-placed Tatts (45).

RSL’s advantage was only nine points going into the Christmas/New Year break, but with T20 matches factoring into the ladder standings in second grade this season, dominance in the white ball arena earlier this month saw RSL establish an unattainable lead. They have two byes in the final four rounds from which they will pick up an automatic 14 points, meaning they cannot be overtaken.

Tourist Hotel and Tatts will still be hoping to establish some form during their final three games of the regular season ahead of their preliminary final showdown, and that starts this Saturday when they meet at Hogan Oval in round nine.

It is a different scenario in the first grade competition as three teams remain in the minor premiership hunt with four rounds to go.

Three-time defending champs RSL currently lead the way at the top of the table with 47 points following six wins, a washed-out draw and a loss across the first eight rounds.

Two wins behind them on 35 points are Tatts and Tourist Hotel, who have both won four games, lost three and had a washed-out draw so far this season. They will meet at Leitch Oval this Saturday in a game that is crucial for their minor premiership hopes. The winner could move within six points (one win) of RSL if the ladder leaders slip up against fourth-placed Western Razorbacks at Collins Park, but if RSL does manage to get the job done, the contest at Leitch Oval is a must-win game for both sides to maintain any chance of finishing in first place.

The Razorbacks will be playing for pride in the final four rounds as they are mathematically out of the finals equation. The Wee Waa-based club are still winless and they have accumulated just 10 points this season following seven losses and a washed-out draw. Even if they win all four games on the run home, the most points they can finish on is 38, and if either Tatts or Tourist lost all of their games, they would finish on 39.

Individual honours are also on the line during the run home in February.

The leading run-scorer and wicket-taker tallies are close in both grades and there is still time for players to make their mark in the club and representative competitions and make a case for themselves in the cricketer of the year, rep cricketer of the year, first grade under-21 player of the year, junior cricketer of the year and the most improved player conversations.

The top run-scorer in the first grade competition is RSL youngster Will Ford, who has thrived in his new role as the club’s opening batsman during the 2023/24 season. He has accumulated 203 runs across seven innings at an average of a tick under 34, with a high score of 52 and two scores in the 40s, and he is the only batsman to have scored a boundary in all of his team’s games this season.

Hot on his heels is the best batsman in the competition, Tatts’ Tom Craig. The dominant number four is just a run behind Ford on 202, which he has scored across five innings. He boasts a competition-best average of 40.4, has the competition’s high score to his name after he smashed an unbeaten 97 against Tourist Hotel in round six, and has scored more boundaries than anyone else this season after he found the fence 22 times in the five games he played before the break.

Leading the way with the ball in the first grade comp is Cody Kember. The talented RSL all-rounder took all 14 of his wickets in the first four rounds of the competition but has not played a game since, however, he is expected to take more across the last four rounds and make it difficult for anyone to overtake him on the wickets
tally.

Kember is one of just four players who have taken a five-wicket haul in the top grade this season alongside his teammate Cooper Brayshaw and Tourist Hotel duo Matt Conroy and Mark Page.

Conroy is just two scalps behind Kember on 12, all of which he took during the opening three rounds of the season, including a competition-best haul of 6-23 from 7.2 overs against Tatts in round three.

Also two wickets back from Kember on 12 is Western Razorbacks skipper Dylan Smith.

The second grade top run-scorer will go down to the wire as two Narrabri cricketing stalwarts enter the final four rounds having broken away from the rest of the pack. RSL’s Mick Dodwell leads the way with 258 runs across six innings at an average of 86, which includes the top score of the season after he blasted 93 against Tatts in round five of the one day campaign. Just 13 runs behind him in second place on the run-scorers tally is Tatts’ Rod Kirk, who has scored 245 across seven innings at an average of a tick under 41. His high score this season is an unbeaten 75 against Tatts in the last regular season match of the T20 campaign.

Leading the wicket-takers tally by four in second grade is Tourist Hotel skipper Kaleb Mowle, who has taken 16 scalps so far this season. RSL’s Luke Baker and Tatts’ Chris Hartnett have both taken 12 wickets each and are Mowle’s closest rivals for the end-of-season trophy.