Captain Campbell proud of Tatts’ 2025/26 season start following seven-wicket win

Josh Campbell’s tenure as Tatts Cricket Club’s first grade captain got off to a brilliant start on Saturday as he and his men began the 2025/26 campaign on the front foot with a seven-wicket victory against Tourist Hotel at Leitch Oval.

After finishing ranked last on both Narrabri District Cricket Association ladders last season, Campbell and his teammates were determined to make an early statement in round one that they will be bigger and better this time around. They did exactly that as they bowled a nine-man Tourist Hotel side out for 97 runs in 22.5 overs before cruising to 89 runs in 14.1 overs, having only lost three wickets.

Campbell has been in and around the Tatts club for 20 years now, but this season is his first as skipper of the team.

He is confident that with Tom Craig and Jacob Nichols both back in the fold and the addition of Englishman Dillon Hutton, his side is primed to compete for a return to the grand final for the first time since 2020, when they defeated the Western Imperial Razorbacks to celebrate their fourth title in five seasons.

“I’m looking forward to captaining the guys. It will be good,” Campbell said.

“Nippo (Jakeb Nipperess) had done it for a few years, but he wanted a bit of a break from it, so I thought I’d put my hand up and give it a crack.

“I’d not done it before. I’ve been around the club for 20 years, but never captained before.

“It was a good start for us on Saturday.

“It’s handy when you have good numbers. It makes the job pretty easy when you can field a full team without any dramas.

“Everyone’s been training and we are in a good spot numbers-wise.

“Tommy Craig and Jacob Nichols are back, and Kirky (Rod Kirk) is playing first grade again.

“We also have Dillon Hutton, who’s come over from the UK on a cricket exchange.

“It was a good win on Saturday. Tourist only had nine players, which was a bit disappointing because you want to play teams with 11.

“We were a bit ordinary early with wides and no balls, but we were able to keep the wickets going and we got them for 97.

“Jakey Nichols opened and he took the long handle. He was nice and aggressive.

“Nippo and Tommy Craig then came in and batted well. Tom hit some nice sixes and fours.”

“I think we’ve got the team that can mix it with the rest of them this season, especially if we can survive the harvest period,” Campbell added.

“We’ll get a few more back after harvest too.

“I’m really hopeful of going deep into the finals this season but there are five teams this year, so we will have to work even harder.”

Tatts made an early breakthrough on Saturday when opening bowler Jonty Schwager dismissed Tourist Hotel’s Hamish Duncan (6) in the third over with the assistance of a Nichols catch, who kept behind the stumps for Tatts, and Schwager then struck two balls later to knock over Tom Vanderstock for a duck to make the score 2-13.

Nichols claimed another catch in the 10th over as Nick Tomlinson (9) was dismissed by Tom Cameron, before Rod Kirk (3-14 off five overs) and Campbell (2-32 off 6.5 overs) ripped through the remainder of the Tourist batting lineup.

Only Matt Conroy (26) and Lucas Hogan (17) reached double digits with the bat during that first innings.

A strong opening partnership for Tatts laid the foundation for a simple chase as Nichols (43) and Karl Hatfield (13) put on 53 runs for the first wicket.

Danny Laws dismissed Hatfield in the eighth over before Nichols was removed by Duncan in the ninth, but Jakeb Nipperess (11*) and Tom Craig (27) picked up where the openers left off and produced a 35-run partnership to get their side within four runs of the required total in the 14th over.

Craig had looked impressive during his 19-ball knock as he struck two sixes and two fours, but he fell to Matt Conroy in the 14th over.

Kirk then saw off the remainder of that over before Nipperess brought the match to an end with a boundary from the first delivery of the 15th over as Tatts secured a seven-wicket win.

Next up for Tatts is a battle with the NDCA’s newcomers, Boggabri Colts, at Collins Park in round two this Saturday, while Tourist Hotel will attempt to bounce back from their round one defeat against RSL at Hogan Oval.

RSL also lost on Saturday when they were beaten by 140 runs by the Wilga Hotel Razorbacks, who will sit out with the bye in round two.