Narrabri Colts charge out to early lead in NDCA’s second grade competition

Narrabri District Cricket Association’s second grade one day competition defending champs, the Sign Print Stitch Narrabri Colts, ended the second round of the 2025/26 campaign on top of the table as the only undefeated team following a dominant victory over Tourist Hotel at Gately Field on Saturday.

Tourist Hotel batted first in that match after their skipper Aaronn Baker won the toss, and the nine-man side was bowled out for 112 runs after 31 overs. The Colts then chased down the required total in 29 overs, having lost just two wickets.

That eight-wicket win was inspired by the Colts’ skipper David McInnes and youngsters Gus Ford and Fletcher Whan, who were all contenders for the three NDCA best and fairest points with their impressive efforts in both innings.

Ford starred in the first innings as he took 5-18 from five overs, which included the big wickets of Terry Baker (47) and Scott Smith (22), who combined for the bulk of Tourist Hotel’s runs.

McInnes (1-9 from five overs) took the first wicket of the contest when he knocked over his opposing captain, Aaronn Baker, for 15 runs in the sixth over with the assistance of a Whan catch, and Whan (1-14 from 3.4 overs) took the final wicket of the first innings when he bowled Pat Mowle. Mick Dowdell also chipped in with an early wicket and a late stumping to help limit Tourist Hotel to 112 runs.

McInnes opened the batting in the second innings and he continued his impressive early-season form with an unbeaten half-century. He smashed five boundaries on his way to 52*, and he combined with Whan (37) for a 56-run third-wicket partnership as they guided their side to victory.

The Colts skipper had scored 45 runs in the season opener a week earlier, leaving him with an average of 97 after two matches.

Kyne Allen (12) and George Barton (4) were the only Colts batsmen to depart on Saturday as their side prevailed by eight wickets.

The defending champions looked set to be joined on 14 points by Tatts, but Tatts ended up losing their round two match against RSL at Leitch Oval by two wickets.

Tatts batted first in that match after captain Jesse Packer had won the toss, and they batted out their 40 overs to finish with 7-161.

They then had RSL on the ropes at 8-116 in the 30th over of the second innings, but the chasing side got the job done as Alan Whitmore and Rod Tomlinson produced a match-winning 47-run partnership to earn their team its first win of the campaign following a crushing round one loss against the Colts a week earlier.

Tatts’ opening batsmen Robert Packer (23) and Bill Wood (20) both laid the foundation for a successful innings earlier in the contest, and the side’s skipper Jesse Packer did the bulk of the damage again as he blasted an unbeaten 86 runs off 103 deliveries.

Only the end of the innings could deny him his second century in as many weeks after he scored 114 runs against Tourist Hotel in round one, and his average after two games is 200.

Tom Webster (3-27 from four overs) was the pick of the bowlers for RSL, and Justin Saunders, Rod Tomlinson, Allan Whitmore and Eion Flynn all chipped in with a wicket each.

Three of RSL’s top four batsmen got the chasing side on the front foot in the second innings as openers Pat Wheeler (39) and Kyle McIlrick (12) both made handy contributions before Jason Trindall added 14 runs.

Whitmore entered at number five and lost five partners before being joined by Tomlinson in the 30th over, and they battled hard to get the job done and guide their side to a two-wicket win.

Whitmore ended the innings with an unbeaten 39 runs from 50 balls, and Tomlinson finished up with an unbeaten 20 from 32 balls.

Jake Cooper (2-24 from eight overs) and Rhett Myers (2-29 from seven overs) were their side’s best with the ball, and Jesse Packer chipped in with two runouts.

Sign Print Stitch Narrabri Colts will be looking to make it a clean sweep of the competition when they meet Tatts at Gately Field in round three this Saturday, while Tourist Hotel will be looking to win their first game of the season when they challenge RSL at Leitch Oval.