Pink Slugs fired up for Scone road trip to kick-start Country Plate campaign

Narrabri District Cricket Association’s rep side will travel to Scone this Sunday, where they will meet Singleton in their first match of Country Cricket NSW’s 2025/26 campaign Country Plate tournament.

The Pink Slugs qualified for that tournament after finishing as the top-ranked team in the Northern Inland Cricket Council’s MA Connolly Cup competition, which also secured them a home grand final in that arena.

Sunday’s knockout game in Scone will continue a packed schedule for the NDCA men after they travelled to Tamworth last Sunday afternoon for the NICC’s War Veterans Cup T20 tournament finals series.

They went down in their semi-final by four wickets with four deliveries to spare against the Old Boys Stars, who then lost the grand final that night against fellow Tamworth-based club North Tamworth Redbacks at Number One Oval.

NDCA skipper Jack Tate told The Courier that he and his teammates were eager to shake off that tough loss and use it as motivation for this Sunday’s match.

“I thought we played quite well over there in Tamworth, but we just didn’t make enough runs in the end,” Tate said.

“I think 120 or 130 would have been a decent score to get, so we only really needed 10 or 20 more than we got.

“We bowled really well and made a tight game of it though. Our bowling has generally been our strength this season, and it kept us in the game for as long as we were in it.

“Everyone was disappointed that we didn’t win in the end, but everyone was still happy with how we went about it.

“The vibes around the team are definitely very positive at the moment. Everyone is pleased with how we’ve been going and we’re really looking forward to this weekend.

“I think it’s very exciting for us to make it. We’re not a big town in the scheme of things, but we certainly seem to punch above our weight more often than not.

“We’re going down there really keen to get a win and hopefully progress to the next round.

“I told the guys after the game in Tamworth to feed off the finish to that game, with how positive the bowling effort was, and to take that into the game against Singleton in a format that I think we’re much better suited to as well.

“We’ve almost got a full squad to choose from too, which is really positive.”

The Pink Slugs last played in the Country Plate tournament back in the 2023/24 campaign when they defeated Gilgandra to reach the decider, in which they lost by 66 runs against Highlands District Cricket Association at Hurstville Oval in Sydney.

They are now just two wins off returning to the big city, with a match against Forbes waiting in the wind for the winner in Scone.

The NDCA’s president Brendon Ward said he and the board were proud of the association and its players for qualifying for the tournament for a second time in three seasons.

“It’s shaping up to be a pretty busy couple of weeks, or months even, for the Pink Slugs,” Ward said.

“The boys are looking forward to the trip to Scone to play against Singleton this Sunday for the Country Plate, which is the Central North zone final.

“It’s fantastic to be having another run at that competition for the second time in three years.

“That’s one thing that the NDCA board has been really proud of. It’s not just a one-off. The Slugs are building a bit of a legacy.

“We’ve got about 15 or 16 available for selection for Sunday. We’ve got strong teams in first grade this year, and you can see that in the blend of our Slugs team, with every club represented by their top performers, so I think that team is reaping the rewards of having a strong first grade comp.

“There’s a good vibe happening in the Slugs team as well, which is part of the reason they’re having success on the field.

“It was tough to miss out on Sunday. I think that Tatey and co would agree that a few extra runs on the board would have cemented their spot in the final.”

Narrabri batted first on Sunday afternoon in the semi-final of the MA Connolly Cup and made 8-112 from their 20 overs.

Tate (26) and Cody Kember (22) led the way with the bat for the visitors in their innings. Old Boys then chased down the required total in 19.2 overs, having lost six wickets.

Norths beat Inverell by eight wickets in their semi-final and then downed Old Boys by 20 runs in the decider.