First grade cricketers lose by a single run

Gunnedah suffered an agonising one-run defeat on the first innings in its two-day cricket match against reigning premier City United, played on the past two Saturdays at Wolseley Park.

A tight and tense battle for first innings points unfolded last Saturday, with the hosts falling tantalisingly short of City United’s total of 174 after being solidly placed at 2-106.

With Gunnedah having lost twice and had a washout in the one-dayers, the result in the opening round of two-day fixtures was disappointing as a breakthrough win remained elusive in the Tamworth District Cricket Association (TDCA).

Gunnedah skipper Andy Mack said he didn’t want to sound too negative, although “emotions were pretty high after the game”.

“It breaks your heart to be so close, but you’re still yet so far to get that first win for the season,” he said.

Mack said it was “definitely disappointing” and “quite bittersweet”.

“I’m a bit sick of the narrative of ‘Gunnedah’s competitive’ and ‘Gunnedah are going to do okay in this competition’,” he said.

“I’d like to think we’re good enough that we’ll win these close games.”

Although saying disappointment was the main emotion after such a tight loss, Mack said he was “very proud of the effort we put in” and that “there’s a lot of positives to take out of it”.

Mack said he would like the positives to turn into wins, and for other teams to say it would be “a tough game” against Gunnedah rather than “Gunnedah’s competitive”.

Gunnedah’s team for last Saturday had some changes from the previous Saturday, with Sam Doubleday unavailable for day two after capturing seven wickets on day one.

As it turned out, Ken Walters and son Keaton had the chance to play first grade together.

With the hosts resuming last Saturday at 1-35 from 24 overs, the first four overs were maidens before the second wicket of the innings fell with the total on 40.

Mack and fellow left-hander Henry Johns added 66 valuable runs before Gunnedah’s skipper was caught in the deep in the 56th over, and then two wickets fell in the 120s.

The total crept to 5-142 before Tom Fitzgerald removed Ben Irwin’s middle stump, and soon a chance to stump Johns went begging.

Johns soon struck a four and a six in quick succession, but he edged a catch behind in the next over to depart for a gutsy 73 off 154 balls while Gunnedah was 18 runs shy of victory.

There were more twists and turns as Ash White scored two runs off a dropped catch and then hit a four, before Peter McCormack edged behind with the total on 166.

Ken Walters was bowled with the total on 168, leaving the last pair requiring seven runs to win.

An edge from White fell short of the wicketkeeper before another edge flew away for two runs, and then another two runs took the total to 173 from the fourth ball of the 84th over.

The match ended moments later, as a Nathan Clark delivery clipped the bails to give him his third successive wicket.

Gunnedah will trek to Bicentennial Park for its next two-day fixture, against the North Tamworth Redbacks.

City United 174 (Tom Fitzgerald 56; Sam Doubleday 7-65, Ben Irwin 2-24) defeated Gunnedah 173 (Henry Johns 73; Nathan Clark 3-23, Tom Fitzgerald 2-16) by one run on the first innings.