Cricketers dust off cobwebs in T20 hit-outs

Gunnedah had two defeats and one victory last Saturday as the local cricket teams began their 2025-26 season with a series of T20 matches in Narrabri.

Teams from Gunnedah, Narrabri, Tamworth, Moree and Inverell took part in the War Veterans T20 Cup, while Armidale forfeited its fixtures.

Contests took place on both days last weekend but Gunnedah forfeited its matches against Narrabri and Inverell on day two due to a lack of player numbers, while those who played last Saturday felt too exhausted to back up the following day.

Fielding a mix of first and second grade players, Gunnedah lost to the North Tamworth Redbacks and Bective East Bulls by six wickets before beating West Tamworth by seven wickets.

Gunnedah was two players short for the opening fixture at Hogan Oval, prompting a couple of fill-ins to field for the understrength team.

Gunnedah’s line-up included Hayden Doherty, who moved from Warwick earlier this year.

Doherty opened the batting with Justin Carter, with the duo putting together a 60-run partnership in the first match before Rory MacRae dismissed the pair in the ninth over.

Doherty hit five fours in his 35, while half of Carter’s 16 runs came in boundaries from successive balls.

MacRae also broke through in his second, third and fourth overs, and finished with 5-16 as Gunnedah’s innings spluttered along.

Ash White struck three sixes in his 32, which enabled Gunnedah to tally 133 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

The run chase was off to a flier as there were 15 runs in the first over and 14 in the second.

The first delivery was a no-ball which Blake Scicluna hit for two, and then he struck the next ball for six before fellow opener Sam Thompson’s first two scoring shots were a four and a six.

Loose balls were punished while the opening partnership for Norths also featured short singles and delicate late cuts.

The Redbacks were in control when Thompson was run out in the ninth over with the total on 88.

Scicluna took his score past 50 and moved the total beyond 100 when he used his feet superbly and lofted a six over mid-on.

Peter McCormack made two breakthroughs in the following over, as he knocked out the middle stump before White held a catch behind point.

The score was 4-117 when Jayden Winsor held a catch in the deep, before Scicluna steered the Redbacks to the target with five overs to spare.

Scicluna’s 80 not out came off just 43 balls, with five fours and three sixes.

Following a short break, the Gunnedah players headed to the nearby Collins Park for their next match while the team was bolstered with the inclusion of father-and-son duo Ken and Keaton Walters.

Carter and Doherty gave Gunnedah another healthy start, with Doherty again striking five fours while bettering his previous score by one run.

Doherty’s departure left Gunnedah 1-58 in the ninth over, before Sam Doubleday lost two stumps in the 13th over with the total on 80.

Gunnedah reached 2-113 before five wickets fell for only six runs, denting Gunnedah’s hopes of posting a strong total.

Keaton Walters also had two stumps dislodged, and Carter was four runs shy of a half-century when he fell to a brilliant one-handed catch.

Two of the next three wickets fell to skied catches, and Izaak Merlehan lost his middle stump as he attempted a ramp shot.

Jonah Cameron swung a four through the legside in the final over, but only 11 runs were added in the final three overs as Gunnedah finished on 7-125.

Regular boundaries took Bective East’s total to 0-40 before Matthew Everett fell to a disputed catch to the wicketkeeper down the legside.

The Bulls were 2-45 in the ninth over when White sent Jye Paterson’s off-stump spinning through the air, before Riley Jones clubbed the final ball of White’s following over for six.

Riley Jones and teammate Nick Willoughby reduced the equation to 30 runs from 30 balls, before the former lofted a catch to long-off.

Adam Jones cracked the final ball of the 16th over for four, and then three byes from the first ball of the 17th over were followed by a six from the next ball to ensure the Bulls were in control.

Windsor held a catch at deep mid-wicket as six runs were needed from 12 balls, before Adam Jones hit the winning runs from the first ball of the final over.

With Gunnedah bowling first in its final match, Merlehan struck once in the second over and twice in the fourth over to leave Wests struggling at 3-17.

The first wicket fell to a catch at long-on, and the next wicket was a questionable lbw before the third victim was bowled.

A few boundaries boosted the scoring, before McCormack won an appeal for lbw in the 10th over with the total at 43.

Wests’ top scorer Colin Sparey pulled a six which bounced across the road in the 14th over, before departing soon afterwards when he skewed a full-toss to deep cover.

Three wickets fell in the dying stages of the innings as Wests struggled to 8-102. Two of the final three victims were run out, and the other had his middle stump uprooted.

Carter was dropped three times in an opening stand of 28, before he was caught from the first ball of the fifth over.

Keaton Walters smacked a big six during the second wicket partnership, before Gunnedah lost two wickets with the score on 46. Doherty was caught off a half-tracker, before Doubleday was bowled with a yorker.

There were no further setbacks as Walters sped to 43 not out while Winsor reached 15 not out.

Walters recorded three fours and two sixes, before Winsor finished the match with a six from the fourth ball of the 16th over.

MATCH 1

North Tamworth Redbacks 4-134 (Blake Scicluna 80 not out, Sam Thompson 31; Peter McCormack 2-28) defeated Gunnedah 7-133 (Hayden Doherty 35, Ash White 32; Rory MacRae 5-16) by 6 wickets.

MATCH 2

Bective East Bulls 4-127 (Nick Willoughby 28, Riley Jones 27; Ash White 2-27) defeated Gunnedah 7-125 (Justin Carter 46, Hayden Doherty 36; Adam Jones 3-18) by 6 wickets.

MATCH 3

Gunnedah 3-108 (Keaton Walters 43 not out; Tyson Palmer 2-21) defeated West Tamworth 8-102 (Colin Sparey 41; Izaak Merlehan 3-29; Keaton Walters 2-17) by 7 wickets.