This Saturday will be a historic occasion for Gunnedah cricket, as a Gunnedah team contests a Tamworth District Cricket Association (TDCA) grand final for the first time.
With Gunnedah entering the TDCA competition last season while Gunnedah’s own club competition folded, Gunnedah didn’t reach the TDCA finals in any of the four grades last season before missing the first, second and third grade finals again this season.
Gunnedah will contest the North Tamworth Redbacks in the fourth grade decider at Riverside 3, after the two teams won their respective semi-finals last Saturday.
The fourth-placed Gunnedah defeated minor premier Old Boys by just eight runs, while the third-placed Norths crushed the second-placed City United by 79 runs as City United was all out for just 70.
On Gunnedah soil one week earlier, the home side enjoyed a 38-run win against the Redbacks.
The only other encounter involving Gunnedah and Norths this season was a T20 fixture back on January 17, when the Tamworth team won by five wickets.
Gunnedah has been unbeaten since then in the 40-overs-per-side format, while defeating each of the top-three teams.
Gunnedah captain Ken Walters said the camaraderie and cohesion had been good, amid plenty of family connections.
The team has often included Walters and his daughter Marnee; Jono Middlebrook and son Oscar; and Shane Fleming and daughter Zoe while last Saturday’s team also included another of Walters’s daughters, Kallie.
With more than half of the squad often comprising players aged 16 and younger, Gunnedah’s skipper said after last Saturday’s victory that “the juniors were marvellous”.
“Every junior on the field gave 100 per cent,” he said.
“People make mistakes but it’s about encouragement.
“There’s no getting down on ourselves.”
Walters said he felt the key to the successful latter part of the season was communication in the field, while “everyone’s giving 100 per cent in the field”.
Walters said none of the players was a passenger, and that the juniors all seemed to know their role and what to do while their confidence was sky-high.
Although the fourth grade teams have had to adjust to turf pitches for the finals after playing on synthetic surfaces beforehand, Walters said his players “handled the turf well” last Saturday and “just treated it like a normal game of cricket”.
Walters said his team would “give it a good crack” this Saturday, while it would be great to see a large proportion of people from the Gunnedah Cricket Club come along and show support.
Likely Gunnedah squad: Ken Walters (c), Shane Fleming, Zoe Fleming, Rhyse Frost, Digby Grimm, Jono Middlebrook, Oscar Middlebrook, James Perrett, Jason Perrett, Tyler Small, Nicholas Swain, Kallie Walters, Marnee Walters, Cooper Whitton, Mat Whitton.
Likely North Tamworth Redbacks squad: Phillip Judd (c), Josef Almaleh, Callum Anderson, Tim Baker, Mitchell Beaumont, Brendan Chaffey, Logan Chaffey, William Constable, Andrew Finlay, Finn Hagley, George Ingall, Charles Jensen, Harry Judd, Craig Louwen, Martin Ward.
