But the keeper-batsmen immediately found his eye, top-scoring with 45 as Court House beat Albion.

On Saturday he continued what has been his best start to a season for some time with 54 as they again accounted for the premiers.

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It was his first club half-century since scoring 74 against Mornington back in November of the 2017/18 season.

"I've been feeling really good for the start of the season," Small said. Feeling rejuvinated after taking a bit of a break from sport over winter, he has even "been going to training a little bit too".

"It's good to be back out there and even better that I'm actually scoring runs and helping the team out," he said.

"I pretty much said to one of my mates I'm seeing the ball pretty well I think I'm actually going to score a few runs this season."

He said on Saturday he felt pretty comfortable from the first ball, not really giving any chances.

The bowlers then did their job, rolling Albion for around 50 for a "strong win".

It was a fruitful weekend for Small, backing up on Sunday to lead the district side to a 102-run win over Quirindi in their Connolly Cup opener.

He was a big contributor to the victory, hitting a second-top 37 and sharing a 72-run stand with Matt Agostino for the third wicket.

It set the foundation for them to post a very competitive 196 with Agostino going on to notch his maiden district half-century (59).

"To me he's probably one of the best batters in Gunnedah, he's got the eye and he did his job, scored 50-odd and put runs on the board," Small said.

They then produced "a good allround bowling performance" to dismiss Quirindi for 94.

Small said he always felt like the game under control in the chase with Garry Briggs and Ash White keeping things tight early.

Both bowled their 10 straight up, Briggs snaring 3-17 while White finished with 0-14 but was "very unlucky".

The young quick did lose a bit of confidence after hitting Brendon Matthews in the head with a bouncer. Small said it was a bit of a "scary" incident but fortunately, aside from a fractured cheekbone, Matthews was alright.

Vinnie and Braithen Winsor also both chimed in with two wickets.

Gunnedah's next game is in two weeks against Narrabri Blue.

Prior to that Small, White, Braithen Winsor, Jacob Price and Zoe Fleming are set to be involved in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander T20 Cup.

The three game series will be played in Sydney on November 12 and 13 as part of the NAIDOC Week celebrations between men's and women's teams representing the Sixers and Thunder.