After five matches of cricket in four days, to say Blake Small was feeling it by the end of it all would be an understatement.
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"I was a bit sore - very sore actually. I was lucky to get through the weekend," Small said.
The last time Small played that much cricket was when he was "15 or 16 playing for Central North".
It was all worth it as he finished with a wet sail to claim back-to-back wins on the weekend with Court House and Gunnedah.
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But before those wins, it started in Campbelltown on Thursday when Small competed at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander T20 Cup.
He was joined at the two-day carnival by a large contingent from Gunnedah.
Mackenzie Keeler, Sally Keeler, Zoe Fleming, Braithen Winsor, Blake Small and Jaycob Price all turned out for the Sydney Sixers to take on the Sydney Thunder.
The Thunder claimed victory in both the men's and women's competitions.
The Thunder men won 3-0 while the Thunder women won 2-1.
"I've represented my town and Central North and all that but it's nothing like representing your culture," Small said.
"It was a great experience.
"It was great to play with the guys from here and it was good to see a few got some wickets and took some catches.
"We all played our played part up there."
After the three-match series finished, Small was back to play for Court House against Kookaburras on Saturday.
Kookaburras posted 131, led by Cameron Milne with 46 not out before Court House passed the total in the 26th over.
Court House's Brodie Cleal snared two wickets before posting 55 runs.
"He's scored back-to-back 50s the last few weeks," Small said.
Small capped his week off with a win in the Connolly Cup.
Gunnedah took on Narrabri Blue on Sunday when runs were the order of the day.
"To be honest, it was one of the greatest batting efforts I've seen by Gunnedah," Small said of the performance.
"We usually don't bat 50 overs. We put a decent total on. It was a great effort."
Gunnedah finished on 6-194 as four batsmen made 29 or above. Mitchell Swain topped the scoring with 44 not out.
Then, when Narrabri came out to bat, it quickly became clear the wicket Gunnedah needed.
"I knew we had to get Smarty [Nick Smart]. The way he was batting, it would have been finished pretty early on," Small said.
Vinnie Winsor (2-35) took the prized scalp when he trapped Smart in front for 54.
However, it was another Winsor who returned the best figures for Gunnedah.
Braithen, who had a massive weekend alongside Small, finished with 3-15 from his seven overs as Narrabri finished all out for 158.
"The way Braithen bowled was great. He's always accurate and his bowling changed the game," Small said.
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
