Gunnedah Cricket: Kookaburras and Court House show good early signs

Milne was the competition's leading runscorer in first grade last season, and Coward likewise in second grade.

On Saturday they put on 138 for the opening wicket to set the foundation for Kookaburras to post an imposing 6-206 from their 40 overs.

It was a good total on what was a tricky wicket to bat on, Milne noting that it was the first time they have scored over 200 at Wolseley Oval in "probably two or three years".

"It (wicket) was very three-paced," he said.

Some balls were going through normally, some kicking up and some staying in the pitch. Subsequently despite chalking up a half-century in his first knock for the season (he scored 81), he never really felt in.

RELATED:

Being the first game of the season he said he was just looking to spend some good time in the middle.

He did have a bit of luck. He was dropped twice when he was about 20 or 30.

Milne's eventual dismissal (caught behind off Tim McDermott) didn't really though provide a lot of a reprieve for Mornington, and as satisfied as he was with his innings it was more about the performance of the team.

Stepping up from second grade, after returning last season from a bit of a break, Coward showed some promising signs with a patient 41.

"Matt Agostino is also back after a long hiatus and he looked good for his 15," Milne said.

New skipper Kris Lodge also batted well for 32.

"There's some good early signs," Milne said.

And not just with the bat, teen trio Ollie Thomas, Lachlan Straney and Braithen Winsor leading the charge as they rolled Mornington for 77 in reply. Straney finished with 2-19 and Thomas 1-6, and probably could have had a few more.

Following them up, Winsor then ripped through the Mornington middle order, taking 5-19.

"There's some really bright futures here for Kookaburras," Milne said.

In the other game, Alex Beasley made a promising return to the crease as an undermanned Court House thrashed Albion.

The teenager hasn't picked up a bat for the better part of two years after fracturing his leg twice in 2017 but looked like he hadn't put it down, Court House allrounder Sam Doubleday said.

"He played some nice shots, played some nice long drives," he said.

Beasley peeled off 22 and put on 38 for the opening wicket with Kyle Gallen (29) as Court House chased down Albion's 106 in 16 overs and four wickets down.

"It was a pretty big effort from the bowlers to restrict them to 106," Doubleday said. Even with Darrin Cameron's son filling in they still only had 10 players.

Albion were looking on target to post a reasonable total with new skipper Brad Cady (30) and Damian Baldwin (42no) taking them past 50 after 10 overs. But 12 overs later they were all out as Doubleday (4-18) and Cameron (3-33) tore through them.