It's the statistic that requires a second look in case the eyes have deceived.
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In the past two seasons, just one of the six scheduled first-grade finals in Tamworth cricket has been contested. One out of six!
Three were washed out (ironic in itself given the drought), one was abandoned after a sickening on-field collision and then Covid-19 struck - knocking over competitions, big and small, like bowling pins.
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The only final that didn't meet an unfortunate fate was the one-dayer between Old Boys and North Tamworth at No 1 Oval on November 15. In that game, Old Boys successfully defended 56 after bowling Norths out for 44.
Throughout it all, Tamworth cricket president Ben Middlebrook remained a realist: you can't complain about a cricket match being cancelled because of rain when the landscape below the clouds was so water-deprived, and what's an abandoned final series compared to the coronavirus.
As for the collision between Bective East fielders Gerhard Labuschagne and James Haling that left the latter with a badly broken leg in the 2018-19 Twenty20 finale at No 1 Oval. Well, that was "just one of those things", according to Labuschagne - and he was right: just another instance of bad luck befalling the game.
Old Boys were declared the winners of five of the six finals, given they either topped the table or were the first side into the big dance - as was the case in the two-day competition over the past two seasons. Winning the 2019-20 premiership gave them back-to-back premierships, and their sixth two-day title in seven seasons.
Middlebrook, the Old Boys captain, said it was "very disappointing" to be deprived of so many finales, but added: "I guess another way to look at it is, we put ourselves in that position to get the benefit if something [unforeseen] does come along."
Referring to all four grades, he continued: "You know, you always want to win that major semi. So if rain is affecting the grand final, you're in the box seat ... And it's been that way since day dot."
