Even when it doesn't feel like your day on the cricket pitch, sometimes things will still go your way.
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![Well bowled: James Mack has once again been the standout bowler in the Gunnedah First Grade competition, with 23 to his name. Photo: Gareth Gardner. Well bowled: James Mack has once again been the standout bowler in the Gunnedah First Grade competition, with 23 to his name. Photo: Gareth Gardner.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ijfQKXbsEKgSKGW5xB5NiF/1dafd46d-783a-4144-9835-c18ac0535d0e.jpg/r0_0_2797_1756_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
That was exactly what Albion's James Mack experienced on Saturday, when he returned the stunning figures of 6-15 against the Kookaburras.
Although he sent down three maidens and conceded no extras from his eight overs, Mack didn't think he had the ball on a string and, if anything, felt quite fortunate to have come away with six wickets.
"I don't think I bowled that well, most of the wickets were just on the stumps and the guys missed them," Mack said.
"There wasn't anything fancy about the bowling by any means."
Instead, he praised the performances of his fellow seamers, particularly Ash White who he said was "almost unplayable" in his opening spell.
But though Mack was modest about his own returns on the weekend, it was his third five-wicket haul of the season and took his 2021/22 tally to 23 wickets from 11 games at an average of six.
These numbers are indicative of the dominant run of form Mack has found this season - even more so when put in context.
The veteran seamer is the leading wicket-taker in the Gunnedah District Cricket Association First Grade competition this year, nine wickets ahead of White in second place.
Mack has the best economy rate of any recognised bowler in the competition (2.35 runs per over), the lowest average of anybody with two wickets or more, and the fourth-lowest strike rate among regular bowlers.
And yet, in his own words, Mack has bowled no better than any of his teammates.
"Some weeks [I've bowled well]," he said.
"But I think all of our bowlers have been like that, we've all bowled well at different times and it just depends who takes the wickets on the day.
"Some days, one guys gets the wickets, and another day, a different person is getting them, but I don't think anyone is too worried.
"It's nice to get a few, but it wouldn't worry me if I got none and another guy got four or five."
The strength of Albion's bowling has driven it to the top of the table this season, in spite of some inconsistent batting.
Although Mack believes the team is a good chance of qualifying straight into the grand final on March 12, he said more regular contributions from its batters will be crucial as the club seeks a third straight premiership.
"I think we should be very close to going straight through at this stage, so we're happy with that," Mack said.
"But we've still got two more rounds and we don't want to just coast into finals, we want to be playing our best cricket. The batting department is probably what's letting us down the most.
"One or two guys are getting some scores, and they're different guys each week, which is good. But we're probably a lot more capable than what we've been showing."
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