Cricket: Jason Trindall set to commence 40th season for Narrabri RSL

But when the 2022/23 season begins this weekend, Narrabri District Cricket Association veteran Jason Trindall will commence his 40^th consecutive year of cricket for the Narrabri RSL club.

Having begun playing as a 12-year-old, Trindall progressed through the years to become one of the district's best fast bowlers, and eventually its representative captain.

For all his success over the years, Jason doubts that he would have reached the four-decade mark with the club if not for the presence of his son, Nathan.

"If he'd chosen golf 12 years ago, who knows? I might only have played 30 years and then gone to play golf with him," Trindall said.

"I possibly wouldn't have gone as long, but I hung around and wanted to play cricket with him. And we did that in second grade, then first grade, and in district grade."

At 52 years old, Trindall is at an age where most people find cricket too hard on the body to continue, especially in his chosen role as a pace bowler.

Though he has by-and-large evaded the ravages of time, he took a step back in the last few years to become a fill-in player as the aches and pains of regular sport become harder to shake.

When the day does come, however, that he decides to hang up the boots, Trindall will remain involved with the club that he said "is like one big family".

"It's been good to be involved in the club for that long, I've made a lot of friends out of it," he said.

"If Nathan continues to play, I'll be there, whether I'm playing or not. I want to be a part of the club and help it survive."

Given the historically shoddy record-keeping within local clubs and district cricket, it is hard to know whether anybody has played longer than Trindall's 40 years for one club in the Narrabri region. The man himself, however, believes there are a couple of people who have played longer.

Either way, it was never his goal to break records, and for now his priority is to spend time with his family.

To that end, Trindall will not be available for this weekend's opening round, as he will instead accompany Nathan to Port Macquarie for the first round of the Regional Bash, where the 25-year-old will represent the Northern Inland Bolters.

"I didn't get to go away last year with him when he played for the Bolters, so I said I'd go over this weekend," Trindall said.

But, he added, "it's fairly safe to say in the next couple of weeks [the RSL] will call upon me."

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